Aerospace Supplier and FAA Repair Station Websitesby Editor - Daniel Brindley | January 27, 2022

As a FAA Repair Station, Aerospace Supplier or OEM it’s fair to say we all use our website differently, for some simply an online brochure, and others critical to sales and business operations. Regardless, the image of your company, brand, description and contact information come from your website. Below we look at a few considerations to make when evaluating a website upgrade as well as the types of website providers and aviation maintenance use case scenarios.

Website Fundamentals

• Over half of all searches are now done on a mobile device, in some countries like India over 70% of searches are done on smart phones. So, make sure the important company info, and contact information is available and easy to navigate

• Google claims that over 75% of website visitors will click off your website and go elsewhere if your website does not load within 2 seconds (especially on mobile). If you are selling things less than 1 second is the ideal goal. Test your website speed here: https://tools.pingdom.com

• Make sure your website is easily found on search engines using your company name, location and keywords. Sometimes a customer or vender you didn’t know existed will find you or your competitor first depending on who ranks higher on search engines. A free service like Google Search Console will tell you what pages are not being indexed (found in search), what keywords your ranked for and traffic from those keywords.

• Websites are often hacked via security holes found in old versions of web software. It’s your responsibility to keep the website’s applications updated with the latest version. Speak to your systems administer and keep updated, encrypted file back-ups offline in case your hacked. I know of business owners that have had their website brought down by hackers, requesting 6-figure ransoms in exchange for the files back. And (even after payment) there is no guarantee the files will be given.

• Make sure your website is connected to Google Analytics (free service) this is the best way to evaluate all aspects of the traffic and its effectiveness on your website. Including, how long people stay, repeat visits and the number of pages visited. Google analytics can also help with evaluating what digital marketing tools are working (paid advertising) and how well people navigate your site. As well as demographics, conversions (lead gen), site performance and more.

Who should you use for website development?

When deciding who to use to develop a new website you need to consider three things:

1) Your budget

2) What you use your website for – the features you need

3) What could you use your website for and what is the opportunity cost for doing so?

Software Developers

If you are a market leading Aerospace OEM, Manufacture and/or large Supplier/ Distributer a software developer is a good place to start. A software developer can ensure that your website is scalable, can handle large volumes of users, generate pages (if needed) and handle high volume ecommerce transactions.

A good software developer will build you a highly customized website from scratch and offer advanced features that are not available from website builders. Examples of when to use a software developer include and are not limited to:

• High volume ecommerce solutions with advanced inventory management tools
• Complex Integrations with your ERP, and other key software applications
• Developing key data analytics, KPIs from your website with real time access
• Creating messaging tools for employees and or customers
• Creating websites with elaborate backend tools for multiple users to manage or use the website

Typically, you will pay around $35-100k plus for a custom-built website. A solid developer that I can recommend from personal experience is alrux.com.

Types of website providers and who to choose?

Website Builder

As a repair station, how often does your customer change, or your FAA 145 Class Rating? And how many pages do you need to promote or describe your business? If the answer is limited change in the next 2-5 years and you need less than 25 pages, and you are not selling anything online you would be best using a website builder. If you have some ecommerce needs then most leading website builders offer e-commerce including, wix.com, squarespace.com, shopify.com and godaddy.com.

These options give you templates that you customize to your brand colors, fonts and logo’s. These websites are fully hosted and offer excellent (easy to implement) important options like SEO (being found on search engines), Email management and Hosting. Monthly subscriptions start from as little as $25 a month.

Platform Specific Agency

For a less costly mid-priced option that you can outsource then look for an agency that specializes on a platform you like or have in mind. For example, if you are looking for a website to host a lot of content – over 50 pages, and need a platform optimized for search engines and easy self serve tools (content management) then you may want to go with a wordpress.com site.

Major platforms like WordPress offer many partner integrations and most likely work with your existing software applications. Most agencies will be competitively priced and offer a surprisingly high level of features and customization compared to a typical website builder. The New York Time uses WordPress!

E-commerce Providers

There are many ecommerce software platforms (some aviation specific) that will integrate with your website and charge a monthly fee, there are pros and cons to this method and I’m not reviewing e-commerce solutions or integration providers in this article (but I will later). There are also open-source options, and one-time licensed software providers that your software developer or ecommerce agency can help you with.

Hosting your website

For a small website you do not need to worry about hosting as its often provided by the website builder. If you have a more elaborate website then speak to your software developer, or a systems administrator. The key thing to remember when choosing a server provider is Speed, Security and Support. Make sure that you have access to the files (make daily back-ups), keys (encrypted passwords) and the ability to manage and upgrade the website files. If the hosting provider/ systems admin won’t give you access, understand the process for upgrading website files to ensure there is no delay.

Conclusion

Technology is always changing and so please do not make any changes to your website without consulting an expert first! Also, remember that the website is going to get you to the starting line, to win the race you need to invest in SEO, Content Marketing, Social Media Engagement, Paid Ads (Search, Social or Trade related), Email Marketing and Landing Pages to name a few! If you have any question or need any help with these services, then please email us at info@puremro.com