The Best Aviation Websites for Marketing

The best aviation websites for marketing products and services have a few things in common:

The best aviation sites have great aviation content.

In some industries it’s fine to buy a “template” website.  You can simply add your logo and “tweak” or adjust the verbiage that comes with the template a little.  The problem with this is that aviation consumers are very smart and have a very low tolerance for “corporate speak.” Aviation people have a loathing of “marketing fluff.”  And many web site design firms are not easy to communicate with.

You can tell by reading if the person that created the web site specializes in website design for aviation, is well-versed in aviation safety, or aviation careers, fluent in flight planning, or renovating warbirds.

The words they choose and the way they write reveals whether the web site was written by someone that knows their subject or is simply copy-and-pasting marketing BS.

Aviation consumers are looking for compelling aviation website copywriting that clearly expresses that you understand their problems and offer relevant solutions.

We’ve consulted with many companies that have purchased a low cost “do it yourself” solution.  These folks find themselves frustrated because they’re not getting the results they expected, or the service they require to maintain a professional online presence. They  find it difficult or expensive to update information on the web site, or to find out how well it’s performing for lead generation and other tasks.

The best websites have compelling visual website design.

This doesn’t mean fancy or pretty. It means clean, clear, to the point and confidence-inspiring about your company’s commitment to excellence and attention to detail.  Whether your site is about aviation weather, or aircraft types, or military or civil aviation topics or even vintage aircraft- it needs to function well.   Your site can look vintage but still needs to function like new!

If your design is seven years old, it will look dated.  Just as your aircraft requires regular maintenance, your web site does also.  A site that’s riddled with broken links or dated images, and not instantly clear about the solutions you offer and the steps to take next is simply not doing a great job. Marketing in aviation is incredibly competitive.   And not just for internet marketing – for any sales activity that requires customers to get back  to you more than once.  Your ads, business cards, and printed brochures all lead back to your web site, after all.  And this is an industry with pretty high standards and expectations, after all!

We recommend a website refresh once every three years.  Often, we can re-use a lot of the good material from your web site.  We simply put it into a new site using the latest technology within a couple of weeks.

The best websites have authentic images.

Stock photography can be used in effective ways and can make your site a lot more visually appealing.  But specific images of your facility, your planes, your people, and your product or service are much more compelling. They make your company appear more transparent, and help potential customers visualize working with you.

The best websites are easy to update.

Outdated information (perhaps unfairly!) marks your company as out-of-touch and slipshod in the details of doing business. Someone on your team should be able to make any needed updates and changes to your site within 24 hours.

The best websites include custom landing pages for your advertisements.

If you’re paying for an ad in a printed magazine, or exhibiting at a trade show, you’re investing a lot of money.

Having a specific landing page for people who found you via a particular venue is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity!  This helps you track the effectiveness of each of those advertising efforts you’ve invested so much time, effort and money in!

A great website has become as vital as an NBAA membership or a listing in the phone book.

Customers expect to find your company online, and expect your website to look up to date and professional.  What was once a luxury  for early adopters has become “table stakes” in a  game you can’t afford not to play, whether you sell airplanes, flight training, consulting services, or maintenance.

Our process for updating an old web site is to use a 31-point checklist to evaluate what is working well toward the goal of lead generation, customer contact, and sales support.  We also talk about what we recommend updating.   We discus it with you, and once we agree on the basics, we create a copy of your site that we can discuss and evaluate.  Once you’re happy, we can switch from your old web site to your new one without breaking any links or losing any customers or visitors in the process.

Your new site will look much better, load faster, and  perform much better on search engines like Google and Bing.  Check out our Web Site Refresh for details.

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