B2B Website Design
For technology and service companies with something hard to explain
When you sell to other businesses, your website has to explain something complicated to people who are busy, careful, and rarely the only one deciding. I design and build websites for B2B companies, from phone and network installers to a decontamination company and a veterinary staffing startup. Each site explains the offer in words a buyer can repeat to the boss, and makes the next step easy.
What a B2B website has to do
Explain it, answer everyone who signs off, and make the next step easy.
A business buyer visits your site more than once, often with someone else looking over their shoulder. The site has three jobs.
Explain the offer in a sentence
What you do, who it's for, and why it's better, in words a buyer understands on the first read. If the homepage needs a glossary, the visitor leaves before the second paragraph.
Answer everyone who signs off
The person who uses the service, the manager who approves it, and the person who pays for it each want something different. Each one should find their answer in a click or two.
Make the next step easy
A quote request, a site visit, a sample, or a call. The form asks for what you need to reply well, and the request reaches you right away, with the details in one place.
B2B website design: what goes on the site
Not bigger than a local site. More exact.
A business-to-business site isn’t bigger than a local business site. It’s more exact. These are the pages most B2B companies need:
A page for each service
Each one says what it is, who it's for, and how it works, written for the searches buyers make. A buyer who lands on it from Google gets the answer without reading about everything else you do.
A page for each industry you serve
A school, a factory, and a medical office buy the same service for different reasons. Ecosense's site has a page for the industries it serves, and Teledata's cloud services site had one for manufacturers.
Worth a look before Thursday.
case-example.pdfProof a buyer can forward
Case examples, certifications, and the companies you work with, ready to send to the person who signs off.
Technical details, one click away
Specifications, data sheets, and the answers an engineer or an IT manager checks before saying yes.
The people behind the company
Buyers want to know who they'll work with. Teledata's site introduced the team, so a customer can see who will do the work before calling.
A clear way to start
A quote request, a site visit, or a sample, on every page, so a buyer who's ready never has to hunt for the next step or wonder whom to ask.
If you sell a physical product through distributors, Manufacturers covers that kind of site in more detail.
Manufacturers and industrialSelling something hard to explain?
Tell me about itA site plan built around your buyers
Every person in the decision gets a path to the same next step.
I plan a B2B site from the buyers out. Each person in the decision gets a path, and each path ends at the same next step:
The user. How it works, what it fixes, and what changes for the people who use it, starting on day one.
The manager. The results, the risks, and why your company is the better pick over the others.
The person who pays. How the work is priced, what's included, and how to get a quote.
Therm-A-Guard's site was planned this way. A guard order can pass through an engineer, a line crew, and a purchasing agent, and each one finds the page written for them.
Therm-A-Guard case studySelling a service most people don't understand yet
The site does the explaining a salesperson used to do.
Some B2B services are hard to picture. Ecosense removes bacteria, viruses, mold, and odors from rooms and equipment where ordinary cleaning can’t reach. Several people usually have to say yes before a customer buys, and each of them needs to understand what the process is.
I designed Ecosense’s logo, website, and printed pieces in 2015, and I’ve looked after the site as the business grew. Each page explains one part of the work, covering what the process does, where it’s used, and the technology behind it. The site does the explaining a salesperson used to do on the first call.
The buyer is rarely one person.
Every person who signs off visits the site alone.
A business purchase passes through several hands. Someone finds you, someone checks you, and someone signs. Each of them visits your site on their own time, often weeks apart, and none of them will call to ask what you meant. So every page has to stand on its own, say what it means, and point to the next step. That’s the difference between a B2B website that looks good and one that sells.
B2B websites I've built
Four kinds of buyers, one way of planning the site.
A telecom installer, a decontamination company, a utility products maker, and a staffing startup. Four kinds of buyers, one way of planning the site.
Ecosense
5,300+Times its pages showed up in Google's AI answers in three monthsEcosense removes bacteria, viruses, mold, and odors where ordinary cleaning can't reach, and several people usually say yes before a customer buys. I designed its logo, website, and printed pieces in 2015, with a page for each service, each industry it serves, and the technology behind it.
Read the case study
Therm-A-Guard
+63%Google visits to the site since its first full yearTherm-A-Guard makes a patented guard that keeps animals off electric utility equipment. An order can pass through an engineer, a line crew, and a purchasing agent, so the site gives each one what they check, like technical data, free samples, answers to buyers' questions, and four ways to order.
Read the case study
Relief Rover
4,400+Relief vets and techs in its community by 2023, when Hound acquired itRelief Rover connected relief vets with the practices that needed them. I built its first website in 2018, with a job board, member profiles, and a community, after a website builder couldn't do the job.
Read the case study
Teledata
A logo for new owners, then a company website and a second site for its cloud services.
Read the case study
Maconachy Stradley
An agency whose clients are business owners and managers, with a page for each kind of coverage they buy.
Read the case study
Medrock Pharmacy
A side of the site built for the practices it sells to, with a partner sign-up and a members-only guide.
Read the case studyA rare blend of technical expertise, design flair, copywriting talent and business savvy."As a former sales & marketing executive, I've had the opportunity to work with many nationally recognized firms who are considered to be the best in the business. I can unequivocally add Josh Miller of Joshua Paul Design [my original studio name] to that list.
Josh's web design firm is one of Northeast Ohio's best kept secrets. Josh possesses a rare blend of technical expertise, design flair, copywriting talent and business savvy.
Josh took the time to understand our business, identified the best approach to communicate with our customers, and developed a website that is delivering results. We couldn't be happier with our decision to use Joshua Paul Design."
Found by buyers searching for the problem
Buyers search for the problem before the company.
B2B buyers search for the problem before they search for a company. They type “office phone system installation” or “mold removal for schools,” and the site that answers clearly gets the call. So the pages are planned for those searches from the start:
A page for each problem you solve
Written in the words buyers use, not your internal product names, so the page matches the search.
Phone systems for offices of five to five hundred. Request a site visit.
Titles and descriptions I write myself
The words buyers see in Google, written to earn the click from the right buyer.
Answers AI tools can quote
Clear answers to common questions, so ChatGPT and Google's AI can name you.
"@type": "Organization","name": "Your Company","knowsAbout": "Cabling","areaServed": "3 counties"Structured data
Code that tells search engines and AI tools what your company does, who it serves, and where.
The site grows with your company.
New services, new industries, the same person.
B2B companies add services, enter new industries, and win clients they want to show off. On a care plan, the person who built your site adds the pages and covers hosting, updates, backups, and security. I've hosted and looked after the Ecosense site since 2015.
Questions about B2B website design
Still have a question?
Ask me directlyWhat is B2B website design?
B2B website design is designing and building a website for a company that sells to other businesses, planned around careful buyers who visit more than once, compare options, and rarely decide alone. So the site explains the offer in plain words, gives each person in the decision the page they need, and makes the next step easy.
How much does a B2B website cost?
The cost of a B2B website depends on how many services and industries it covers, how much technical writing it needs, and how much search work your market calls for. A site for one service line costs less than one with a page for every industry you serve. We talk through the cost on our call.
What are B2B website design best practices?
B2B website design best practices include explaining the offer in one sentence, a page for each service written in your buyers' words, proof each decision-maker can forward, and one clear next step on every page. Each page should stand on its own, because each person who signs off visits alone, often weeks apart, and none of them will call to ask what you meant.
How do you build a B2B website?
To build a B2B website, list everyone who signs off on a purchase, plan a path for each, write a page for each service, and end every path at one next step. Add proof each person can forward, such as case studies and results. Plan the search side first, because buyers search for the problem before they search for a company.
What is the difference between B2B and B2C website design?
B2B website design is for selling to businesses, where several careful people decide over weeks, while B2C website design is for selling to consumers, who usually decide alone and quickly. So a B2B site leans on detail, proof, and a quote request, and a B2C site leans on quick choices, prices, and checkout. A B2B site isn't bigger than a consumer site. It's more exact.
What are good B2B website design examples?
Good B2B website design examples explain a hard subject in plain words, give each buyer their own path, and show proof like results and case studies. Ecosense, a decontamination company I've worked with since 2015, had its pages show up in Google's AI answers more than 5,300 times in three months. Therm-A-Guard's site gives the engineer, the line crew, and the purchasing agent each a page written for them. The portfolio has more.
Do you understand technical products and services?
I learn your technical products and services in discovery. You answer my questions in writing, and I study your competitors and how your buyers search. Then I write the pages, and your experts check every technical fact before anything goes live.
Can the site handle a long sales process?
Yes, the site can handle a long sales process. It gives each person in the decision the page they need, plus proof they can forward. Requests come to you with the details you need to follow up well, whether the first visit was last week or last quarter.
Do you write the copy?
Yes, I write the copy. I write every page from discovery and your own material, in words your buyers use. You and your team correct the facts and tell me where it doesn't sound like you. Technical terms get explained the first time they appear, so a buyer outside your field can follow along.
Can you build a portal, an app, or a software platform?
I build the website that explains your company and brings in business, including features like job boards and member profiles, which I built for Relief Rover. A full software product, like a portal or an app, is a job for a software developer, and I'll tell you on our call which side of that line your project sits.
Should a B2B company post prices?
Whether a B2B company should post prices depends on how its work is priced. If every job is quoted, the site explains what goes into a quote and makes asking for one easy. If you sell by the unit, the price can sit on the page.
Do you also design logos and printed pieces?
Yes, I also design logos and printed pieces. I designed Teledata's logo before its website, and Ecosense's logo first, then its website and printed pieces. Designing them together means one look across everything a buyer sees, from a proposal to a trade show booth to the website.
Tell me who buys from you.
Tell me what your company does, who buys from you, and who has to say yes before a deal closes. Include your web address. I read every request myself and reply to set up a short call.