Hydron sales boost hope after IT aid

Hydron Protective Coatings, a specialist in the development of high performance paint coatings, has tapped into expert consultancy to improve its website content and to implement a number of Search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques to improve its page ranking.

The Wednesfield-based company has already seen traffic to www.hydronpc.co.uk increase significantly and has started to receive enquiries from new customers looking to take advantage of its wide range of floor paints and anti graffiti and fire protection coatings.

"We're a manufacturer first and foremost and boast a wide range of industry leading products, many of which are the envy of our rivals for their unique performance," explained Oli Meanley, director at Hydron Protective Coatings.

"However, we sometimes need to shout a bit louder about what we do, including high profile projects like London 2012, multi-million pound regeneration projects and National Trust properties such as Dudmaston Estate. Our website is a fantastic way of getting these stories out there and showcasing the full extent of our products to a global audience.

"As a SME, we don't have an IT department or even an expert so have had to look for external support to help us with our approach to digital marketing. This is where we turned to OBT, attending some of its free events and then tapping into 15 hours of consultancy."

Stafford-based 848 Group worked with Hydron Protective Coatings to review current material and how it could implement a number of SEO techniques to improve the firm's page rankings.

Consultant Kevin Godbert identified the need for the copy to be adjusted to include certain key words, making company e-shots more effective and also on how it could update information on the website to keep it fresh and up to date.

He also stressed the importance of using it to launch new products. launching new products on there, including the firm's new energy saving coatings that have been developed over the past two years.

"We certainly recommend the Optimising Business Technology programme to other companies in the Black Country," continued Oli, who has just taken on a Sales Manager to develop new business.

"The events are engaging and you can get an IT expert to take a fresh look at what you're doing. They obviously know lots of tricks that we never realised existed and most of them are free of charge."

Hydron Protective Coatings is one of more than 200 companies that have already been supported by the £500,000 Optimising Business Technology Project.

Delivered by Winning Moves and the National Business to Business Centre as part of the Black Country Growth Hub offer, the programme is free to eligible businesses and has funding left to engage with hundreds of local firms through a mix of seminars, best practice sharing workshops and one-to-one diagnostics and support.

It has been designed to educate companies, from all sectors of the economy, to the advantages of adopting IT systems that are suited to their businesses, as well as identifying the huge operational benefits of switching to superfast broadband.

"This isn't getting companies to invest in technology for the sake of it, this is about making sure they have access to the best possible IT to help them achieve better efficiencies, improve customer service and, importantly, boost sales…all from using technology that is readily available to them," explained Richard Lowe, who is heading up the OBT.

"The programme offers a whole host of support, from group learning sessions to on the ground mentoring and detailed diagnostics. All of this is free for eligible businesses to tap into and we have funds in place to support hundreds of companies between now and July."

Optimising Business Technology is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership's Growing Places fund. To register or find out more on the programme, visit www.bcgrowthhub.com or follow @obtblackcountry on twitter