What to put on an engineering firm's website to win more RFQs

Rhys Hume, 1 Nov 2026

When a buyer sends out an RFQ, they'll often start by searching, open a handful of firm websites, and send the drawing to whoever looks like they can make the part and will answer quickly

Your website's job is to get you into that handful, and then make it easy for them to send you the job

This is what I'd put on it, based on how I build sites for engineering firms

Say what you make, in the words a buyer would search

Start with the work itself

List the processes you actually run, milling, turning, water jet, fabrication, whatever it really is, and the materials you work in

I'd write for the person typing something like CNC milling Glasgow into Google, not for a slogan, so use the plain names of the processes rather than a general line about precision or solutions

If there's a size or batch range you're happy with, or work you'd rather not take on, say so, it saves you quotes you'd never win and saves them an email

Put a way to ask for a quote on every page

If someone has to hunt for how to contact you, some of them won't bother

Put a quote button in the header so it follows people round the site, and a phone number for urgent jobs where they can see it without scrolling

That's how I set up the JNR Engineering site, a get a quote button at the top and a number for breakdowns and urgent work on the home page

Make the quote form ask what you'd ask on the phone

Think about what you ask when someone rings with a job, and put those questions in the form, what they need made, how many, what material, when they need it by, and how to reach them

Keep it short, every extra box is another reason to give up, and let people say they're not sure rather than stop halfway

If you can take drawings, say which file types you accept, and if you can't take uploads yet, say where to email them

Then tell people what happens next, who reads it and when they'll hear back, but only promise a reply time you can keep

Make sure the form sends to an inbox someone actually watches, on the JNR site the quote requests go straight to the firm's email, which sounds obvious until you see a form sending to an address nobody checks

Show the work, with real photos

Photos of your own workshop, your own machines and parts you've made do more than a stock image of a handshake

Only name customers if they've said you can, and only show accreditations you hold, with a line on what they cover

If you've got a story that goes from drawing to finished part, a before and after, that's worth a page of its own because it shows a buyer what working with you looks like

Make sure it works on a phone

Plenty of people check a firm out from a van or a workshop floor, so I'd test the site on a phone before anything else

That means buttons big enough for a thumb, a phone number you can tap to call, and a form you can fill in without zooming

Open it yourself on a real phone, on mobile data rather than your office wifi, and see how it feels

Say where you are

Put your town and the area you cover in plain text on the page, and keep your address and phone number identical everywhere they appear

Set up a Google Business Profile too, so you show up when someone searches nearby, I did that for JNR alongside the website

Local search is mostly about being clear and consistent, so there's nothing clever to it, just make it easy for Google and for a person to see where you work from

Make the next step obvious

Every page should end with one thing to do, usually ask for a quote or ring you

Use words that say what happens, send us your drawing or ask for a quote, rather than a vague submit or learn more

If a page has three different buttons pulling in different directions, people tend to do none of them

What to leave out

Long company history before the thing someone came for, vague lines about passion and quality that every firm uses, stock photos, and a contact page buried three clicks deep

You can add the history later, the quote button comes first

I'd also leave out anything that's out of date, an old price list, a machine you've sold, a news post from years ago, because it makes a buyer wonder whether anyone is still answering the phone

A quick check before you publish

Run through these on your own site, on your phone

• Can I tell what you make within a few seconds?
• Can I ask for a quote without scrolling?
• Does the form ask what you'd ask on the phone?
• Does it work on my phone?
• Is it obvious where you are?

If any of those is a no, that's where I'd start

Get your site reviewed

If you'd like me to look at your site, talk me through it and the enquiries you want in a free 20-minute chat, and I'll tell you what I'd change

You can also see how I build websites for engineering firms