A bigger website budget doesn’t necessarily mean a better buying experience.
IT Monks’ Manufacturer Websites Performance Research, which assessed 79 U.S. manufacturer websites, found that smaller manufacturers scored an average of 64.5 out of 100 on a buyer-focused benchmark, edging out larger firms at 62.1.
The 2.4-point difference is modest, and the study’s industry-balanced sample means the finding should be treated as directional.
Still, the results raise a question for companies investing in website redesigns: Are their sites giving buyers the product information they need to make a decision?
After all, 67% of B2B buyers prefer a buying experience without a sales representative, according to Gartner’s March 2026 survey of 646 buyers.
For manufacturers, product specifications, quality certificates and quote forms can carry more weight than a polished homepage.
In this interview, IT Monks Agency Founder and CEO Alex Osmichenko discusses why smaller manufacturers scored better on the benchmark, where larger companies’ websites fall short, and what brands should ask agencies before approving a bigger website budget.
Who Is Alex Osmichenko?
Alex Osmichenko is the Founder and CEO of IT Monks Agency, a custom WordPress development company, serving clients worldwide from offices in Miami and Kraków. He founded IT Monks in 2010, building on years of hands-on experience as a lead WordPress developer and architect, and holds a Master of Science in Computer and Software Engineering. Over more than 15 years, Alex has grown the agency into a full-cycle digital partner known for custom WordPress builds, WooCommerce, custom plugin development, and ROI-focused SEO and paid media. Under his leadership, IT Monks has become a trusted delivery partner for marketing teams, supporting publishing, e-commerce, and SaaS brands with the technical execution behind their campaigns. Alex pairs deep technical expertise with an entrepreneurial, results-driven approach to helping brands grow their digital presence.
Why Do Smaller Manufacturers Score Better?
What explains the difference between smaller and larger manufacturers in the benchmark?
"Large companies spend their web budget on the platform. The product page gets less of it," Alex Osmichenko says.
Meanwhile, larger manufacturers performed better on platform-level requirements, including real-visitor responsiveness, dated content, warranty and service pages, and country routing.
Their product pages, however, often lacked the information engineers need to assess a part.
Only five of 20 large sites fully specified materials on product pages, compared with 41 of 59 small sites.
Four of 20 large sites provided full dimensions, against 30 of 59 smaller ones. None of the large sites let buyers attach a drawing to a quote request, while 16 smaller manufacturers did.
On product decision support, small sites earned 61% of available points, compared with 46% for large sites.
A larger budget may pay for a more sophisticated platform, but that does not guarantee better technical information where buyers need it.
"On a small site, the person who writes the product page usually knows the product," Alex Osmichenko says.
"So the page says what the buyer needs: materials, dimensions, tolerances, how quality is checked, and what to send with a quote."
The benchmark found that 54 of 59 small sites described their quality process at least in part, compared with 11 of 20 large sites.
Among the sites assessed for stock or lead-time information, 31 of 56 smaller manufacturers included it on product pages, versus three of 19 larger firms.
Smaller manufacturers also more often had quote buttons that carried the selected product into the enquiry, at 22% compared with 15% for large manufacturers.
They were also more likely to display the quality certificates their industries expect, at 88% versus 80%.
Alex Osmichenko attributes some of the difference to how website responsibilities change as companies grow.
"As a company grows, the website stops being run by the people who run the plant and becomes a marketing system. The specifics thin out."
What Do Industrial Buyers Need Before They Contact Sales?
Larger manufacturers more often named their people on the site. How much does that matter compared with certificates or a working quote path?
"Some, but it's not what decides the shortlist."
Alex Osmichenko points to Thomas's poll of more than 400 industrial buyers, which identified lead time, price, quality certifications and verified company information as leading supplier-shortlisting factors.
In GlobalSpec's engineer survey, affiliation with technical experts scored 3.5 out of five as a credibility signal. That puts an informative website (4.0 out of 5), customer references (3.8) and case studies featuring known brands (3.6) ahead of technical-expert affiliations as credibility signals.
For manufacturers, quality certificates help buyers verify that a supplier meets industry requirements.
A working quote form makes it easier to move from research to a purchase enquiry.
And named engineers can add credibility, too, particularly when they share technical advice or answer product-specific questions.
Buyers also move between multiple touchpoints before making a decision. McKinsey’s May 2026 Global B2B Pulse Survey found that buyers use an average of 10 channels during a purchasing journey.
When product information conflicts or buyers can’t get knowledgeable support, they may take their business elsewhere.
This begs the question for large manufacturers with multiple product lines and teams involved in the website: where do things usually start to fall apart?
"At the quote form and the product page," Alex Osmichenko says.
Nineteen of 20 large sites routed enquiries by product line, region or department, compared with 40 of 59 smaller sites.
According to Alex Osmichenko, that can leave buyers dealing with forms designed around the company's internal structure instead of the product they want to purchase.
Eighty-five percent of large sites opened a general form that did not retain the product a buyer was viewing.
Product specifications also varied across divisions. Only 14 of 20 large sites had a proper specification block on the product pages reviewed, compared with 58 of 59 smaller sites.
The results do not establish that company size causes weaker product pages.
They point to a potential problem as more teams take responsibility for different parts of the website: technical details and enquiry paths can become inconsistent.
What Should Brands Ask Before Approving a Larger Website Budget?
What should a brand ask an agency before approving a bigger website budget?
Alex Osmichenko recommends starting with the information buyers need and how easily they can act on it.
"Will every product page have a spec table with dimensions, materials and tolerances, and who writes it?" he asks.
He also advises asking whether buyers can download datasheets and CAD files for catalog parts without filling in a form, and whether quote requests retain the product details, accept drawings and state expected response times.
Performance deserves attention, too. In the benchmark, 59 of 79 sites failed Core Web Vitals, while 42 homepages exceeded 4 MB.
Alex Osmichenko's final question gets to the commercial purpose of the investment: "How will you measure success: by launch, or by whether a buyer can answer ‘does it fit, can I trust them, how do I get a price’ without picking up the phone?"
The overall score difference was modest, but the product-page results were more pronounced.
While 69% of small manufacturers fully specified materials on their websites, only 25% of large manufacturers did.
That gives website redesigns a more concrete starting point.
Before spending more on the platform, manufacturers should make sure buyers can check product specifications, verify quality credentials, and request a quote without unnecessary steps.
A polished homepage means little if the product page leaves those questions unanswered.
