How to Market a Chemical Company When Nobody Searches for What You Make

Your product names aren’t bringing traffic. What should your marketing do next?

Your product can solve an expensive production problem, yet its name barely registers in a keyword tool. Meanwhile, someone suggests publishing more blogs. On what, exactly? Chemical company marketing gets more interesting when buyers don’t search for the words on your product sheet. The first task is figuring out how they recognize the problem you solve and where they turn for help.

Low search volume doesn’t mean nobody needs your product.

“Nobody searches for it” can describe several different problems. A proprietary product name may be unfamiliar outside your customer base. Buyers may use an application term instead of a chemical name. Or your market may be small enough that keyword tools report little measurable activity.

Before ruling out search, compare product names with broader chemical categories, industry terminology and the questions your sales team receives. Check your own search data, too. A keyword tool’s estimate is one input, not a complete picture of customer demand.

Branded products need a bridge to familiar chemical terms.

Chemical manufacturers may organize their websites around branded products. That helps people who already know the names but leaves an opening for content using broader terminology.

Our team previously addressed this for a chemical manufacturing client by implementing a glossary on its U.S. website. The glossary targeted generic chemical terms, creating another route to search visibility beyond branded product names.

Our case study from 2024 recorded a 22% increase in sitewide organic impressions in less than six months, with three glossary keywords ranking on the first page.

If you’re interested in implementing this on your company’s site, first identify useful terms buyers may encounter while researching materials. Then, explain them accurately and connect readers to relevant products or applications where there is a defensible relationship. A glossary should help someone learn and navigate, rather than exist solely to collect keywords.

When service keywords stall, reach buyers through relevant blog topics.

Sometimes the preferred service terminology needs to stay, even when keyword research reveals little measurable demand. Supporting content can give the site another route to organic traffic.

“We had a chemical client whose preferred service terms barely showed up in Ahrefs. So we asked, ‘What else would their customers search for?’ That gave us relevant blog topics we had a better chance of ranking for, and those posts started bringing traffic to the site,” said Emily Lunz, SEO and Content Specialist at Design At Work.

The lesson isn’t to chase any topic with an attractive volume estimate. Instead, choose subjects connected to your customers and services, then give readers a logical next step. An article that attracts an unrelated audience may improve a traffic chart without helping the business.

Build technical content around the buyer’s application.

Ask sales and technical staff what prompts a prospect to contact them. What process is failing? What performance requirement changed? What does the buyer need to accomplish?

Use those answers to plan technical content that explains:

• The application and the problem being addressed
• Relevant material properties and selection criteria
• Operating conditions or limitations that affect suitability
• The information needed for a sample request or technical discussion

Keep product names and specifications accessible. Plain language should help readers reach the technical detail, not replace it. Have a technical reviewer confirm performance claims, and link to current technical data and safety documentation where appropriate.

A separate application page should answer distinct purchasing questions. Avoid publishing near-identical pages for every industry you serve.

When buyers aren’t searching yet, reach them elsewhere.

Your chemical marketing strategy can extend beyond search. Introducing an unfamiliar material may also require reaching a defined audience through other channels.

Choose channels based on who influences the purchase. An industry publication may suit a technical application article. A distributor may need a selection guide, while a trade show event may offer a chance to demonstrate a product to relevant buyers.

For LinkedIn or other paid campaigns, confirm that available targeting can reach a useful audience before committing a budget. Send campaign visitors to a relevant application or product page.

Judge progress by qualified interest as well as traffic.

Agree on what a useful inquiry looks like before judging the campaign. That could be a sample request with application details, a distributor inquiry or a conversation with someone involved in material selection.

Connect campaign records with sales feedback and track which inquiries progress. For the examples above, impressions and traffic demonstrate visibility gains. The next step is determining if those visitors became qualified inquiries or moved toward a technical evaluation.

Give your chemical marketing a DAW perspective.

You know what your products can do. The challenge is helping potential buyers see where they fit. At Design At Work, we’ve worked through that challenge with chemical clients, finding ways to reach people beyond branded product names and low-volume service terms.

Our marketing for chemical companies brings together SEO, web design, PPC and content marketing based on how your buyers find and evaluate suppliers. If your keyword report has you stumped, let’s figure out the next move together.