1851 Recognizes Top 40 in First Franchise Development Website Awards

There’s no one simple answer to that question, but an exceptional franchise development website is certainly a crucial piece of the puzzle. With that in mind, 1851 Franchise shined a light on the best the industry has to offer by announcing the Top 40 finalists of the 2015 Franchise Development Website Awards.

Mosquito Joe*, Checkers* and MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes* all finished with a 8.7.

“You can clearly see that the quality of franchise Websites has improved over the last few years. Franchisors are understanding that the Website is critical to encouraging prospects to fill out an inquiry,” said Keith Gerson, a judge and President of FranConnect.

Living in a digital world, brands that embrace new developments with best practices will be the ones that continue to thrive. The 2015 Franchise Development Website Awards placed design at the forefront, with sites being judged on motivating content, ease of application, usability, UI/UX design, site performance and SEO. Each of these categories were meticulously evaluated by a panel of four judges and given a score out of 10; the Website rankings are based on a composite average of these scores.

Industry experts at No Limit Agency*, FranNet and FranConnect were tasked with judging hundreds of submissions, from which they pooled 40 standout franchise development websites. The judging panel was comprised of four members: Sean Fitzgerald, a senior level franchise executive with over 20 years of experience; Nick Powills, CEO and founder of No Limit Agency, a hybrid communications agency based in Chicago; Todd Binham, president at FranNet, LLC, a franchise consulting firm; and Gerson,

In addition to recognizing the best franchise development websites in the industry, 1851 has pieced together a best practices resource guide taking all sites’ successes into account and pooling them into one cohesive strategy. These strategies can be applied to one-page templates, content management systems and any site scheme in between. This guide can be viewed here.

A well-designed franchise development website can mean all the difference in franchise sales, and brands that understand this deserve their recognition—these awards and subsequent industry guides serve as a blueprint for any franchise looking to succeed in the digital realm and beyond.