5 Killer Franchise Development Websites

A franchise’s development website is a crucial — perhaps the most crucial — element of its growth strategy. The development website is often the first and last stop a candidate makes in their discovery process before applying. Still, too many franchises treat their development sites as afterthoughts, little more than landing pages for application information. Or, just as bad, many franchises will stuff too much information into their development website, trying to cram an entire discovery process into a single browsing experience.

Both of those mistakes can be more than a little costly, according to Michael Palm, Senior Project Manager, Digital at franchise marketing and PR agency No Limit Agency* [No Limit Agency is a sister company to 1851 Franchise]. “Development websites have to walk a fine line” between providing too much and too little information, Palm says, or they risk losing the candidate.

A site that provides too little information demands extra work on the part of the candidate, who is likely exploring a number of different brands, and a website with too many pages or too many blocks of text can be muddled and confusing. Both risk turning off candidates when they are first checking out a brand or when they are looking to apply.

Palm told 1851 about five franchise development websites that nail the balance, providing streamlined and informative user experiences that encourage candidates to take the next step. Four of the sites were designed by Palm. The fifth is designed by another team but is one of his favorites.

1. Solcioty Fitness

Palm: If your SEO strategy isn’t too complex, this is the model for a clear and effective development website. It’s all one page, which makes it easy to browse and reduces the risk of users missing key information, and the design is clean and appealing. All of that drives fluidly to a clear call to action in the “Inquire” section. It also features a downloadable franchise kit, which requires some basic information from the user before downloading. That’s a great way of gathering a name, email address and phone number before the candidate fully commits to inquiring.

2. Blink Fitness

Palm: This one has a great mix of content, with images, videos, creative copy and compelling headlines all complementing each other effectively throughout the site. One of my favorite parts of this site is the “Newsroom” section, which aggregates a number of press mentions, providing strong third-party validation, which is something every candidate is going to be looking for.

3. Sylvan Learning*

Palm: This is another great one-page experience with very strong calls to action. From the banner to the downloadable brochure to the main contact form, there are several touch-points that entice the user to take the next step in finding more information. The use of video in the “Franchise Testimonial” section is another great touch, allowing candidates to connect with their potential peers at a much earlier stage than they are usually able to in the discovery process.

4. Dunkin Donuts

Palm: I didn’t design this one, but it’s one of my favorites. It’s got a great multi-page approach, with the bulk of the content condensed into three very important buckets: brand story, available markets and process. It’s very fluid, walking the user through each bucket. It provides a lot of important information in a clean and digestible presentation.

5. Toppers Pizza*

Palm: This is another excellent example of multi-page design. Every brand has a story, and the Toppers development site does a great job of telling theirs. That’s one of the most important things a franchise brand can do, and to do it on your development site gives you a big head start. Also, the sticky contact form at the bottom of the page is a great way of keeping that primary call to action accessible throughout the experience