Co-Founder and CEO of MaidPro Mark Kushinsky lays out the key components of what went into the brand’s franchise development website and how it has functioned since.
When a potential franchisee is looking to join a brand, more often than not, the first place they visit is the brand’s franchise development website. This can be a critical determining factor in the prospective franchisee’s decision-making process. Ultimately the franchise development website can make or break a lead.
1851 Franchise Magazine connected with the Co-Founder and CEO of MaidPro Mark Kushinsky, who recently went through the process of redesigning the brand’s franchise development website, to get the details on what went into the creation of the website and how it has translated to success.
Showcase the Culture
While several franchise brands outsource the design of the franchise development website, MaidPro took a different approach.
“We knew that in order to really showcase MaidPro and our culture, we needed to be deeply involved. The majority and framework was developed internally,” said Kushinsky. “We did not believe an outside company would understand how to communicate MaidPro as accurately and authentically as we could.”
By keeping the development internal, MaidPro has been able to thoroughly showcase what life is like at MaidPro through the eyes of those that are within the walls of the business day in and day out.
Display the Life of a Franchisee
As prospective franchisees visit different franchise development websites, the ultimate question they are trying to answer is, “What is it like being a franchisee here?” Once a prospective franchisee leaves a franchise development website, they should be able to answer this question.
“We do a great job of answering all of the questions we hear from prospective franchisees right on the site,” said Kushinsky. “We created informational content for our most queried searches which gets prospective franchisees on site and interacting with the rest of our content.”
Since targeting information on the franchise development website to answer questions that a prospective franchisee might ask, MaidPro has seen most leads that have visited the franchise development website already have a full understanding of what it means to be a franchisee.
Focus on the Secret Sauce
Beyond displaying the culture and the lifestyle, it is important to highlight what makes the concept different from the others. Unfortunately, many prospective franchisees don’t just stick to one franchise development website within their search. In order to keep them wanting more, point out what is unique about the concept.
“Find your own secret sauce,” said Kushinsky. “What is special about your brand? Understand why you, as a franchisee, would want to join. Communicate that the best way you can.”
By utilizing internal strength and brand familiarity, MaidPro has been able to highlight their own “secret sauce” to their franchise development website, and recommend that other brands do the same.
Since MaidPro redesigned its franchise development website, the brand has seen a 62% increase in traffic from the previous website. Leads are up as much as 197%, with a 109% increase in visitors requesting information on the new website.
As first impressions are key, creating a memorable and highly functioning franchise development website is one of the most important steps for the brand’s introduction to the world, but more specifically, to the franchisees that could eventually make up its system.
