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Team of 12 Franchise Experts Evaluates 200 Websites, Announces 8th Place Rita’s Italian Ice
Franchise Development Websites: Best of the Best Ranked
More than 200 franchise brand websites were reviewed by industry judges, and 75 were recognized as best-in-class. Each of these categories were meticulously evaluated by a panel of 12 judges and given a score on a ten-point scale; the website rankings are based on a composite average of these scores. Rita’s Italian Ice was a “best of the best,” tied for 8th overall with a score of 7.25.
The judging panel was comprised of industry experts: Sean Fitzgerald, of 1851 Franchise; Nick Powills, of No Limit Agency*; Batchelor, CEO and Jack Monson, Director of Digital Strategy, of Qiigo; Michelle Rowan, President of Franchise Business Review; Craig Slavin, CEO of Franchise Navigator; Jamshaid Hashmi, CEO of ClickTecs; Kay Ainsley, Managing Director of MSA Worldwide; Keith Gerson, President of FranConnect; Stan Friedman, President of FRM Solutions; Steve Beagelman, CEO of SMB Franchise Advisors; and Todd Bingham, President of Pinnacle. Each judge was tasked with judging hundreds of submissions, from which they awarded 75 standout franchise development websites with a gold, silver or bronze designation. The judges had this to say about Rita’s Italian Ice’s franchise development site:
Rowan: I love the webinar idea - it’s a very low-pressure way to educate candidates. Site is visually fun and conversational, which is consistent with the type of product the brand offers. Webinar invites are a great, non-invasive way to capture candidate info right away without hiding basic franchise info from them. The site overall is very clean and easy to read and navigate.
Ainsley: Straightforward, simple design with good top line information.
Beagelman: I liked the strong brand association, great movement, use of cutting edge and multiple graphical tools, and that it had lots of information.
Friedman: Modern look. I liked the layout of the information. The site incorporated videos nicely with text content.
Slavin: I’m not sure why I ranked this site so high as it is all about the company and not the benefits of owning. However, part of their messages is good.
Hashmi: The site is clean and information is easy to access. I liked the sticky bar at the top because it allows the user to easily ‘inquire'.
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About the Author
Nick Powills
FollowNick Powills, CFE, founded No Limit Agency in 2008 and serves as Chief Brand Strategist for the Chicago-based firm. No Limit is a full-service communications agency that establishes and elevates brands by bridging Public Relations, Social Media, Marketing, Advertising, Digital, and a lot of creativity, to best strategize well-rounded and successful campaigns for 50+ global franchise brands. By presenting visionary ideas and building real relationships, No Limit is able to create effective media branding strategies to help companies grow. Nick currently leads a staff of writers, media strategists, designers, social media experts and digital producers in an office think-tank where brands are humanized for strong, compelling media stories. Prior to starting No Limit at the age of 27, Nick spent four years working at a franchise PR agency where he mastered the art of building rapport with media outlets and creating newsworthy pitches for earned media placements. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Drake University in Iowa.
