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The Ultimate Franchise Sales Website Checklist
It’s time to dive deep into the strategies used to create successful sales websites.
In the last few decades, the approach to franchise development has been slowly shifting from traditional marketing methods to a focus on digital spaces, especially in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. ?According to a special edition of the CMO survey released in June 2020, the pandemic has increased not only marketers' focus on digital opportunities across industries, but also customers' openness to these offerings.
The strategy may differ based on brand and budget, but the franchise development website serves as the central point for all digital marketing efforts and is key to a brand’s growth and success. The main goal of a franchise sales website is to make sure the franchisor is just as prepared to compete in a digital environment as in their physical stores.
Here are the top three ways to create an effective and engaging franchise development site.
First Impressions
A website that makes a good impression will be easily accessible, user-friendly from a design and technical standpoint, have exceptional site performance, strong SEO and have mobiel accessibility.
In order to cut through the clutter and compel candidates to engage, franchise development sites must optimize for SEO to stand out over competitors clamoring for attention. People want to have a good-looking site, but they also want one that is set up in a way that loads quickly. Page speed performance contributes to SEO — Google doesn’t reward slow-loading pages — drives up user bounce rate. In addition, FD sites shouldn’t just provide a great desktop experience. Mobile users need to be able to access the same functionalities, such as access to validation information, testimonials and more.
Informative Content
Informative content should be motivating, and it should include calls to action and reasons to buy now. Franchise sites that excel with their content tell compelling stories that are specifically designed to drive action. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the question of “Why Now?” has also become increasingly significant and should be addressed clearly.
On franchise development sites, the messaging should position the franchise opportunity clearly. Tap into language that showcases the financial value proposition and the investment required to join the system. Don’t make your candidate hunt for that information. Still, when it comes to engaging content, brands have to find the right balance between sharing too much and under-sharing. Instead of just relying on the data to tell the story, high-quality testimonial videos, photos or interactive content can showcase the types of owners who are a great fit for the brand to validate the franchise opportunity.
Ease of Use
Because inquiry forms are the vehicle by which franchise brands receive relevant information from prospective franchisees, their presence and quality are critical. Any critical information like inquiring forms should be easy to locate and complete.
The development website should provide a simple, navigable form so that prospects can quickly tell franchisors that they are interested. It should also provide high-level details of costs so that under-qualified candidates don’t waste the franchisor’s time and qualified candidates know the specifics of what they are getting into. The form to request more information should be easily accessible on every page and easy to view.
Overall, franchise development websites should focus on securing high conversions on qualified leads. Applications will determine the quality of the content and the site’s ability to attract the correct buyer for the brand. To achieve this, the site should tell the brand story and describe the brand’s business model, clearly sharing qualifying details like culture and start-up costs while still encouraging prospects to initiate a conversation.
With effective first impressions, useful content and ease of use, franchise development websites can become the starting point of the franchise development process and serve as the primary entry point into the brand.
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