Top Franchise Development Website: Number 1 — MaidPro

This month 1851 Franchise’s Franchise Development Website Awards have returned to announce the most effective and engaging development sites in franchising. A panel of nine expert judges evaluated each franchise development site according to three criteria: first impressions, quality of content and ease of use. Sites were scored on a five-point scale in accordance with these three criteria, with the overall website rankings based on a composite average of the judges’ scores. 

Coming it at number one is MaidPro’s franchise sales website, which received the highest overall average score of 4.19. When it comes to first impressions, the cleaning franchise’s development website secured an average score of 4.29, as well as an average score of 4.57 for content and 3.71 for ease of use. 

The first impressions metrics for each franchise development site are determined in consideration of five subfactors: usability, UI/UX design, site performance, SEO and mobile accessibility. MaidPro’s high score indicates that it is easily accessible and very user-friendly from a design and technical standpoint. 

“This is definitely a clean-looking site, which is especially important for a cleaning franchise,” said Stan Friedman, CFE and president of FRM Solutions.

The content metrics are determined by the presence and strength of three subfactors: motivating content, calls to action and reasons to buy now. Franchise sites that excelled according to this criterion told 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.

“What I liked most about the website was that it showed a diverse array of established owners and perspectives,” said Friedman. “Through interactive content, I could easily get a clear picture of the lifestyle of the franchise owner. The website also does a great job at displaying the brand’s awards.” 

On MaidPro’s site, prospects are able to interact with interesting content that validates the franchise offering through various established franchisee’s stories. Once a prospect clicks on the interactive content, they have the option of reading more or watching a video testimonial.

“It is important that franchise sales websites focus less on themselves and more on the desires of the prospective buyer,” said Brent Dowling, CEO of Raintree*. “One of the main ways to do that is through creative content, longer video testimonials and storytelling. In addition, third-party content is very useful, as it has a lot more weight for the prospects than the franchisor simply speaking about themselves.”

Because inquiry forms are the vehicle by which franchise brands receive relevant information from prospective franchisees, their presence and quality are critical. The ease-of-use metrics score was determined in relation to location, depth and ease of application.

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. 

“When it comes to displaying the actual information, including cost analysis, the MaidPro website is very clear and to-the-point,” said Friedman. “It really cuts to the chase, which is sometimes the best strategy.”

In addition, the form to request more information is available in multiple spots on the MaidPro website, making it easy to find and creating a higher chance that prospects will engage with the form.

The three metrics of first impressions, content and ease of use offer a streamlined way to analyze the effectiveness of a franchise development website. As the rankings show, when these three factors come together, the website can become the starting point of the franchise development process and serve as the primary entry point into the brand.