Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2016

Shopping for Improvement Website Practices T BY KEITH GERSON he results from the 2016 website mystery shopping reinforce what many of us already know: while leading franchise brands may realize the need for a digital business strategy, we are not there yet as an industry. For example, we found that the majority of franchise brands have a unique website for franchise opportunities, but many brands still lack effective use of technology and are not capitalizing on social media to bolster engagement and unit growth. In this year’s website mystery shopping, 165 franchise brands participated. They were evaluated on business operations and marketing as they related to search engine optimization, website usability, and website content. We shopped using various tools on the websites and scored the websites using 20 or more parameters that we organized in the following way. The basics • Unique URL • Web analytics • Ranking on search • Dedicated entry point for franchise page Basic SEO • Title tags • Meta, keyword tags • Strategy that drives content Website usability • Franchise content accessibility • Process of learning • Effective use of technology • Overall site presence • Optimized for mobile Key content • About us/history • Franchise information • Application Findings An aggregation of the findings offers some insight into areas of strength and areas that require continued focus. FranCon- 44 Telephone Recommendations • Establish process for “inquiry” vs. “qualified candidate” • Match up your sales process with most predictable buying process • Does the phone matter? • Show up strong from the start! nect’s observations are as follows: • 70% have a separate unique website for franchise opportunities. This is a major improvement over previous years. This is becoming a best practice and allows brands to communicate more directly with a potential candidate without distraction from other needs a general corporate website would require. “While leading franchise brands may realize the need for a digital business strategy, we are not there yet as an industry.” • 40% have a click-to-call button on franchise websites. We’d like to see more of these and have them be well placed and stand out to generate a higher level of conversions. • 33% do not have a unique starting point on their franchise opportunity website. This is problematic in that a potential candidate should be guided easily through the brand pitch without being confused as to where to begin. Again, this best practice has been found to drive higher conversion rates. • 24% of brand websites are mobile-friendly. This is shocking in today’s on-the-go, digitally driven world. People are doing more research via mobile than ever before. Your website needs to be easily read and navigated on multiple mobile platforms. • 53% of websites have two or more links for franchise opportunity on their home page. This is good but should be true for every website. Your main call to action is to attract potential candidates to learn more, so having at least two areas on your site in places that make sense is critical. • 20% of brands do not have a process of learning on their franchise opportunity website. This means the 80% that do have a process of learning are making it easy for potential candidates to engage and navigate. Since the competition for qualified candidates is fierce, this should be a major focus. • 40% of brands lack effective use of technology. Technology can be a unique differentiator when used wisely. It is also one of the more difficult areas to implement. The key is to outline your strategy and story map before selecting where and when to use technology to enhance the visitor’s experience. • 40% of brands do not show an investment chart, and 50% do not have clear requirements mentioned. This compares with 59% in 2015. We are not sure why this trend has gone backward, but it is an area we plan to investigate. The process of learning should include the information a potential candidate needs. By testing different approaches we can learn if this is a detractor or attractor for candidates. • 75% of brands don’t have their franchise opportunity listed on their Facebook page. Integrating social channels is critical to reach today’s audience. Your Facebook page should reflect the messaging of your website and be a key call to action. • 78% of brands are not active on LinkedIn. This is the largest professional network in the world. It is also a content engine for every topic from marketing to engineering to being your own boss. Brands should contribute and leverage this tool as part of an integrated program. Recommendations As we have seen from this year’s website mystery shopping, franchisors must empower their brands—and in the end, improve unit growth and success—with a better and more engaging website presence. This includes more learning opportunities and tools, as well as having Franchiseupdate ISS U E IV, 2 0 1 6

Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2016 | Page 46