Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2015 | Page 49

ANNUAL MYSTERY SHOPPING SURVEY from the vantage point of a candidate. Google your brand for keywords and using different cities to see what your prospects see. Your franchisee presences and reviews play a major role in how you are perceived, and make the difference in generating an inquiry or ultimately awarding a franchise. Focus discovery on how they will be successful generating customers instead of all the wonderful things you do to train and support them. W AFDR STATS • Only 45% of franchisors measure the percentage of unique visitors to their home page that convert to leads • 4,320 average unique visits monthly • 139 average leads monthly • Only 37% of franchisors measure the percentage of visitors on their information request forms that convert to leads FU: Any other thoughts or observations about any of your research? Johnson: Social media or what people are saying about your brand is more important than what you say about your brand, and it seems to be downplayed as still being a non-result–producing “nice to have” instead of a strategic “must have” that is a major component of the discovery process. n Best Recruitment Website Practices hen Tim Johnson and his associates at FranConnect set about measuring how well franchise brands were doing with their franchise recruiting websites for this year’s mystery shopping survey, they needed a standard to measure their analysis. They used the scorecard of Franchise Update Media’s best practices, created years ago and tweaked and updated continually to keep it relevant to the changing marketplace and technologies. “The best practices represent the data point that drove the score,” says Johnson. “They are best practices because the most progressive and thriving brands execute on them. Most of these reflect common sense, can be substantiated, and will withstand any argument.” The following are the criteria FranConnect used to measure website effectiveness during their mystery shopping. 1. BASIC SEO (META/KEYWORD TAGS) Benefits of franchising Title tags (very important for SEO and social sharing) • company name only or title of page only • company name plus “franchise” and same on all pages or has title of page next to it • a few unique franchise or business opportunity keywords Benefits of company franchise 2. WEBSITE USABILITY Franchise content accessibility (from home page) • 3 different links to access franchise page or 1 link in main and unique button • 2 different links (1 in main navigation, 1 elsewhere) • 1 link in main navigation • hard to find (only at bottom) Process of learning (how does someone find out more about the brand) Effective use of technology—video • Video testimonials • Video spokesperson • Click to call • Online chat • Twitter/Facebook/social media links Overall Site Presence (look and feel) 3. KEY CONTENT About Us/History • Dedicated page • Franchise team listed Territory map • Standard map/detailed area • Map Investments • Investment chart • Mention build-out and franchise fee and royalty • No investment mentioned Requirements (what will it take to become a zee) Frequently Asked Questions • Solid FAQs with good descriptions and answers • Few basic FAQs • None Testimonials • Sprinkled throughout site or has a dedicated page with video, text, pictures, etc. • At least one testimonial • None Industry background and growth Earnings claims (Item 19 or other) Franchise award process (how things will happen) Initial request form • Short form with contact info only • Short form with financial qualifiers • Short form with time frame • Short form with lead source Application Franchiseupdate I S S U E I V, 2015  fu4_grow_mystery(44-47).indd 47 47 11/16/15 3:49 PM