Your website is the face of your brand and ultimately, the first touchpoint that franchisee’s and visitors see. Understanding your audience and their first impressions can help you with navigating the design and layout of your website. We have outlined below the importance of developing a strategic web design for your franchise website!
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The best franchise websites focus on content, design, and user experience. Your website must function effectively and be positioned appropriately to operate efficiently and capture high-quality franchise leads.
Key aspects of a Good Franchise Website
It takes 50 milliseconds for a website visitor to decide if they are going to stay and look around or leave. Before they read a word, the franchise web design element conveys whether you are a professional or an amateur. It instantly defines your brand personality.
What differentiates an amateur franchise website from a professional one?
Most can tell if a website has been professionally designed or not. The color blocks and images should be symmetrical. The images should be clear and without watermarks (legally obtained). The font should be consistent in size and type and easy to read. All of that can be digested in 50 milliseconds.
1. Brand Personality
Colors, imagery, and font can depict brand personality. Is your brand edgy or subdued? Is it whimsical or conservative? Your visitor may feel confused and overwhelmed at one glance.
2. Franchise Website Content
In terms of content and your franchise web design – An amateur site may contain grammatical, spelling, or spacing errors in the text. It may lack crucial backlinks or insufficient references. A professional site will demonstrate original content that clearly outlines deliverables. A professional familiar with franchise regulations will know what words are compliant according to the Franchise Trade Commission (FTC), the franchise industry’s regulating body.
As far as personality, content is king! Choosing the correct words in your content demonstrates your brand’s personality. Slang words and conversational tone depict an informal personality, whereas academic writing will depict a more senior-level brand.
3. Franchise Website Navigability
Perhaps the most evident display of amateur versus professional franchise web design is whether or not the site is easy to navigate. Are there calls to action on every page that include easily accessible forms? Can a visitor easily and quickly navigate from one page to the next? A poorly functioning website will make a visitor leave even if they like the design and the messaging.
Glitches in navigation send the wrong message regarding professionalism and reliability, two areas where you want your brand to shine.
4. Franchise Website Design Placement
Franchisors often believe they can simply add franchise messaging to their consumer website. This is something they can do themselves, with minimal, if any, cost. The problem with this method of franchise web design is that it may look great on screen, but the wrong people are going to see it.
A franchise website should exist separately from a consumer website because the audience between the two is entirely different. Therefore, the SEO, SEM, and other navigational and marketing factors should reflect the needs of the franchise audience. Only in this way can the site attract, capture, and convert quality franchise leads.
What to Look for in a Franchise Website Design Agency
It is worth repeating that the franchising industry is regulated. There are franchise marketing guidelines that must be adhered to for a franchisor to remain legally compliant. Typical marketing agencies and website designers who work outside of the franchise industry aren’t aware of these guidelines.
Similarly to why you would hire a franchise attorney versus any other type of attorney, you should look for franchise marketing agency services specializing in franchise web design.
Franchise website design firms are a niche industry. If you keep that in mind as you decide how to move forward with your franchise concept and the impression it gives the online visitors who find it, you’ll be better positioned to capture high-quality leads for your brand.