The major resources available to your franchise system include:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Pay Per Click (PPC)
• Social Media - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, GoogleBuzz, Blogs, RSS feeds
• Review Sites – Yelp, Kudzu, Angie’s List
• Web Portals  – Fran Gator, Solutions, Opp
• Trade Shows – IFE, Atlanta Franchise Show, Industry Trade Shows, Home Shows
• Policies for protecting your brand/marks

The Search Market

The Facts:

• 82% of US adults who conduct research online before making a purchase decision use search engines as a research tool.
• 40% of those conducting online research go to search engines first. Nearly equal percentages of respondents who use search engines to research products online use them to find a web site from which to buy (54%) or investigate where to purchase their desired product (53%)

Where Do They Click?

• 62% of search engine users click on a search result within the first page of results, and 90% of search engine users click on a result within the first three pages of search results. Statistics like these indicate that in order to be seen by the most searchers, marketers need to try to get their listings onto the first few pages of the search results.

The Future of Search Marketing

• Paid Search Marketing was a $8.6 billion industry in 2006 and it will nearly triple to $26.8 billion in 2011. Through 2011, spending for local online advertising will grow at a faster rate than either national advertising or total online advertising, making it a key growth area in a maturing Internet ad space.

Pay Per Click

Where Do They Click?

How SEO Works

While the industry recognizes 160 – 210 checklist items, we have put our efforts into 3 categories to make it easier for our customers: Content, Crawl-Ability Back Links

• Content, Content, & More Content
  • Ok, so Content is important  
  • Actually a well written, well planned page has more “SEO Value” than a just a page of words
  • Content is King
  • Targeting Keywords
  • Proper keyword density
• Crawl-Ability
  • This is the equivalent of Braille for your website
  • This is the more technical area of SEO
• Back Links
  • This is the equivalent of a reference in the real world.
  • Some “references” or links carry more SEO value than others
  • Relevance is important

 How Pay Per Click Works

• Catch Customers when they are looking for your Product/Service
  • Great Lead Generation Tool
• Only Pay when someone clicks on your Ads
  • Could Show Ad millions of times, but not pay a penny
• Use Custom Landing Pages
  • Increases likelihood of a “conversion‟
• Budget is Set on Daily Limit
• Track Everything
• On Average, a PPC Campaign will require 15 – 20 man/hours per month to run effectively
  • Blind Bidding Process
  • Specialized Software to manage effectively

 Market Forecast 2009-2014

 Helpful Hints/Lessons Learned

• Prioritize Your Efforts 
  1. SEO
  2. PPC
  3. Portals
  4. Shows
  5. Social
  6. Social Media
• Be sure Management is Engaged (Executive Sponsorship)
• Online efforts are a Strategic Business decision not a Technical Decision
• Develop Two Online Strategies/Plans: 1 for Franchise Units/1 for Headquarters
• If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.  Focus on ROI (Return On Investment) rather then Technical Metrics
• Focus on the efforts that generate the greatest ROI, otherwise you end up with “The Internet doesn’t work for our business.”
• Community will always trump Brand online.  Coordinate online efforts with your franchisees.  This will pay dividends to your concept for years.
• Get professional help.  Like off-line business, there is no substitute for experience.
• Develop System-Wide Policies & Distribute them to Franchisees
• Monitor Online Activity for Compliance

It’s not Al Gore’s internet anymore!  MySpace, Google, Facebook and YouTube are changing everything!  If you’re not capitalizing on their dominance, you’re slowing your company’s growth!

Today’s consumers–and today’s franchise buyers–are increasingly sophisticated and use the internet more and more every day.  For shopping, for news, for selling their “stuff,” for keeping in touch with family and friends, for learning, for recommendations, checking on their favorite sports teams, singers, actresses, and for finding the best franchise in which to invest!

If your company is not keeping up with the rapid changes on the internet–you’re falling behind. And it’s obvious!  Your site is “old” if it hasn’t had a major facelift in the last 3 years!

There are 3 main points of focus for Franchisor Websites and we’d like to spend some time discussing how the internet can impact each:

• Prospecting for, and Signing, New Franchisees
  • Search Engine Optimization
    • Focus on Niche Keywords
    • Repeat them on your Homepage
  • Pay Per Click Advertising–Google AdWords, Yahoo Search, MSN Landing Pages
  • Geo Targeting
  • Educating Prospects
  • On Line Reputation Management
  • Sales Presentation: Webinars
  • Video Demonstrations & Testimonials
  • Email Marketing
• Finding Clients & Customers for Your Franchisees
  • Building Your Brand
  • Creating a Buzz
  • Social Media or Social Networking
  • Each City (or Unit) Should Have a Page
  • A Media Room where Press Releases and Articles are posted for the Media.
  • Coupons to Drive Traffic to Stores
  • Geo-Targeting
  • Public Relations
  • On Line Reputation Management
  • Video Demonstrations & Testimonials
  • Surveys
  • Customer Newsletters (Talk to the People that will Listen)
  • How Do You Overcome Negative Postings on the Internet?
  • Social Media–Facebook
  • Email Marketing
• Communicating with Your Franchisees
  • Operations Manuals
  • Forms for Royalties
  • Dashboards
  • Chat Rooms-Bulletin Boards-Blogs
  • Educational Webinars
  • Surveys
  • Franchisee Newsletters
  • Posting Advertising Materials
  • Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)
  • Quarterly Town Hall Meetings
  • Best Practices Examples
  • Knowledge Repository
    • Presentations
    • Proposals
    • White Papers
    • Training Modules
  • Daily/Weekly News
  • Calendar of Events
  • Team Web Sites
  • Internal Metrics
  • E-Learning: Training for Franchisees & their Staff
• Technical Decisions: Do Customers & Franchisees Use the Same Website?
  • Can Franchisees post their own sites?

Sites You Should Review:

• YouTube.com; Facebook.com; MySpace.com; LinkedIn.com; CopyScape.com; SpyFu.com; Go-To-Meeting.com; MyMeeting.com; Google Analytics; Twitter.com; Google Alerts; Yelp.com; AngiesList.com; Wikipedia.org

Point to Ponder: Is Your Website Your Number 1 Lead Generator or an 8-ton Dinosaur that’s Embarrassing You?