Elements, in partnership with a leading online survey company, has just completed an extensive mail and online survey of United States Franchisee locations, on behalf of franchisors who want to know more.

 

After extensive analysis it became increasingly clear that franchisees believe the local independent competitors are significantly beating them at obtaining on line leads. The graphic below shows that over 75% of the respondents feel that local independents are doing a better job.

 

77%  Local Independents are dominating Local Market

13%  Franchisees lack budget or time

10%  Franchisees lack expertise

 

Local competitors can be better positioned because of many reasons. Chief among these reasons is the fact that Google can now discern when a franchisee is really a micro site on a corporate web site. Some forward looking franchisors are actually creating brand controlled, fully autonomous web sites for their franchisees.

 

 

With a fully autonomous site (meaning it has it’s own domain name) Franchisees obtain a much higher Google ranking and significantly increase leads. These entrepreneurial companies are harnessing the power of the ‘network effect’ and combined power of their franchisees through cross links and local content to not only increase leads for their franchisees but to also increase leads for future franchise sales.

 

Reasons Local Competitors Win:

·         Google Knows They are Local

o    Independent URLs

o    Contains Local Content

·         Shoppers Feel They Are Buying Local

Solutions:

·         Allow Franchisees to add local content

·         Create Corporate Controlled Autonomous web sites

·         Cross-link all Franchisees and Corporate sites

 

Results:

·         Higher Search Ranking

·         Lower Pay per Click Costs

·         Increased Leads/Sales

·         Happier Franchisees

 

                Jeremy LaDuque is the president and CEO of Elements Inc., an interactive web agency that assists businesses in solving critical challenges through forward-thinking implementation of web strategies and business solutions. Elements is the creator of ElementsLocal, an innovative software solution for franchises that helps increase company leads by maximizing search engine results. For more information on ElementsLocal, visit www.elementslocal.com and take the Tour. For additional tips from Jeremy or to set up an interview, editorial media can contact Jordan at On the Horizon Communications at (805) 773-1000 or jordan@thepressroom.com.

Written by: Jeremy LaDuque

This entry was posted on Monday, July 20th, 2009 at 10:56 am and is filed under Clients, Community & Social, ElementsLocal, Franchise Local Marketing, Online Marketing, Press Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.