Top Engaging sites in Franchising

This month, 1851 Franchise’s Franchise Development Website Awards have returned to announce the most effective and engaging development sites in franchising. A panel of eight expert judges evaluated each franchise development site according to three criteria: first impressions, quality of content and ease of use. Sites were scored on a five-point scale in accordance with these three criteria, with the overall website rankings based on a composite average of the judges’ scores.

The first impressions metrics for each franchise development site are determined in consideration of five subfactors: usability, UI/UX design, site performance, SEO and mobile accessibility. The content metrics are determined by the presence and strength of three subfactors: motivating content, calls to action and reasons to buy now. The ease-of-use metrics score was determined in relation to location, depth and ease of application.

This year's judges include Sean Fitzgerald, president of TruBlue Total House Care; Liane Caruso, senior vice president of Entrepreneur Media; Brent Dowling, CEO and co-founder of Raintree*; Kay Ainsley, managing director of MSA Worldwide; Michelle Rowan, president & COO of Franchise Business Review*; Stan Friedman, president of FRM Solutions; Thomas Scott, CEO of Brand Journalists; and Tom Spadea, co-founder of Spadea Lignana Law Firm.

Here the average scores for the 10 websites that came in between 6 and 20:

20. Big Frog Franchise

• First Impressions: 4.0

• Content: 4.0

• Ease of Use: 4.3

• Overall Average Score: 4.1

19. BIGGBY® COFFEE

• First Impressions: 4.3

• Content: 3.8

• Overall Average Score: 4.2

18. Uptown Cheapskate

• First Impressions: 4.5

• Ease of Use: 4.2

17. Office Pride

• First Impressions: 3.7

• Ease of Use: 4.8

16. hoots wings

• Ease of Use: 4.7

15. milliCare Floor & Textile Care

• First Impressions: 4.2

• Content: 4.2

14. Hungry Howie’s

15. AAMCO

16. The Joint Chiropractic

• First Impressions: 4.7

• Overall Average Score: 4.3

11. Relax the Back

12. Planet Smoothie

13. Merle Norman

14. Ginger Sushi + Poke Shop

15. Pillar To Post®

• Ease of Use: 4.5

6. Ben & Florentine