Franchise Brokers Association BLOG

This month the FBA’s Internet Marketing Team has introduced that we will be providing the addition of user-controlled landing pages for members who have an FBA Franchise Consultant Website.

“We are excited about providing landing pages to our members as many of our consultants are looking for ways to generate their own leads,” says Chris Wall, Creative Director at FBA.  “By giving our consultants the ability to create and maintain their own landing pages they will be able to run specific and effective PPC (Pay Per Click) campaigns. We have always looked for ways to allow our consultants to reach out to potential customers over the web and landing pages are the best way for them to do that.”

The new feature will allow a user to create a landing page with a unique URL through the FBA Members Site and give consultants the ability to easily control content, images and video.  The page will have a quick contact form alongside the content the broker will provide. Specific franchises will be able to be advertised and can reflect real-time data controlled from the FBA Franchisor Database. Consultants will also be able to obtain statistical information regarding traffic to the landing page, in addition to the contact information for the individuals who filled out the contact form.

Landing pages are proven to be the most effective means of pulling in potential customers by providing them with limited information and an incentive for providing their contact info.

For examples on how to create effective content for landing pages view the following blog post from Larry Chase at Search Engine for Marketers.

http://www.wdfm.com/marketing-tips/landing-pages.php

“If you run PPC campaigns, landing pages are critical to your success. If you run email marketing campaigns, landing pages are critical. In fact, landing pages are critical to organic search engine marketing, press releases and just about all Internet marketing efforts.”

For more information on building a website and the new landing page resource, contact Chris Wall at c.wall@franchiseba.com or 407-856-0611 x 4221.

For a while now I have been working with a lot of Brokers within the FBA in the development of their websites. The number one question I get is ‘How do I increase traffic to my site?’ Of course, this is very important with franchise Consultants because we are always looking for motivated and quality leads who are interested in owning their own business.

The truth is there is no one sure way to get this traffic and it doesn’t happen overnight unless you are willing to spend big money on a pay-per-click campaign.  There is no “quick fix” or set it and forget it way to do this.  If traffic is what you want, and we all want it, then you must be willing to understand a few fundamental ideas.

Content is King

The first thing that must happen is you have to be involved with your website.  This means that you are actively updating and revising relevant content on a particular subject.

The good thing is that we all have valuable information that our prospects are looking for! All you have to do is talk about it and give people the confidence that you actually know what you are talking about. Because it can be difficult to break into such a large concept such as Franchise Consulting at large I recommend people focus on a particular industry that fits with their own skill sets. This focusing allows you to build credibility and results faster.  After you gain traction on this focused topic build out from there into larger markets. The age old idea of breaking up a project into pieces rather than going at it as a whole applies here.

For example, if you have worked 20 years in education talk about that history and why you think franchise concepts, such as Tutor Doctor, are such good franchises. Provide examples, give testimonials, provide useful links to websites, blog posts, etc. Go from the standpoint that you are a resource about this subject and providing this useful knowledge to your customers.

Not only does this help your customers but it places you as an expert on the subject. This credibility is important for people to feel comfortable in contacting you.  The other advantage is that you are building a resource of KEY WORDS within your website for Google and other Search Engines to scan. This is highly important for optimizing your site for what is called Organic Growth with the Search Engines.

This is why having a Blog is so important.  A Blog is really an acronym for Better Listing On Google.  This is because Google and Search Engines love paragraphs of text! They eat it up! So give it to them! Write as much as your schedule allows and share your knowledge with the world.

Which brings me to my next topic in helping generate traffic to your website….

Effective Link Building

Yes.  Link building.  Think of these hyperlinks as pathways to other people and ideas.  Because the internet is a Web of pages all linking to one another this is looked at very favorably by the Search Engines.   The goal here is to have people link TO YOU.  So again, the best way for people to see your website as good link material you need great content.

A great article and series of blog posts on this subject can be found here. Did you see how I just did that? Now you not only have this article on the subject to learn about increasing your Internet traffic you now have the link found above.

It is important for you to build relationships with other experts out there.  Each incoming link to your site will be seen as a vote for your site being worth while for a Search Engine to send you traffic.  If you can get a website which has a multitude of incoming links to then link to you that is seen as a weighted link and that vote will count more.  Do you see how this is working? The internet is a community, sharing ideas and giving you ways to build relationships and then inquiries. Some of those inquiries just may be a lead.

If you found this article interesting or if you have any questions please leave a comment.  If I feel like FBA Members or the general public enjoyed this article I may continue writing more on this subject and others.  Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you.