Let The Internet Searches Begin!

Following is post two (2) in an ongoing series of posts regarding the franchising experience. 

FRANCHISEE
Well, alrighty then -- let’s see what the web has to say about becoming a franchisee.  (Opens Google and enters the words “franchise opportunities.”)  HOLY COW – 5,430,000 results in 0.22 seconds!  Let’s take a closer look at what we have here…

      EDITOR’S NOTE - The following search results are based on a real Google search conducted on June 4, 2014 at approximately 7:00pm Pacific Daylight Time.  Before we delve into the search results, let’s take a quick look at a few of the key elements of online marketing:

o   SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING (SEM) – Search Engine Marketing is a global term that refers to the technical work necessary to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPS). 

§  PAID SEARCH RESULTS - These are results that show up as an “Ad” at the top and on the right-hand side of a search results page based on Google’s AdWords program. Here’s a link to a great explanation of how this program works http://www.wordstream.com/articles/what-is-google-adwords.  Google AdWords is a “flavor” of the Pay-Per-Click or PPC concept and accounts for a very large percentage of paid ad dollars.

§  PAY-PER-CLICK (PPC) – PPC ads generally do not cost anything to display.  Only when a viewer clicks on the ad is an advertiser is charged for the ad – hence the term ‘pay-per-click.’
·         In some cases ads are charged based on an ‘impression’ (i.e. each time an ad appears on a viewer’s screen).  As impressions take place so quickly and with such frequency, these types of ads are generally paid for in batches of 1000 impressions.

o   ORGANIC SEARCH RESULTS - These are the listings that appear below the paid ads on a search engine results page based on their relevance to the search terms.  Many people believe that organic search results present a more accurate reflection of what they are looking for and are more credible, because they are generated by popularity and common usage vs. paid advertising.  An entire industry has sprouted up to support companies in their quest to land the much coveted number one slot on the first page of a Google search engine results page. 

§  SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) – Although there is no industry standard definition of Search Engine Optimization, in over-simplified terms, SEO is essentially the art and science of ensuring that a website can be found by search engines based on words and phrases that are relevant and valuable based on what the viewer is searching for. 

·         For an excellent in-depth description of all of the above, you may want to click the following http://www.netgain.net.au/the-difference-between-sem-seo-ppc-and-adwords/

OK, now back to our FRANCHISEE

Hmmmm…very interesting. I wonder which one of these I should click on?  Under the ads section, here are the top five that appeared:

  • nhancefranchiseopportunities.com
  • franchiseopportunities.com
  • healthyyouvending.com
  • franchiseforsale.com
  • franchisedirect.com
In the organic section, I’m showing the following top five:


  • entrepreneur.com/franchise500
  • franchising.com
  • chick-fil-a.com
  • franchise.org
  • franchisegator.com

Based on the names of each of these sites alone, (aka the ‘URL’ for each site), I have a feeling that each is going to provide a very unique viewing experience.  Let’s see what happens when I take a closer look at each option…

FRANCHISOR

Well, alrighty then -- let’s see what the web has to say about becoming a franchisor.  (Opens Google and enters the words “franchise my business.”)  HOLY COW – 35,200,000 results in 0.26 seconds!  Let’s take a closer look at what we have here…

Hmmmm…I wonder which one of these I should click on?  Under the ads section, here are the top five that appeared:

  • ifranchisegroup.com
  • franchisegrowthpartners.com
  • mcgrow.com
  • thefranchisemaker.com
  • thefranchisebuilders.com
In the organic section, I’m showing the following top five:


  • entrepreneur.com/article/220438
  • inc.com/guides/201107/how-to-franchise-your-business.html
  • http://www.sba.gov/content/build-your-own-franchise
  • franchisedoc.com
  • http://franchises.businessmart.com/should-i-franchise-my-business.php
Very Interesting.  At first blush, this looks like a combination of companies that help to franchise businesses and articles based on the concept of franchising.  Let’s take a closer look and let’s see what this is all about…

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