A Franchisee's Page on the Head Office Website

One page with an address and a map

A franchisee searches for her own store, and up comes the head office website's location page: the address, a pin on a map and the national phone number. No hours, no photographs, no names.

Local customers who find that page call the national number, wait, and are transferred. Some give up and call a competitor that answers its own phone.

She would like a site of her own. The franchise agreement may forbid one, and many do, along with any domain that uses the brand's name.

What local searchers need from the page

Someone searching for the store in their town wants to know whether this location suits them. The page should answer that without a phone call:

• Hours, including holidays and any difference between office and service hours.
• Services offered here, since not every location offers everything the brand does.
• The area served, by town or neighbourhood name.
• The people, with names and a photograph of the owner or team.
• Directions and parking, in words as well as on the map.
• A local phone number that rings at the store.

The second and third are what a national template tends to leave out, and they decide whether a call is worth making.

Why head office builds it this way

A franchise website with dozens or hundreds of locations is built from a database. Each location fills the same few fields, and a template turns them into near-identical pages.

That keeps the brand consistent and lets head office control what is said in its name, which it has good reasons to do.

But pages that differ only in an address give search engines little reason to show one over another, and give a local searcher nothing about this store.

What to ask head office for

Ask for more fields rather than a different site: hours, a checklist of services, the towns served, a few photographs, staff names and a short description written for the location.

Ask for the store's own phone number on its page, and a page address that includes the town.

Ask who updates the page and how quickly. A named contact and a simple way to request changes matter more than any single field.

Writing the store page

Write the description for this store alone, in the words local customers use: town names, roads, landmarks, and what this location does that others may not.

Keep it factual and short, three or four sentences, so head office can approve it quickly. Copying the national description adds nothing the page does not already say.

Photographs should be of this location: the storefront or yard, the team, the vehicles. Stock images already fill every other location page.

The listing on the map

The store's Google listing may be managed by head office along with every other location. Ask who verified it and who can change it.

Ask that it link to the store's own page rather than the national home page, with hours and phone matching the page, so a visitor tapping through from the map lands on the right store.

Head office may also answer reviews centrally. Ask whether the store can reply to its own, since the reviewer usually met the local staff, not head office.

A worked example

A franchisee runs a storage container rental territory covering a valley of small towns. Containers are delivered to homes and job sites, or kept at the franchisee's fenced yard.

The head office page showed the yard's address, a map and the national number. It did not say which towns were served, when the yard was open, or whether customers could visit a stored container.

The listing, managed by head office, linked to the national home page. The agreement ruled out a separate website or domain, so the franchisee wrote to head office with a list of fields instead.

Head office added hours, the towns served, the container sizes kept at this yard, photographs of the yard and a delivery truck, and a short description the franchisee wrote.

The page and the listing now share a local number, and the listing links straight to the page. A searcher in one of those towns finds the town named, the services listed and the yard's hours together.

What the agreement may forbid

Many franchise agreements restrict websites, domains and social accounts that use the brand, and some restrict local advertising outside head office's programs. Read the clauses on trademarks, advertising and the internet first.

Where the wording is unclear, ask head office in writing and keep the answer. Agreements are worded differently, and nothing here is legal advice on yours; a lawyer who works with franchisees can read the clauses with you.

What may still be open

Even a strict agreement may leave room. Answering reviews on the store's listing, sponsoring local teams that link to the store page, and sending head office local news are worth asking about.

A local social media account may be allowed with approval. Offer to follow whatever guidelines head office already has.

Local directories that list the store with the same name, address and phone as its map listing also help, provided head office agrees.

The counter-case

Some head offices already run good location pages, with editable hours, photographs and local text. There the franchisee's work is mostly keeping the details current.

Where customers come mainly through national advertising and a central booking line, the store page matters less than the service behind it.

People still check the page before they call or visit, and a page that answers their questions is part of the service.

Making the store page local

1. Search for your store as a customer would.
2. List what the page lacks that customers ask about.
3. Read the agreement's clauses on websites and advertising.
4. Ask head office for fields, not a separate site.
5. Write a short local description for approval.
6. Send photographs of the actual location.
7. Ask that the listing link to the store page.

Step four is the request most likely to be granted. A few more fields in the same template fit the structure head office protects, while giving the store what it needs.

Franchisees get the same unsolicited offers as every other business; emails promising first place on Google sets out how to judge them.

Frequently asked questions

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