Why Your Franchise Development Website Needs an Upgrade

Your Website Is Costing You Leads—Here’s How to Fix It

Your franchise development website is your brand’s 24/7 salesperson. It doesn’t take coffee breaks. It doesn’t sleep. It’s either working for you, generating leads and pushing candidates down the pipeline… or it’s sending them straight to your competitors.

If your franchise development site looks outdated, is difficult to navigate, or fails to tell a compelling story, you’re losing potential franchisees before they even pick up the phone.

As Jack Monson, Thunderly’s Chief Growth Officer, puts it: “Fran Dev websites are work horses, not show horses.” They need to do the heavy lifting, converting interest into real leads. If your site isn’t built for performance, you’re already behind.

Why a Separate Franchise Development Website Matters

A common mistake brands make is lumping their franchise opportunity onto their consumer-facing website. Bad move. Your franchise prospects aren’t your customers. They’re potential business owners looking for serious investment opportunities. They need clear, dedicated messaging and easy-to-find information about why your franchise is the right choice.

Franchising is a long-term investment, and your target audience isn’t making a snap decision. A well-built franchise development site should provide everything they need to move forward with confidence: a compelling brand story, transparent financials, detailed training and support breakdowns, and proof of success through testimonials and case studies. Without this, you’re asking someone to invest in your business without showing them why it’s worth it.

Angela Moore, Web Developer at Thunderly, breaks it down:

“Audience is important. The audience for a consumer website is different from the audience of a franchise website. Being able to have content geared towards the target audience, including SEO best practices, will help those searching online to quickly get to the website they need to see and will help connect them to their next steps.”

(Want to hear more from Angela and the Thunderly team? Check out Episode 106 of the Franchise Freaks podcast, “Fran Dev Website Tips and Best Practices.”)

Why Your Marketing Strategy Relies on a Strong Website

You can have the best franchise marketing strategy in the world—killer social media content, high-performing ads, PR wins, email campaigns—but if all those efforts drive traffic to a bad website, you lose the lead.

Think about it: You’ve invested thousands into an ad campaign that gets franchise prospects excited about your brand. They click the link to your site… and land on something outdated, hard to navigate, or lacking key information. They leave. Just like that, your investment is wasted.

A strong franchise development website ensures that every visitor who lands on your page stays engaged, finds what they need, and takes the next step toward ownership.

What to Incorporate for Maximum Impact

So, what exactly should be on your franchise development website? Here are the must-haves that will take your site from “meh” to money-making machine:

1. Video Testimonials & Brand Stories

Ask any franchise development executive what works to award franchises, and they’ll tell you the same thing: nothing sells an opportunity like real stories from successful franchisees.

Video testimonials showcase the real people behind your brand, making the franchise opportunity feel more tangible and trustworthy. A well-produced brand story video captures the essence of your franchise, highlighting what makes it unique and why people should invest.

These videos create an emotional connection that static text and images simply can’t match. By integrating content such as franchisee testimonials, brand story features, and “Day in the Life” videos throughout your site, you’re giving potential franchisees an inside look at the real success stories within your brand—straight from those who’ve already taken the leap.

Take a look at The Joint’s franchising website, and you’ll see for yourself what this looks like in action. The Joint Chiropractic worked with Thunderly to create a franchise development website that fully integrates video storytelling to educate and engage prospects. From in-depth franchisee testimonials to behind-the-scenes brand videos, The Joint’s website effectively captures interest, increases time on site, and improves overall lead conversion by giving prospects the information they need in an engaging format.

Explore their franchisee testimonials and their brand story to see the impact firsthand.

2. SEO-Optimized Content

Your website needs to rank high on Google. Period. If it doesn’t show up in search, you’re invisible to potential prospects.

SEO-optimized blogs, keyword-rich franchise pages, and local SEO strategies help push your brand higher in search rankings. Google’s algorithm favors fresh, valuable content, so if your site hasn’t been updated in months (or years), you’re missing major opportunities.

Regular blogs, optimized site copy, and strategic keyword placement help:

Increase organic traffic
Position your brand as a thought leader
Capture prospects actively searching for franchise opportunities

Franchise brands that exceeded their goals in 2025 reported that digital lead sources—PPC, franchise portals, and SEO—delivered the highest leads-to-close ratios at 38%, according to Franchise Update Media’s 2025 Annual Franchise Development Report (AFDR). In the 2024 AFDR, SEO alone accounted for 15% of digital leads. That means your SEO strategy isn’t just about visibility, but is also a direct driver of franchise sales.

Case in point? Charleys Cheesesteaks and Wings. Thunderly implemented a robust SEO content strategy on Charleys’ franchise development website, launching high-value blogs and optimized site copy to strengthen search rankings and increase visibility. These blogs didn’t just target industry keywords but were designed to educate potential franchisees, answer their biggest questions, and position Charleys as a leading franchise opportunity. Combined with an engaging website experience, this SEO-driven approach helped Charleys attract the right franchise candidates with a website that converts at 7.87%, 2.6x the industry average.

Charleys’ franchise development website includes SEO-optimized blogs to improve search

The bottom line: franchise buyers are researching online, and if your website isn’t appearing in those searches, they’re clicking on someone else’s brand instead. Optimizing your website for SEO and PPC isn’t optional—it’s the difference between ranking and disappearing.

3. High-Performance Lead Generation

Your website should be built to collect leads, not just display information. If a prospect is interested, make it easy for them to take the next step.

A franchise development site without killer lead generation is like a car without gas. Make sure yours includes:

Strong Calls to Action: Every page should direct visitors toward the next step (Schedule a Call, Request Info, etc.).
Optimized Forms: Keep it simple. Long, clunky forms scare leads away.
Live Chat: Capture interest while prospects are actively on your site.

Sport Clips’ franchise development website is a prime example of what happens when lead generation is done right. With a site that converts leads 2.5 times more than the industry average, Sport Clips has transformed its digital presence into a powerhouse for franchise growth. Thunderly’s approach combined captivating website content with a strong focus on SEO-optimized organic content, ensuring potential franchisees find Sport Clips when searching for opportunities. Engaging video content brought the brand story to life, reinforcing credibility and trust, while podcasts gave prospects a behind-the-scenes look at real franchise owners and support teams.

Sport Clips’ franchise development website converts 2.5x the industry average

With easy-to-use forms, clear calls to action, and a digital strategy built for conversion, Sport Clips isn’t just attracting leads, but is helping to close multi-unit deals and fueling record-breaking growth.

4. Fast, Mobile-Friendly Design

A slow-loading site will kill your conversions before they even start. More than half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices, and if your site takes more than three seconds to load, you’re losing visitors. A modern, mobile-optimized design ensures that no matter where a prospect finds your brand—whether on a phone, tablet, or desktop—they’re getting a seamless experience.

Beyond speed, the design needs to be intuitive. If visitors can’t navigate your site easily or find the information they need within a few clicks, they’ll move on. A well-structured website with clear calls to action, an easy-to-use menu, and a logical flow keeps users engaged and guides them smoothly through the decision-making process.

Investing in fast, mobile-first design isn’t an optional step but a necessity in today’s digital-first world.

See A&W’s franchising website (one of our team’s personal favorites!) on mobile

Time for an Upgrade? Thunderly Has You Covered

If your franchise development website isn’t generating leads, it’s time for a serious upgrade. At Thunderly, we specialize in:

Custom-built, high-performance franchise websites
SEO optimization to rank higher and attract more candidates
Engaging, conversion-focused content & video production
Data-driven lead generation strategies

Your website should be your best salesperson—not your biggest weakness. Ready to give your brand the digital presence it deserves? Let’s make it happen. Contact Thunderly today or email jmonson@thunderlymarketing.com for more information.