Franchise SEO Tips

Google Toolbar

Find out how well your pages rank on Google with the Google Toolbar. Each page on your site has a Page Rank, which is Google’s way of saying which sites are more likely or less likely to yield useful information. The page rank is used to determine which sites to list highest in their results.  Getting your franchise listed above competing franchises in search results will give you an edge over other franchises in your market space. Use the toolbar to track the progress of your search engine optimization efforts.

1) Here’s where you can download the Google Toolbar.

2) Here’s a Google Toolbar support article and video on how to activate the Page Rank widget that comes with the toolbar.

Specialized Google Searches

Your franchise can quickly find out how your site is performing on Google by typing simple search code into a Google search. Here are 3 examples:

1) Find links back to your site. The Google search phrase (excluding quotation marks) is: “link:http://YourPage.net”. The best links to your site are those valued by readers interested in topics related to the products or services your franchise offers. These sites are likely to generate visits from your franchise’s target audience.

2) Find Google-listed pages. The Google search phrase is: “site: http://YourPage.net”. This search will display every page from your site that Google has listed.

3) Find Google-listed pages with a particular keyword. The Google search phrase is: “YourKeyword site:http://YourPage.net”.

Directory Listings

A good way to quickly spread links to your site and boost awareness of the services your franchise offers is to list on directory sites. Used by Google to determine which sites are most useful, links to your site increase your Google page rank and boost your placement, causing you to be listed higher in search results. Three directories which can be especially helpful are Google Plus PlacesBing Business Portal, and dmoz.org. They are used heavily by customers searching for local services. You can build a feature-rich listing with photos, promotional text, a list of services and more.

Keyword text

The search terms that your site is listed under, or “keywords”, are most likely to drive search traffic when they are 2-3 word phrases. Since search engines count the number of times keywords are used on a page to determine a page’s relevance for a given keyword, it is tempting to pack page text with them. However, don’t forget that the most important visitor to your site is a customer, not a search engine! This is why it’s better to stress clear writing over keyword repetition.

Anchor Text

The text contained in links on your site, or “anchor text”, is of special importance to search engines as it is your designation of what is contained on pages of your site. Not only is it good user experience to blanket the site with pathways between pages, but anchor text repeating the same keywords as those found on the linked pages increases the weight of those keywords. Anchor text can also lead to an expanded listing that shows the sections of your site like this example for the corporate site of High Touch High Tech:

Expanded Search Engine Listing

An example of a link which would result in a link in an expanded search listing for Franchise Info (see above) would be: Franchise Info.  The HTML for the link is:  <a href=””>Franchise Info</a>.  We hope that you have found this article useful to set you on the path to effective search engine marketing.  Keep in mind that SEO is a job as big as the web itself, but that steady, regular efforts will pay off in increased targeted traffic to your web site which will result in increased sales and revenue.

High Touch High Tech is the leader in innovative hands-on science and nature experiences for children, serving over 4 million children annually with 27 franchise locations across the United States, Canada, Turkey, Singapore and South Korea.