(Disclosure: I’m an affiliate for SiteGround. As a result, the company will pay me if you purchase their speedy web hosting services through one of the links in this article. One more thing: The Franchise King.com is powered by SiteGround.)
Speed
Today’s prospective franchise owners visit lots of franchise websites. They’re usually going from one website to another in rapid succession. They’re looking for-and expect to obtain the information about your franchise business opportunity* fast. If they don’t get their information quickly they move on to the next franchise website on their list. The importance of having a fast-loading website for those looking to buy a franchise is crucial. And, not just for your web visitors.
*This article is mainly for franchisors. But, it’s important for prospective franchise owners to know how important it is in today’s digital world for companies with an internet presence to have a speedy website. If you become the owner of a franchise, the corporate website is usually a major touchpoint for your potential customers/clients. That website better be good. And, fast.
Website Speed Is An Important Ranking Signal For Google
Brian Dean, of Backlinko, has made quite a name for himself in the world of Search Engine Optimization. (SEO) His how-to guides are off the charts. When it comes to website rankings, Brian definitely knows what he’s talking about.
After analyzing 1,000,000 Google search results, one of the things he discovered was this:
“Site speed matters. Based on data from Alexa, pages on fast-loading sites rank significantly higher than pages on slow-loading sites.”
Read about the other things Brian found out about how Google ranks websites.
How Fast Is Your Website?
I’ll show you exactly how to find out…but first, check out how fast the website you’re now on is.
I want you to focus on the figure on the top right of the image.
The Franchise King.com is faster than 82% of all the websites that have been tested here.
To test the speed of your website, go here. How fast is it?
Another thing I want you to do, is to use the free Pingdom tool to compare websites. Just type in the web addresses of some other sites-preferable well-known ones.
(I tested CNN.com and FoxNews.com. The results were surprising)
The Importance Of Having A Fast-Loading Franchise Website
I doubt very much if anyone in your organization (besides your webmaster) keeps an eye on your website’s loading speed. Maybe someone does-but I don’t expect them to. There are certainly other pressing matters. But, if you want to improve the odds of getting your opportunity…your business found on Google, speed up your website.
Good news! It shouldn’t cost you a lot of money to do. As a matter of fact, your costs could end up being less than what you’re currently spending on hosting.
One Powerful Way To Speed Up Your Website
I’ve owned The Franchise King.com domain for 10+ years. I’ve used several different web hosts.
By far, the web hosting provider I’m using now-and have been for the past 2 years, is the best. Here’s why:
The servers they use are wicked-fast
Their technical support is strong and response time is fast.
Their resource pages/knowledge pages provide time-saving tips
They provide free tools that increase website speed
They provide state-of-the-art hack protection
A Note About Technical Support
The hosting package I use for this website can handle 100,000 visitors a month. A couple of really important things (that are important to me) are included with my package.
Priority Technical Support
I use the chat feature when I need a question answered, or I need help with something. I’ve never waited to chat with a support person for more than 1 1/2 minutes. That’s almost instant in my book.
Backups
The Franchise King.com account contains 30 backups of my website/blog. I’ve had to have technical support restore my website a few times because of an error I made. That’s what backups are for!
PCI Compliance
I sell products and services on this website. It’s PCI compliant* because of the hosting package I use. That’s makes things safe-security-wise whenever a web visitor makes a purchase directly from my website.
* The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of security standards designed to ensure that ALL companies that accept, process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment.
Maybe It’s Time To Make A Switch
I have published over over 1500 articles here. In addition, I have hundreds of pages and hundreds of images/videos on this website. This website is the central hub for my business. Understandably, I was pretty nervous when I made the switch over to SiteGround. (You’ll probably be nervous when and if you make a switch.)
They made it so easy. And, they didn’t charge me to do it-like several other web hosts do. And, I didn’t lose any data. None!
The team at SiteGround had my site up and running on their web servers in less than a day.
In Conclusion
Maybe you’re happy with the speed of your site, and your current web host. If so, I encourage you to stay with them.
If you’re not happy, and you’re looking for a really good web hosting service + a good company with great support and state-of-the-art technology, you may want to make a switch. I’m glad I did.
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