At the meeting, we were able to spend significant time chatting directly with our client’s customers–what a great opportunity to really learn what they like about webtreepro, as well as what they struggle with.  As business owners, they don’t have all day long to “play” with their websites, yet despite that time constraint, they’ve done some amazing work in short order.  We saw some excellent landing pages and even some online “sign-up-to-cruise’ forms that were comprehensive and friendly to site visitors.

For our part, we got to “show-off” a bit and introduce them to all the neat little SEO features that they can easily engage to improve their local search rankings.  In fact, we conducted five workshop sessions on that topic.  In fact, we’re doing a follow-up online meeting next week so we can spend a bit more time teaching the details as well as catch up with those folks that couldn’t make the meeting.

We also taught a number of them how to embed video and even some pretty cool photo-walls using albums on Flickr, and a slick plug-in from CoolIris.  It was truly wonderful to see the “wow, that was easy–I can’t believe I did that myself ” reaction.  Getting a customer excited about taking a cruise is a lot easier with pictures and widgets that put them “on the ship.”  One thing that was a big hit was the ability to put a weather widget on a landing page for a specific cruise, showing the current weather conditions.  I can tell you on this gloomy, chilly day in Minnesota, if I was looking a cruise to St. Thomas and saw that is was a sunny 84 Fahrenheit, I might be motivated to action!

Of course, everyone’s interested in video and whether they’ve posted to YouTube or a commercial service like Screencast, we were able to show them how it takes about a minute to embed videos into their site.

The best part of all is getting a handle on what we can do to further enhance webtreepro.  We have lots of our own ideas but hearing from day-to-day end users is invaluable.  Plus, selfishly, it’s nice to be valued for what we do, and to get that recognition first-hand is really engergizing.

As we develop webtreepro, we get our inspiration for new features and enhancements from a number of sources:

Our Own Experience

We see things that are “no-brainers” in terms of “we should offer that in webtreepro.”  The most recent example is the integration of Keyword Research while logged in.  Sure, you can open another window or browser tab to look at Google Adwords, but if you’re at all like me, it’s a lot more convenient to have it right there inside the application.  Besides, if I end up using some of the alternative suggestions, I’m already in Edit Mode and can update my Page Titles, Descriptions, Keywords, URLs, paths and alt-text immediately.  Because it’s inevitable that I’ll get distracted and forget if I don’t handle it right away.

Our Users

Early on in webtreepro’s development cycle, we realized we had more ideas than time or money (and who doesn’t)!  So while we know what absolutely had to be ”in the box” to rollout wtp, we also knew we couldn’t predict what extras would be most desired and decided to let the users and market guide us. 

In many cases, suggestions from the user community were already in our enhancement list, and their request helped us prioritize.  In other cases, our users have identified things we hadn’t thought of yet.  Among those were a few head-smackers as in, “why didn’t we think of that!!“   Examples are how we’ve changed our onscreen directions, warning dialogs, page legends and user tips, so they are much clearer.

Make What’s There Better

Our new Library system is a vast improvement over the original. . .we realized the limitations of the original having used it ourselves.  While it was fully functional, some things weren’t very efficient or sophisticated.  But making a change like this is like knocking over dominos. . .not only do we need to update the app, but must also migrate all the existing assets into the new structure, make sure users can find them, and then change our online help and create new video lessons!  It’s a good bit of work, but ultimately worth it.  And making fundamental changes only get harder when we have more users! 

Other examples of recent improvements are the extensive stylers we’ve added to our Breadcrumb, Link List, Section List, Link Builder and Menu Builder.  Users can now create and save styles that both override their skin defaults, but can be applied consistently throughout the site.

So, now that you know how we pick-and-choose, we certainly welcome your input toward that process.  What we want to hear most is what you’d actually use vs. just adding to the list of ideas.

Next up. . .I have discovered the wide world of HTML Snippets and am excited to share how you can add stuff to your page that’s not in the list of Content Elements.

• You can now upload and save articles in HTML file format to a local disk.  To access this feature, select Edit Mode, and then place the cursor in the article, followed by a right click of the mouse.

• Upload image files as large as 1.2 mb.  This is a whopping increase from 50o kb.  Basic instructions on how to upload your imagesinto webtreepro is available in the webtreepro Knowledge Center.

• Configure your expired page and content email notifications to be sent to any email address of your choice.  You are no longer limited to the owner of the page or content.  The webtreepro Knowledge Center provides detail instruction on the use of expiration notices for pages and content.

• All webtreepro sites now have the ability to display the latest items from any standard RSS feed, using the RSS Reader.  This feature is simply added to any page of your choosing, using the Add Content wizard in webtreepro.

• Lastly, webtreepro now features Advanced Site Grouping.  You can now create very deep groupings for your sites and manage the publishing of pages and content to those groups without having to manually select each local site.

“We’re looking forward to giving our entire system a larger footprint on the Internet,” said Miles Lee, President of Alliance Cost Containment.  “Because our Principals serve a local market community, the ability for us to enhance our results in local search is an important part of each franchisee’s portfolio growth.  This not only applies to our customer acquisition, but also will help us sourcing local vendor partners as well,” added Lee.

Read more. . .

By way of introduction, webtreepro was designed and built by Primero Systems Inc.  We at Primero are dedicated to continually enhancing webtreepro to provide the most robust, but yet simple-to-use online website builder and website content management solution.  Since 1994, we have developed and delivered business-critical commercial software solutions to a number of Fortune 500 companies, as well as small and mid-sized businesses.  In addition, we are franchise industry veterans who saw an opportunity in the franchise community to solve the problem of how to manage franchise brands online.  We saw solutions that cost hundreds of thousand of dollars and were highly labor intensive to implement and maintain, requiring intervention from an IT group to change anything.  Others were little more than a handful of static pages with no ability to manage content in anything close to real time.  And, still others were chock full of promise, but lacking in delivery.  Our goals for webtreepro included:

• Build a fully web-based application that requires no locally installed software
• Ensure the instantaneous publishing of content on any number of sites, as desired
• Give users an interface that is familiar and very easy to use…no need for any IT involvement
• Price it so that the customer’s decision is easy

Have we succeeded?  Our customers tell us we have.  Come see for yourself what webtreepro has to offer you and your organization.  Better yet, contact us for a demo.  If you can spare 30 minutes, be prepared for us to knock your socks off!

Meanwhile, the local franchise can add and edit content of local interest to their individual site, all while inheriting franchise branding and maintaining the franchise brand standards.  Alternatively, the franchise headquarters can maintain control of the entry and editing of content on the local sites, should the franchise prefer to offer this as a service to their franchise network.

Webtreepro also supports delayed publishingand pre-set expiration of pages or content.  Using the built-in wizard, you can set the start and end dates as you add pages and content to the website.  This tool is perfect for promotions, holiday messages, limited time offers or any other time sensitive material. 

Yet another feature of this franchise website content management system is the ability to make certain pages and content viewable to special users.  For example, perhaps you would like to establish a section of your websites that contains added-value content for your best customers.  You can issue user names and passwords to those customers, giving them visibility and access to these areas once they have logged in.

These SEO tools include:
• Automatic creation of search engine friendly URL and page structure.  Directory names reflect the page path as well as the content in the page.
• Site Navigation is automatically built as you add pages.  In addition, moving or reorganizing the site is simplified by using a tree view.  A breadcrumb widget is also available to help navigate the site.
• A sitemap is automatically created for submission to search engines.
• All internal linking is fully consistent and follows the same pattern.
• Alternative text is easily added to images and links.
• Images are stored in their own directory.
• Title Tags (page names) are clear and customizable.
• Label content as headings, where appropriate, using the content editor.
• Easily name pages (title tags), add descriptions of the pages, and keywords.
• A robust set of reports help the site owners understand the what, where, when, why and how of the traffic to each website.

These tools, however, have no value unless website content is compelling and well written.  Webtreepro can’t write the content for you, but it does offer a superb, simple to use on page content editor.  Your ideas appear on your websites within minutes – whether you have ten, a hundred, or even thousands of sites.  Updating your web pages is as simple as finding the page and making your changes directly on the page so you can see exactly what they will look like as you are editing.  Your changes are instantly displayed.  Pages are laid out just the way you want without resorting to creating separate and elaborate graphics.

·         First is a compelling brand with positive customer equity—it must stand for something good and not be compromised.

·         Second, is having a large footprint—in other words, lots of locations.  Success breeds more success and the brand’s prominence and equity grows.

Ironically, it’s those very fundamentals to success that clash when it comes to a franchise system’s web presence:

·         To protect my brand, I can’t deploy a site for every franchisee unless I want to manage them all which isn’t practical.  

·         But by only having one site, I can’t leverage my size in terms of my search footprint, and I can really lose on local search.  And, my content is generic for my entire system, which may not work if we offer regionalized products and services.

With the introduction of webtreepro, the two mutually exclusive options get combined into a best of both worlds web presence.  This represents a pretty significant shift in the way franchisors deploy their brand online and it also opens up a lot of possibilities.  Recently, a prospect (now a customer) presented us with an extraordinarily thoughtful set of questions which go to the heart of the matter.

Here they are, along with our responses:

Franchisor:

Most franchise experts strongly encourage franchisors to have a single site with multiple sub-pages. What are the fundamental arguments in favor of allowing individual sites? What are the biggest risks of allowing individual sites?

Webtreepro:

This “monolithic site” perspective is based on risk avoidance around brand standards.  It was a “lesser of two evils” argument.  Historically, the risk of enabling individualized sites over which the franchisor loses control of their brand standards was too great compared to the perceived lack of benefits. 

Webtreepro first addresses the risk by ensuring the franchisor controls brand, look, feel and global message standards on all their sites.   The franchisor retains connection to and ultimate control of ALL franchisee sites, even if they have their own domains.

But the benefits of local, individualized franchisee websites has grown in importance.  Most people now recognize that offering a site visitor more relevant information is beneficial to both the visitor and the franchisee.  Offering content that varies by region, community or even location augments this experience.    In addition, franchisees may find this provides added value/pride of ownership. This results in better engagement which is always desirable.

Finally, and perhaps most compelling is the benefits in online search.  Having a larger footprint of sites can help with organic search for the brand.  Local sites contribute to success in organic Local Search which is a trend of growing importance.  Of course, locally relevant content within the pages also contributes to natural search.

Franchisor:

How much flexibility should franchisees typically get with respect to changing content on the individual sites? How does your software regulate the changes?  

Webtreepro:

The degree of flexibility you offer is entirely up to you and ranges from “None” whereby you control their local content (service bureau model) to allowing full control, or anything in between.  You’re able to allow them to control a page, a section of pages, or even just an article within a page.

You may also mete out different levels depending on your confidence in each franchisee’s ability.  We typically suggest fairly limited initial access (maybe one or two pages) and then expand as your ecosystem’s comfort level grows.

Franchisor:

Does it allow for single change (e.g. press release) to impact each site automatically?

Webtreepro:

Webtreepro was designed so that a “single change” at HQ is instantly propagated to one, some or all sites, and it’s quite seamless.  This can be the addition of a new page with content (such as a press release) or could be more modest, such as swapping out piece of content within a page or simply editing something pre-existing that’s shared.

Franchisor:

URL—If I allow individual sites, who controls the domain addresses? Do you recommend that each URL be an iteration of the main URL (e.g. www.franchisor-name.com) or should each franchisee have the latitude to develop their own URL? 

Webtreepro:

We support your choice of full domains or sub-domains for each franchisee’s site.  For example:

If you use sub-domains and the parent site is www.franchisor-name.com, then the sub-domain would be http://franchisee_identity.franchisor-name.com. 

 If full domains are preferred, then you might register www.franchisee_identity.com.

In the case of full domains for each franchisee, who registers and owns them is entirely up to you.  We recommend the franchisor manage the domain registration so you can retain ownership.  You simply direct your registrar to point the URL to our IP address.  If you decide to use sub-domains, then only your main URL needs to be registered and you can create new franchisee sites by simply giving each one a unique sub-domain.

Franchisor:

What is the dividing line between the search engine strategy managed by corporate vs. the latitude each franchisee has to manage their own SEO strategy?  What visibility does your software provide franchisors to make sure each franchisee isn’t overly aggressive their SEO strategy (e.g. poaching into another franchisees territory?)

Webtreepro:

Our permissions schema provides significant and granular control of who may do what. There’s a combination of our permissions and security settings that allows you to lock down the SEO attributes (META, Description, Keywords, Page Name, Menu Name and Page Title)  on a franchisee site’s pages, while still enabling the franchisee to manage content on the page.  This lets you control (or remediate) the page content—both that which is visible as well as the META data such as keywords, page descriptions, page titles, and optimized URLs.

Franchisor:

How much control do franchisors have over the presentation of the search results?  I would like for each search result show the office location in the header (e.g. Rapid Refill – Atlanta, GA).

Webtreepro:

Each franchisees site is truly “theirs” and can be customized to differentiate them from others which also helps with SEO.  Beyond what a visitor can see as page content, there are attributes such as the Page Title (what you see in the top of a browser, and/or a tab in the browser window) that can also be customized/localized.  Beyond that, we provide a place to enter and maintain a description for every page, which may get displayed Search Engine Results Page (SERP).  This will depend on how consistent your SEO attributes are applied across your sites and individual page.  Webtreepro provides all the tools needed to apply your on-page and on-site SEO strategy, without requiring any technical skill.  This extends to META content as well as page naming, navigational structure, alt-text and more which all contribute to better SEO positioning and SERP summaries.  These tools also make your site visitor’s experience friendlier, because we don’t use any cryptic or argument-filled URLs. Header tags in the browser’s title bar and the browser tabs will reflect the page name you enter, giving you that control.

Franchisor:

I have a separate site to capture new franchise inquiries (ww.costcontain.com). What , if any, benefits does your software provide vis a vis generating new franchise inquiries through a separate site?

Webtreepro:

Because webtreepro sites are SEO friendly, you may find that you’re able to generate more organic search traffic which not only appeals in terms of cost-savings (vs. PPC or Portal Marketing), but also enables you to quickly update content, create online forms for inquiries, provide downloadable materials such as PDFs, etc.  You can create a separate child site for franchise inquiries, or even just a series of linked pages that are with the headquarters site. . . these can even use a different look and feel if you opt for that.

Franchisor:

What design services do you provide?

Webtreepro:

This is an area we don’t serve, but there are several options that our customers have used with success.  One extreme is we simply adapt your current website’s look and feel.  At the other extreme is that you engage a designer/firm that works with you from scratch on a fully custom design.  In the middle, some customers have purchased templates from online resources like www.templatemonster.com and we enable them within our platform. 

Franchisor:

What is the typical breakdown of the economics? Is there a master license fee paid by franchisor and individual license fees paid by the franchisees?

Webtreepro:

Our initial fee (software license, setup, initial training, etc.) is $3,950, and then a monthly ongoing of $25 per site (defined as the parent site and each franchisee) based on a 15 site minimum.   We bill the franchisor only and which allows the franchisor to re-sell the program.  Because you may be adding a lot of value through the program itself and the content that you’ll provide, there’s likely an opportunity to mark up the sell price in order to make the program self-liquidating, and perhaps even a profit center.

It’s absolutely true that the source code is available at no cost.  But source code is a complex tool, not an outcome (website).  What you then need to factor is the costs associated with using that tool which may be significant. 

Before you can lay down your first line of code, you have to install and maintain a hardware environment that’s compliant.  Next, you’ll need professional, technical resources that can develop that source code into a functional framework for your sites.  There are literally thousands of redevelopers making a healthy living out of making open source work and that money is coming from somewhere.  Or you may have this skill in house, but chances are that’s not free either—you’re probably paying your employees.  At the very least, there are opportunity costs of using your IT staff for website deployment and maintenance.

Once your code diverges from the core, you’re less able to leverage updates, features or bug fixes that are happening in the open source core.  You can certainly mirror those items in your own version, but that won’t be free either.  If you don’t keep up, there’s a risk that your sites end up on a burning platform.  With web practices and standards ever changing, this risk is real.

At this point, you’ve also created a couple dependencies.  Your development partner (if you’re not doing it yourself), owns the keys to your web kingdom, and you’ll be fully dependent on them for functional changes.  While you may be able to manage your own content easily, your ability to develop new navigation and incorporate other customized elements could be severely constrained.  We have quite a bit of experience picking up projects from companies that have taken a DIY approach or have been sold promises on the cheap only to find later they needed to start all over.   Most franchisors and associations aren’t prepared for this commitment as it draws resources away from their core business.

So what are the advantages of Open Source?  Well, to begin with it is free and if you’re a technically robust organization, it’s a viable alternative especially when you have ample resource bandwidth in IT.  And you can do whatever you want with it, but it’s a long-term commitment of resources.  This should lead to some high-level questions:

Question #1 is: 

Do we have plenty of technical resources to apply to this project?” 

If not, then Question #2 is:  “

Do we have ample funding to acquire the outside technical resources for this project?”

If you’re still going, then Question #3 is:

“Are we ready to commit financial and/or personnel resources for the long-term, as this will essentially be a build (vs. buy) commitment to technology?”

And finally, Question #4 is:

“Do we have plenty of time for prototyping, testing and code revision?”

In summary, open source is not a solution that pops out of the box ready to go.  If you’re searching for a web-based CMS to enable your non-technical users to communicate online, then there’s something self-defeating about needing a lot of technical support.  It’s like inheriting a set of mechanics tools. . .just having them doesn’t confer the ability to repair automobiles.  This is where commercial CMS packages may have a much clearer advantage, providing they don’t replicate the same liabilities of cost, time and technical care and feeding of site and content management.  They aren’t monolithic in their abilities and require diligence when evaluating as well. 

I’ll be addressing the commercial CMS option in next week’s posting and we’ll explore total cost of ownership factors for both open and commercial CMS.