The business models for gyms and fitness centers around the world are evolving. The methods of promoting your brand and your marketing efforts also need to adapt to sustain in the current business climate.
Consider this: someone just moved to a new neighborhood, and they’re looking for a gym nearby. How would they go about it?
They’ll probably Google gyms near their location or ask Siri if any fitness studios are nearby.
And if you want your business to pop up in those search results, you need to work on your search engine optimization (SEO).
Creating a webpage alone is no longer enough. To ensure a good return on investment (ROI), your digital marketing strategy needs to be kept up to date – just like the equipment in your gym.
This article will elaborate on SEO benefits for your fitness business. And also, discuss some best practices to help you improve your optimization.
Skip ahead to:
- What is SEO?
- Tips for creating an effective SEO marketing strategy for your fitness business
- Why is SEO beneficial for fitness businesses?
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.
This is the process of successfully swaying the SERPs in your favor so that your website acquires a higher ranking on Google for your target search terms.
Effective SEO is done in two parts: on and off-page SEO.
Your marketing strategy can prove more successful if you can make the Google algorithm work in your favor. A good SEO strategy uses both on and off-page SEO to drive adequate high-quality traffic to your website.
On-page SEO includes optimizations that you control and incorporate on your website. That includes incorporating the right keywords, producing relevant content, managing page load speed, and improving the website’s mobile friendliness.
Off-page SEO refers to influences outside of your site that impact your site’s position in search engine results. The most important of these are backlinks, forum postings, or guest posts.
The right on and off-page SEO strategy can boost your SEO efforts, enhance your ranking factors, and drive additional web traffic to your fitness website.
Tips for creating an effective SEO marketing strategy for your fitness business
SEO is not all that complicated. Here are a few best practices that can help you optimize your gym’s website:
Local SEO – Google my business.
Local SEO is the process of improving search engine visibility for local businesses. It involves listing your website on Google my business and using keywords that include your location.
Google my business enables you to create a business listing on Google to help bring traffic to your page via local searches.
Backlinks from local SEO can be a very successful traffic generator for getting potential customers. Local businesses, especially e-commerce businesses, can help drive organic traffic to their websites by following SEO techniques.
Build your website for the user
You should build your website with your customer in mind for SEO purposes.
For that, you need to know your customer base first and understand their needs and pain points better. Then use this information to enhance user experience both on the website and in the gym or fitness center.
Getting to know your customers will provide you with valuable insight into what they are looking for in a fitness center.
The more you personalize the online experience based on buyer personas, the better your chances of converting potential customers into new customers on your website. That can lead to an expanding customer base.
Focus on quality content.
Content is king. With AI and Google searches getting more and more refined every day, this is the era of content marketing and brand awareness.
To tip the scales of Google analytics in your favor, consistently post relevant and high-quality content on your website. Write SEO-friendly and well-researched blog posts about topics related to your fitness specialty to attract your target audience.
Creating relevant and superior content will ultimately pay off in the long run.
Don’t forget social media SEO
Search engines are not the only way SEO can heighten organic search results and rankings.
Social media marketing can help your fitness business reap the benefits of SEO and achieve the top position in search results.
You can also supplement your organic rankings with paid advertisements on social media channels.
For that to work, though, you have to find the right channels for marketing your fitness business. Keep yourself updated with the latest advertising policies changes and fitness trends, and invest accordingly.
You should also get influencers and bloggers on board. A picture speaks a thousand words, so use them along with relevant hashtags.
Use picture-sharing apps like Instagram and Snapchat to elevate your brand and capture your target audience.
Build links
One of the best ways to promote organic traffic is to build links. This works especially well if your fitness website is new and you want to add credibility.
Inbound links [links coming from other websites] from high-ranking websites indicate your relevance to Google.
To do this, you can partner up with other gyms in your area to host fitness-based activities. Not only can this help you get more backlinks for your website, but it can also help you socialize with other small business owners and become part of the community.
Another way to get backlinks is to create excellent content. For that, you can provide citations or for all health and fitness-related research in your blogs.
Why is SEO beneficial for fitness businesses?
Now that you know how SEO works, let’s look at some key benefits it offers fitness websites:
The Top 10 Barriers
Slowing Your Fitness
Business Growth
Discover more 1. Reach to wider audiences
SEO allows you to target your website and advertisements towards an audience that is more inclined towards buying your fitness gym membership.
Instead of casting a wide net, such as traditional marketing strategies, SEO gives you a competitive advantage by offering higher rankings and visibility.
An effective SEO strategy can help bring organic traffic and potential customers to your blog or website.
2. Build authority and credibility
Your website is more likely to be perceived as dependable and superior when it ranks higher on search engine results pages. SEO helps you do just that – claim a spot on the first page of Google searches.
SEO also helps increase your site speed and deliver a more streamlined user experience.
3. Better conversions
Effective SEO helps deliver more than just additional organic traffic to your page. Combining it with conversion rate optimization (CRO) allows your fitness website to have more conversions.
SEO makes your platform more visible to potential clients by leading them to your page due to search queries.
It also highlights specific services that you may offer at your gym like HIIT, per-natal exercise classes, or cycling sessions.
CRO offers a superior user experience. You can use that to clearly show your visitors that your gym has what they’re looking for.
Improved ranking with SEO and better experience with CRO together improve conversions.
4. It provides 24/7 promotion
SEO is a marketing strategy that truly works around the clock to promote your brand.
Unlike traditional advertising methods, your advertisement will not be pulled off the billboard or T.V screen once your allotted time is up.
Data shows that there are approximately 63,000 Google searches taking place every second. You can’t afford to miss out on that kind of promotion for your brand.
SEO allows your page to be ‘found’ by customers when they search for something related. This can be at any time of the day from anywhere in the world.
5. Increased brand awareness
SEO is a long-term marketing strategy that increases the organic rankings of your brand, in addition to your website or blog. A successful SEO plan will help deliver your web pages to the relevant audience through applicable local search queries.
Writing SEO blog posts and other helpful content can also highlight your brand in front of potential customers, thus increasing brand awareness.
6. Maximizes PPC campaigns
Pairing unpaid [SEO] and paid [Pay-per-click PPC] marketing tactics together makes for a well-rounded and thriving advertisement strategy.
It ensures that your website ranks at the top of search results organic as well as through paid efforts. Combining the two can reinforce your brand’s credibility in Google’s eyes.
7. Makes you more findable for new customers
Only about 25% of users go to Google’s second page when using the search engine. So your best chance of recruiting new clients is to secure a spot on the first page by making yourself easier to find and stand out to new clients.
SEO makes it possible to achieve this by organically ranking your content. That increases the chances of more visitors becoming your customers.
If you are committed to growing your fitness brand, you need to maximize your online visibility to new potential customers.
8. Great return on investment
Perhaps the biggest advantage offered by SEO is that it’s exceptionally cost-effective. Initially, it may take time to learn the basics and see results with SEO.
But eventually, a well-designed SEO strategy will deliver an impressive return on investment. It’s the best way to ensure that your fitness business constantly stays on top of the SERPs and you keep gaining new customers.
You can hire an SEO company to optimize your website. Even then, the ROI will likely be quite high.
9. Helps with content marketing
Using SEO as a marketing tactic affords you the benefits of a dual income.
Your website will offer solutions and information to fitness enthusiasts on topics you specialize in.
That way, you can earn through your blog via affiliate links. Secondly, your gym will benefit from the additional website traffic, which will lead to an expanding customer base.
10. Data offers valuable insights
SEO results are completely quantifiable, so you can base your marketing strategy on analytics and metrics instead of shooting in the dark.
There are many tools available to help you improve your SEO efforts. Google Search Console and some basic knowledge of Google search analytics are the most noteworthy among them.
You can use the data to optimize traffic to your site during the busiest seasons.
For example, you can check the analytics to see what SEO keywords you should target at the start of a new year when more people might want to sign-up for gym memberships.
In summary
In the era of the digital revolution, conventional marketing concepts are no longer enough.
The fitness industry faces many challenges, and one solution for them is effective SEO to rank higher and for other benefits.
SEO offers many major advantages for websites and brands. Its correct use can pave the way for massive long-term growth. Brands that invest in SEO can build credibility and trust with audiences, making it a pivotal part of a digital marketing plan.
You can use gym management software to automate a lot of your day-to-day management tasks. That’ll free your time to focus on SEO and increase your rankings on Google and other search engines.
