I am amazed by the number of terrible websites in the Health & Fitness industry. I used to be a Gym Manager so I can understand why. We simply don’t have the time to worry about websites, we are too busy managing our gyms! The problem is that a dodgy looking website is having a major impact on the success of your club and the bottom line is that it is costing you BIG dollars.
70% of prospects will check out your website BEFORE coming down to check out your gym. More often than not, they will find your website via a Google search. Go over to your website now and give it an honest evalutation. Where does it fall on a scale of 1 to 10? What would a new prospect think when they come to your website? Are they going to be blown away with your amazing facilities or are they going to be shocked by a website that appears to have been created 15 years ago?
First impression is EVERYTHING when it comes to marketing!
If your website is old, outdated and full of boring text then your prospect is going to assume that your gym is also old, outdated and boring! Most people will make a snap judgment of your facility within 15 seconds of seeing your website. How would your website measure up with a 15 second assessment?
Websites must be visually appealing. They need to make a great first impression when people first land on the page and they must offer something of value. Here are our top recommendations when it comes to creating a great website:
1. The website must have an attractive header design with your gyms logo, colours and branding. We recommend a slideshow image gallery toward the top of the page to showcase your facilities. People want to know what your gym looks like and what sort of equipment you have.
2. On the top right hand corner you need to have an optin form offering something of value. This could be a free 5 visit gym pass, free personal training session or free weight consultation. The key is giving something away for free in exchange for the prospects name, email and phone number. Once you receive their details you can then follow up with them straight away and continue to market to them in the future with a series of automated follow up emails.
3. People want to know about your key programs so make them easily accessible with menu items or banners. Health Club Facilities and Group Fitness Classes should be easily found. People also want to be able to find the Group Fitness Timetable quickly and be able to download it to their computers. Include descriptions about the key programs along with images so prospects get a good feel about the center.
4. Spend a few days building up some client testimonials. Testimonials offer validation that you are running a great facility. Testimonials can be a combination of short videos uploaded to YouTube or written stories along with a profile image.
5. Make sure people can contact you easily! Have your phone number somewhere in the header design of your website. Also have a Contact Us page with phone number, address, opening hours, email, contact form, picture of facility and an embedded google map so people can easily find you.
6. Integrate your website with your social media sites so people can easily find your Facebook Page, YouTube channel, Twitter account, etc. This also shows that you are up to date with the latest trends and not living in the dark ages!.
The most important tip is try not to do all of this yourself! The end result will look average at best and people will see that it has not been done by a professional. Focus on what you do best (managing your gym) and outsource the website to someone who knows what they are doing (us!).
If you need help with your website please click the help image to the left to contact us for a Free Consultation.
You can find out more about our website packages at https://www.marketingforgyms.com/services