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If you’re a gym without a fitness website, you’d better consider creating one. According to SEO Expert Brad, 88% of consumers who do a local search on their smartphone visit or call a store within a day. Read on.
Why Do I Need A Fitness Website?
First, a fitness website including contacts and locations allows your potential members to find you more easily. Even when they already know about you through referral because it is likely that they will Google you in advance.
Secondly, a booking system on the website to allow your members to book classes 24/7.
Thirdly, folks can find member reviews and testimonials on your website.
Fourthly, you can handle customer service requests via FAQs, an online chat or Facebook Messenger.
Fifthly, a membership system on the website to allow you to sell your fitness club memberships 24/7 and to allow your members to renew memberships, change contact and payment information, and manage their classes.
Sixthly, nowadays, many fitness clubs have established an online presence. Those without one are considered mickey mouse. Therefore, a website allows you to build credibility, corporate image, and brand awareness.
Seventhly, a website with the right content can keep your site at the top of search results pages i.e. higher SEO ranking on search engines like Google.
Eighthly, you may share your posts on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, etc. This can funnel your social media visitors and followers back to your website.
Lastly, a website can tell your audience a lot of information like what classes you offer and contacts. It can educate, qualify, and convert leads into members.
What Options Are Available?
Deciding which content management system (CMS) to use to create a fitness website is the very first and yet the most critical step. However, there are tons of options available. Below is a summary of the most popular CMS you may use to create a fitness website.
- Third-party platforms like Zen Planner, and PerfectGym
- Hosted platforms like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace and WordPress.com where you can find fitness website templates
- Self-hosted platforms like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal
Top 10 Fitness Websites Use WordPress
WordPress is the world’s leading content management system (CMS) trusted by over 35% of all the website users around the world. The following are among the top 10 fitness clubs using WordPress to power their websites.
Gold’s Gym International reported $302 million in 2018 revenue and was ranked the top 8th fitness club, according to Club Industry. In February 2018, they were named the Best Health, Fitness & Beauty Franchise by Global Franchise Magazine.
The Bay Club Company, San Francisco, reported $294.65 million revenue in 2018 and was ranked the top 9th fitness club, according to Club Industry.
O2Fitness in Raleigh, North Carolina was ranked among the top 100 fitness clubs, according to Club Industry.
A WordPress fitness website has the following main features.
- Simplicity
- Flexibility
- Publish with Ease
- Publishing Tools
- User Management
- Media Management
- Built-in Comments
- Fully Customizable
- Browser Compatibility
- Multilingual Blogs
- Own Your Data
What Should A Fitness Website Have?
First, to serve the aforesaid purposes, a fitness website should include the following pages.
- Home
- About the club
- Facilities
- Services & Classes
- Reviews & testimonials
- FAQs
- Contact for each location
Secondly, an booking system goes a long way. It allows allow your members to book classes 24/7.
Thirdly, a membership system allows you to sell your fitness club memberships 24/7 and to allow your members to renew memberships, change contact and payment information, and manage their classes.
Fourthly, you may consider using content to market your services. They include blog posts, videos, podcasts, whitepapers, case studies, eBooks, webinars, guides, checklists, and quizzes.
Last but not least, you should also ensure the following in your website.
- Good UI/UX in terms of design, colors, fonts, and navigation
- Short and concise calls-to-action that stand out with compelling words
- Website performance optimization
- Mobile-friendly responsive design
Conclusion – The Best Solution
Which is the best solution to create a fitness website? If you are just starting up with no marketing budget, you may try DIY hosted solutions like Wix. If you are looking to modernize your gym with a new website, you may want to scale up your website with customizations and add-on features using WordPress.
