Fitness Website Design Essentials
The fitness industry continues to evolve and it seems that there is a privately owned gym or studio on every corner in major cities across America. The competition is getting stiff and your success is riding on more than just the quality of the service you provide. Fitness center owners need every advantage they can get when gaining a piece of your local market share. Whether you realize it or not Google is playing a major role in shaping the future of your fitness business. Fitness website design is something that is no longer optional to survive in The New Economy Environment that we have entered.
Online fitness center marketing strategies start with asking a number of questions about your local market and the services you provide but here are some essential things to ask yourself.
1) Does your fitness website design have social media integration and strategy?
2) Do you have a blog attached to your fitness website?
3) Are you blogging regularly?
4) Are you building your list using an email marketing system?
5) Does your website have obvious calls to action?
6) Does your fitness website design funnel customers to where you want them to go?
If you answered no to any of these questions than it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee. A new generation of small business owners are coming into the industry that grew up with all of these skills. They will be your competition is just a few short years.
In addition to having a properly designed website you will also want to do a few other essential marketing tactics.
Google AdWords advertising (PPC)
It is now very easy to advertise on Google to local markets based of a predetermined number of square miles from your location. Keyword strategy and budget will dictate your success here but Google is still king and PPC advertising needs to be included in your overall marketing plan.
Clean up your local data.
Local search is a huge opportunity for local businesses to take advantage of. Although this is time consuming it is a must for fitness centers. First make sure you claim your business on the big three engines.
1) Google Places
2)Yahoo local
3) Bing local
Data providers
1) Acxiom
2) InfoUSA
3) Localeze
Internet Yellow Pages
1) Yellowpages.com
2) local.com
3) Superpages
4) CitySearch
5) Mapquest
These are just a few examples of how to list your fitness center to increase your chances of ranking higher in local searches in your niche.
This all sounds like a lot but don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. Take it one step at a time and remember you can always contact a professional to assist you.
The Big Picture
The main point here is don’t wait any longer. Pay attention to what is changing in today’s online dominated marketing strategies. These things take time and the sooner you take action the better off you will be in a year from now. There are many factors not even discussed today that will play a role in your fitness website design but the most important thing to understand is that they all work together for a greater cause. The more content you put together the more powerful you will be in The New Economy.
