SEO for Gyms
& Fitness CentersWhen people get serious about getting in better shape, losing weight, or getting stronger, many turn to search engines to find a gym membership or fitness classes. Get more business for your gym or fitness studio with our affordable SEO software tool.
Exactly What is SEO?
What Does SEO for Gyms Cost?
Help from a pro costs between $500-750 (or even more per month), and your actual cost will depend on the scope of the SEO engagement.
Most local gyms and fitness studios have a small budget and need a more affordable solution. If you have some time to work on your marketing, consider a DIY SEO option for gyms and fitness studio owners like the one offered by Jess. For $29 per month, you get step-by-step instructions that show you exactly how to optimize your gym website yourself, analytics tracking that measures your results, and access to “Office Hours”webinars to get tips from our SEO experts.
How Does SEO Make My Gym Website Rank Better?
SEO involves making many small changes to the pages on your gym or studio fitness business website that makes them more likely to rank higher in the search engines. When users type in keywords, they are really asking questions. Pages that answer these questions better, load quickly, securely, and without errors, and are viewed as more trustworthy by search engines are more likely to rank higher.
In theory, it’s pretty straightforward, but it takes time to optimize your gym website. It involves:
- Making sure your current website thoroughly describes your gym, your equipment, and the classes you offer
- Improving user experience throughout your website
- Showing your website is authoritative and trustworthy
- Developing new content on your website that describes your gym in more detail or that educates your prospects and customers about why strength training and cardiovascular fitness is so important
The above outcomes are achieved through SEO tactics called on-page optimization, technical SEO, link building, and content development.
Keyword Research
On-page optimization involves knowing what terms people use when searching for a gym or fitness center and making sure you use these words and phrases on your website. The first step is keyword research which helps you know exactly what people are searching for and how often. “Gym near me” is the most popular keyword phrase people search for when they are looking for businesses like yours and “gym” is the second most popular. It also helps you know about more specific keywords people use to search. For example, people search for cheap gyms. They also look for gyms that offer basketball, swimming, and specific fitness classes, like kickboxing or yoga. Some look for virtual fitness options. Next, you place keywords on your page in your site’s title tag, meta description, page text, and headings. While there are plenty of keyword research tools and articles on how to title tags, you will get better results and save hours of time by hiring an SEO pro or leveraging a DIY SEO platform with suggestions specifically for gyms, like Jess.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO makes sure your site is fast, secure, and can be crawled by search engines. Google’s Page Experience update that went live in June, 2021 makes technical SEO a bigger priority than ever. Contact your web developer if your site isn’t secure or if it seems slow. They should be able to help you speed it up. You can also improve site speed yourself by editing images of your studio and staff so they are as small as possible as well compressed and optimized for use on your fitness center website.
Content Development
Most gym trainers have just a few pages on their website. This doesn’t give you much space to tell search engines or your prospects much about your facilities, services, and classes. If this describes you, consider adding some new pages to your website. Consider creating separate pages that go into detail about personal training or specific classes. A before-and after-photo page can bring your member’s results to life. Create a separate page to optimize for each of these.