7 Tips for Website Success in a Competitive Market

by emily on
7 Tips for Website Success in a Competitive business Market like martial arts or fitness blog

7 Tips for Website Success in a Competitive Market

In the ultra-competitive industry of fitness and martial arts, how can your business stay ahead of the game? A lead-generating website gives you a significant advantage in your local area. To prove it, we’ve gathered fitness buyer habits, data, and stats over the course of our 13+ year history to help fitness and martial arts businesses stand out and connect with their communities!

So how do you ensure that your website drives traffic and encourages people to give you their information? Let’s dig in!

Create a Data-Driven and Functional Design

An effective fitness business website design is, at its core, a website built to create a seamless and easy experience for your potential clients. It should have a simple and organized yet impactful construct built on data that indicates what converts best.

Add in clear calls to action that encourage visitors to contact you with questions about your fitness programs or martial arts curriculum, and you will boost conversions beyond peak industry standards. This brings more people through your doors, creating a high-performing website for fitness businesses of all types.

Focus on Social Proof

One interesting thing our years of data has shown us? Your “Reviews” page is the second most visited page on any website. Your “About Us” page is just as important. While website visitors will certainly be checking out the fitness programs you offer, hard data shows that people want to know what to expect from your gym or studio from firsthand experience.

Seeing real reviews and info about your instructors builds trust from potential clients faster than anything else. Think of it like meeting someone for the first time – they’ll want to know why you do what you do, how you got started, and what your community thinks about you.

– Reviews / Social Proof

Social proof is a top contributing factor when selecting a business like martial arts or fitness training. A well-structured and up-to-date reviews page can increase your website conversion rates by over 75% +.

Make it Easy to Use
I can’t emphasize the importance of an easy-to-navigate design enough! Many people’s first impression of your martial arts or fitness business comes from your website. They will give you little time to get your point across (.05 seconds to be exact), and if they scroll past the first fold, you have 52 seconds to get them interested enough to fill out a form.

Most buyers know that another option (like your competitor) is a click away and won’t be impressed by slow-loading, flashy graphics that keep them from their objective.

Top ways to get someone to bounce off your website faster than your feet on hot pavement?

-Too many Flash animations
-Bright, chaotic colors
-Graphics splattered all over the page
-Background music
– HUGE text that covers your first fold

Reflect Fresh, Modern Trends

If you had a great website a few years ago and haven’t made any updates, it’s probably not a great website now. A website is not a set-and-forget type of asset. Just because 90s trends are making a huge comeback in fashion, doesn’t mean people want your fitness business website to function like it’s pre-Y2K. If your website design looks outdated, it will negatively impact a visitor’s confidence in your business.

Your website should look and feel seamless while reflecting an accurate picture of your business as it is today. Remember, your website is the first impression a potential client may have of your fitness business. Updating your design to something top-of-the-line and with current and relevant photos of your ever-changing martial arts school or yoga studio can make a huge, positive difference in your website conversions, giving you more high-quality leads for your fitness studio.

Keep Your Content Rolling

We’ve covered the importance of social proof already. And to be honest, there’s no better way to earn trust from wary leads than real-life photos of your studio or martial arts school. High-quality images are ideal, but even an iPhone can snap excellent in-action shots of training and client-instructor interactions. Plus, it may even be more convenient.

Your fitness business’s website is the best way to show your potential clients what makes your facility unique. So it’s important to keep the content rolling. People want a community and an atmosphere that feels good to them. They want to see a clean facility, smiling faces, and engaged and skilled instructors.

Don’t have a ton of images yet? We get it. Luckily we have built an extensive library of stock photos ready for you to use! Believe it or not these can go a long way to earning trust in the same way. We can develop your website with stock images or combine stock and what you already have.

Call Them to Action Clearly

When you get a visitor to your fitness business’s website, you don’t want them to bounce away – they may never come back! A clear, concise call to action (CTA) encourages people to take action. Ideally, you want it to be a short leap of a decision that’s easy to understand. This can be something like filling out a lead form to request more information or scheduling a trial session.

Your CTAs should be placed in your website’s header and stay consistent on every page. Placing a CTA on each page reduces friction in your visitor’s experience, giving them a frustration-free opt-in process no matter where they land or when they’re ready to take the next step. Less friction means more leads and more clients!

Tell Them Where to Find You

Where are you? No, really, it’s an essential question, and is a problem we have seen on fitness and martial arts business websites. You can have the most incredible programs and trainers, but if people can’t find your business, it’s all for nothing. Make sure your address, phone number, and email are all clearly written and easily found in several places on your website. A simple map with a map pin is also an effective tool to ensure your new clients can find you.

What’s more, Google is just begging for a reason to tell people where you are and what they can find at your school or studio. Keeping accurate info on your location creates better search results, leading to more traffic from high quality leads.

Taking It Further – Micro Blog: NAPU What is NAPU in Local SEO

Ready to Compete?!
We can cook you up your very own lead-generating website in about 3 weeks. In fact, we’re the best in the industry at it. Request more info on how we do it right here.