From the moment that a potential client first lands on your website they will statistically make up their mind in mere seconds. Those people who decide that your website doesn’t offer what they’re looking for will leave your website without viewing another page – this is referred to as a bounce. That said there are a few basic things that you can do right now to improve the effectiveness of your website.

1) The first thing that you must do doesn’t require that you do any work at all; rather, you simply have to decide what you want the visitors to your website to do once they are there.

Do you want them to call you for an appointment?

Do you want them to simply see pictures of your gym and perhaps come back later?

Do you want them to buy a membership right on your website?

The answer to this question will determine how every aspect of your site comes together.

2) The next step is to seek a commitment from your website visitors. Typically in the gym business, we want visitors to our websites to fill out a form for a trial membership. Common trial memberships are for 7 or 10 days of gym usage. If we can get these potential members into the gym, then we can give our sales staff a chance to convert these shoppers into members. If you decide that you want visitors to your website to fill out a trial membership form then you need to ensure that each page of your website has a clear call to action to fill out that trial form.!The call to action must be highly visible and say something along the lines of "Fill out this form for a FREE 7-day trial!"

3) To take things one step further, is to give visitors the chance to convert to paid members right online. Let’s say that these visitors have already signed up for a free trial membership online and tried it out. Now they want to take that commitment to the next level and become a member. For those people who do not need a sales pitch for the conversion process, why not make the process simple and painless. Add Insight’s member signup online via your website! Take a look at this membership enrollment sample with Lifestyle Fitness!

Basic Website Layout

If you’re building your gym website from scratch or if you’re updating your current website, you need to make sure that you have at least the basic pages that everyone looks for:

• Home – your main landing page with plenty of information on your gym. Make sure that all the basic questions are answered here: where is the gym, when is it open, what does it look like, what features and amenities does it have
• Tour – Have more in depth information on this page. A video tour of your gym is ideal but if you don’t have video tour, ensure that there are plenty of pictures on this page
• Testimonials – You must have a testimonial page. Don’t skip this for any reason
• Contact Us – Address, phone number, email address, map showing the exact location
• Frequently Asked Questions – Every time a customer asks a question that isn’t on your website, be sure to add it to this page. The goal is to make the transaction as seamless as possible by eliminating obstacles and concerns before the customer ever arrives for a tour

Rules to Live By

1. Every page of your website should have a clear call to action. You never know which page of your website that your visitors will land on first so each and every page needs to have your free trial membership form on it.
2. Every page should be dedicated to one specific thing. For example, if a visitor clicks on a page titled "Recipes," ensure that the only things on that page are delicious recipes. Leave the workout tips for a "Workout Tips" page.
3. Accommodate the way that different visitors read. Some people like long format articles, some people like bulleted lists. Make sure to use meaningful headlines and that article and page content matches the headlines.
4. Text is horrible for selling. Make sure that your pages have plenty of pictures, video, and even audio.

Over to you:

Please feel free to share your gym websites below and let us know what feature your most proud of and what features you would like to add or improve!