Website Design Checklist for Gym Owners

10 Elements Your Fitness Business Website Must Have 

Your website is your greatest marketing tool, but are you using it to its fullest extent? This checklist breaks down the top 10 most critical elements your fitness website needs for the greatest impact on your business. 

1. Complete Contact Information:

Phone number, email, and physical address are must-haves for every fitness business website. 

• 64% of people want a website to have easy access to contact information. (BloggingWizard)  
• Accessibility is a key aspect of your overall success. People need to know where you’re located and have a way to reach you to ask questions (which often affect purchase decisions). It’s one of the simplest ways to offer great customer service 

2. Lead Forms:

Turn your website into a lead generation tool with embedded forms.

• 63% of businesses say that generating traffic and leads is their top challenge. (HubSpot) 
• Use calls-to-action (CTAs) and buttons to entice visitors to fill out your form and ultimately visit your business in person. Great CTAs to use include: ‘Start Your Free Trial, Sign Up for Your First Class, Schedule Your Consultation, etc.’ 

3. Fast Load Time:

A website’s loading speed is a critical aspect of a user’s overall experience and satisfaction.

• 47% of site visitors won’t wait longer than two seconds for a website to load. (Forbes)  
• Slow load time is one of the main reasons people leave a site. To optimize your site for speed, be sure to compress and optimize your images, reduce redirects, and eliminate unnecessary plugins, among other helpful tips.

4. Mobile-Friendly Design:

The majority of local searches occur on phones, therefore, your site must be optimized for mobile devices.

• Responsive design allows your website to adjust its display based on the visitor’s device. Without a mobile-friendly site, you risk visitors leaving your site for a competitor. 
• 61% of all website traffic comes from mobile devices in the United States. (Perficient)

5. Security:

As a small business owner, an SSL on your site makes your business appear more credible. An SSL certificate is a security technology that encrypts information between a user’s browser and your website.

• The “https” found at the beginning of a URL indicates that an SSL certificate is present. It also correlates with higher rankings on Google’s first page. While having it won’t make you suddenly rank in the first position, it can give you a competitive advantage. (Ahrefs)  
• If you don’t have an SSL certificate, Google will mark your site as “unsecured” and include a warning to visitors, which can be disastrous for your website traffic. 

6. Search Engine Optimization:

There are well over two billion websites on the internet. Merely having one isn’t enough. To have a useful, lead-generating website, you must expand its visibility, so people who are interested in what you have to offer can find it.

• 60% of people research a business online before making a purchase (Statista).  
• Create a digital business profile as well to optimize your site locally. 97% of search engine users are looking for local businesses. (Industry Drive)  
• Integrating member management software into your website creates efficiencies for members. Allow them to access their account to reserve their spot in class, update their profile, and pay bills all from your website.

7. Testimonials:

Share life-changing success stories from real people in your community. These stories inform purchase decisions at a surprisingly high rate.

• Nearly all consumers (97%) read reviews, and 86% allow those opinions to influence their buying behavior. (WebsiteBuilder)  
• Share your members’ testimonials, quotes, and success on your site. Onsite testimonials look more legitimate when they’re sprinkled throughout your site, rather than all on one page.

8. Great Visuals:

Use compelling imagery and videos to communicate the quality of your training, instructors, and community.

• Website content that contains visuals like images or videos performs better, with up to 94% more views. (Search Engine Journal)  
• People spend 88% more time on web pages with video content. (Fit Small Business) 

9. Member Access Features:

Your website isn’t just for prospects; it should serve your current members as well.

• 70% of customers expect a business’s website to include a self-service application. (SuperOffice)  
• Integrating member management software into your website creates efficiencies for members. Allow them to access their account to reserve their spot in class, update their profile, and pay bills all from your website. 

10. Descriptive Program Offerings:

Give prospects and members detailed information about your offerings so there is no confusion about how you can serve them. Expectation-setting is a big part of retention.

• Include class descriptions including skill level and membership type required.  
• Highlight details about the instructors who teach each class.  
• Feature the schedule of each class including frequency, time, and day(s) of the week the class will be offered. 

Conclusion 

Incorporate these 10 elements into your gym’s website design to improve user experience, maximize engagement, and improve its effectiveness in your digital marketing for fitness business. A user-friendly design, lead forms, optimized SEO, visual content, customer testimonials, and high security are essential to make your fitness website engaging and converting users into loyal customers.  

Let us show you how our website design, digital marketing services, and member management software can help you grow your fitness business. Schedule your demo today!