How to Create a Fitness Website that Gets Leads

One question you may be asking yourself is, “Why isn’t my website driving leads for me?” I want to first let you know that a website is not a lead driver, your website is designed to capture a lead’s information. What is actually doing the driving are your Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising efforts. Not sure where to start with SEM or PPC? Check out this post on SEO for fitness businesses. What we will cover today is how to create an effective website that captures a leads information, so you can start them down your prospecting funnel and turn them into a member.

Calls-To-Action (CTA’s) and Lead Forms

• You want to ask your prospects to take action or give them a little ‘nudge’ while also providing them different ways to get in contact with the business, whether that be by simply calling/email the business or by filling out a form.
• Both CTA’s and lead forms need to be found throughout the site

How much is “enough” (on your lead form)?

Shorter is usually better in this case. Evaluate what information is a “must have” versus “nice to have.” A shorter form will get more responses, so at minimum you want to include enough information for you to follow up promptly. Consider including name, phone number, and email address. Other information that is “nice to have” may be age group or how they heard about your business. Keep in mind that the more you ask of someone, the less likely they are going to fill out the form! Find a balance that works for your business.

Find out the “must-haves” for every fitness website in our latest checklist

There are always exceptions

The exception to the “shorter may be better” rule is if you have a very specific target audience. For example, if you have an elite MMA school, you may only want serious fighters. In this case you may want to ask information that will give you a good sense of how serious this potential student could be with questions about years of experience, type of martial arts practiced and other questions that will help you determine if this person is the right fit for your MMA school.

Remind prospects why they should choose your business

In addition to considering the length of your form, you need to also reemphasize why a prospect should provide their information. Include special promotions that you offer such as “one-week free for new members” and information about why your fitness business is the best at what you do. You should also include your phone number prominently in case the prospect wants to talk to someone right away.

Example of a lead form from Capital MMA that includes:

• Why a prospect should choose this gym
• A minimal number of fields (to encourage form completion)
• Additional information that the prospect might have questions about (such as contract or testing fees)

Move beyond “submit”

Think about all the times you’ve clicked on a button that says “Submit.” Were you excited to click it? Probably not. While many forms use “Submit” as the default, studies have shown that forms with “Submit” have a lower conversion rate than those that use alternative wording. Think about using “Get Started Now” or “Go!” to encourage prospects to complete your inquiry form.

An excellent example of using an alternative to “submit” from 181 Fitness:

Mobile Optimization and Responsive Design

In our current day and age, the majority of your website viewers are looking at your website on a mobile device or tablet. Ensuring that your website is mobile optimized and has a responsive design is imperative for the ease of use for your viewers. If your site isn’t navigable on a mobile device or tablet, your viewers may miss CTA’s, lead capture forms, or the business’ contact info. Consider those prospects lost!

If you can make these small changes to your website and lead form, I’m betting that you’ll increase the number of inquiries to your fitness business significantly. To your success!

Lead forms are a vital component of a well-rounded website. Discover what else your website needs in order to convert prospective members in our checklist, 10 Things Your Fitness Business Website Must Have.