SEO for gyms and fitness studios
Gym search is almost entirely local and almost entirely decided in the map pack, which makes it one of the cheapest markets to compete in properly and one of the most neglected. Most gym websites are a photograph of the floor, a timetable image nobody can read on a phone, and a contact form.
Peak Endurance, a sports clinic, Sep 2023 to May 2024, from 482,378 impressions. Their Search Console.
The other thing that decides it is the style. Somebody looking for CrossFit, for a women-only gym, for 24-hour access or for personal training is not looking for a gym in general, and a site that describes itself in general matches none of those searches.
Searches we build for, with the place name your customers use:
- gym near me
- 24 hour gym [neighborhood]
- personal trainer [city]
- crossfit [neighborhood]
What stops gyms getting enquiries
Three problems we find on nearly every gym website we audit, and what we do about each.
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A timetable as an image
A class schedule in a picture is invisible to search and unreadable on a phone. As text it ranks for every class name on it.
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No page per class or style
Spin, yoga, strength, personal training and open gym are separate searches. One page covering all of them ranks for none.
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The profile left alone
Hours, photographs and reviews decide the map pack, and most gym profiles were set up on opening day and never touched. This is the fastest win in the trade.
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No answer on joining
What it costs, whether there is a contract and whether they can try it first are the three questions every visitor has, and most sites answer none of them.
What you get each month
- The timetable as real text rather than an image, with a page per class type
- Pages for the styles you actually offer: personal training, strength, classes, open gym
- Joining questions answered: what it costs, contract or not, and whether there is a trial
- Google Business Profile: hours, photographs each week, reviews replied to
- Area pages for the neighbourhoods you genuinely draw from
- Monthly Search Console report by class and by area
How pricing works
What sets the size of the month is how many class types and locations you have. A single studio with three class types is a smaller month than a multi-site gym with a full timetable. We scope the work on a call and send a written quote before anything starts. The SEO services page explains what a month covers and who does it.
Results from real clients
Every number below is from the client’s own Google Search Console, for the period shown. Impressions are how often the site appeared; clicks are people who arrived. What each visit is worth is your sales process, not ours, so these are the visits we can prove rather than a conversion figure we cannot.
- 52,993clicksUp and Running Physical TherapyPhysical therapy · 1 Mar 2023 to 14 Mar 2024
- Impressions
- 2,238,155
- CTR
- 2.4%
- Avg. position
- 13.49
+139,355% clicks against the previous period of the same length.
- 12,285clicksBackcountry Physical TherapyPhysical therapy · 6 Jul 2023 to 31 May 2024
- Impressions
- 601,822
- CTR
- 2.0%
- Avg. position
- 19.3
+2,059% clicks against the previous period of the same length.
Questions gyms ask us
Should we publish membership prices?
Usually yes in this trade. It is the first thing every visitor looks for and hiding it sends them to a competitor who shows it. What you publish is your call.
Does the map pack really matter that much?
For gym near me and its variants it is most of the result. It also moves faster than the website, so it is where the work starts.
We are a small studio against a chain. Can we compete?
On the style and the neighbourhood, regularly. Chains manage profiles centrally and rarely post; a studio that posts weekly and answers reviews out-performs them locally.
How soon do memberships change?
Profile work often shows in four to eight weeks. Class and style pages take three to six months.
Book a call with us
A 30-minute call in your working hours. Tell us what you sell and where, and we will tell you what we would do first and what it involves. Prefer email? Send your website through the form and the Passieon Team will reply within two working days.