We know that Google is the search engine we care most about our fitness website ranking on than any other but there’s not a huge amount of information available about how Google really works. We vaguely have a sense of the ever influential algorithm and the impact that can have on driving traffic and retaining visitors, but the details are a little evasive.
So what do we actually know about Google which could impact our fitness businesses and our personal trainer website? We did a little research and found an article written by the KingKong guys that discuss 15 numbers that will have an impact on your fitness website and you may not know about it just yet. So let's dig in.
1. On Average, People Run Multiple Searches Per Day
If the average American does 3.4 text-based searches every day, that works out at 40-60 billion Google searches from the US every month. That does not include voice searches and includes a huge variety of topics.
WHAT TO DO
Even if your ideal customer is doing 1 health and fitness related search each day, that doesn’t give you many opportunities to get found by your clients. It’s vitally important that your personal trainer website is dialled in for SEO, local marketing and regularly updated.
WHAT TO DO
Even if your ideal customer is doing 1 health and fitness related search each day, that doesn’t give you many opportunities to get found by your clients. It’s vitally important that your personal trainer website is dialled in for SEO, local marketing and regularly updated.
2. Only 15% Of People Do 1 Or More Daily Searches
A strange statistic given what we’ve learned about multiple searches above, but one that can be explained by two factors. First, people are using other search engines to get information, including YouTube (also owned by Google). Secondly, people are getting a lot of information through passive sources, like social media.
WHAT TO DO
With the average person spending more than 15 minutes a day on Facebook, this is likely to be the source they’re relying on for lots of information - not just health and fitness - when not actively searching on Google. Be sure to have a strong presence there.
WHAT TO DO
With the average person spending more than 15 minutes a day on Facebook, this is likely to be the source they’re relying on for lots of information - not just health and fitness - when not actively searching on Google. Be sure to have a strong presence there.
3. Most Searches Are Very Brief
On average, searches are being conducted in the health and fitness industry that last under 1 minute and often less. That means that if you’re getting someone land on your site, you don’t have a lot of time to give them the information that they’re looking for.
WHAT TO DO
A well-designed fitness website, with excellent SEO will perform far better than a personal trainer website which has been hastily thrown together.
WHAT TO DO
A well-designed fitness website, with excellent SEO will perform far better than a personal trainer website which has been hastily thrown together.
4. Only 66% Of Searches End In A Click
Google presents some information to the searcher on the search results page. This indicates that they are aiming to limit the number of clicks required for someone to get the information they want. You can capitalise on this by making sure your personal trainer website offers your visitors more information than your competitors.
WHAT TO DO
Make sure your meta data, the information Google shows to a searcher, contains your keywords and has a strong, relevant call to action.
WHAT TO DO
Make sure your meta data, the information Google shows to a searcher, contains your keywords and has a strong, relevant call to action.
5. 3.4% Of Adwords Ads Get Clicked
Although this is a really low percentage, the volume of traffic Google deals with means that in real terms, this is a high number of clicks. This is highly competitive and much of the data on this is kept pretty secret, but every fitness professional should have the capacity to run an effective Adwords campaign.
WHAT TO DO
If you use adwords, consider investing some of that money into SEO. Good SEO will rank your website in the organic search which is trusted by searchers more than the ads.
WHAT TO DO
If you use adwords, consider investing some of that money into SEO. Good SEO will rank your website in the organic search which is trusted by searchers more than the ads.
6. Map Clicks Are Much Higher On Mobile Devices
For users searching for your physical location, only 1% of desktop searches get a Google Maps click. But this number shoots up to 15% on mobile.
WHAT TO DO
If you’re a face to face personal trainer, gym owner or have a set location or premises from which you run your fitness business, it’s essential your personal trainer website is optimised for mobile use. If you’ve not already done so, you may want to consider getting a Google My Business page to encourage people to find your premises as easily as possible.
WHAT TO DO
If you’re a face to face personal trainer, gym owner or have a set location or premises from which you run your fitness business, it’s essential your personal trainer website is optimised for mobile use. If you’ve not already done so, you may want to consider getting a Google My Business page to encourage people to find your premises as easily as possible.
7. Only .5% Of Clicks Are On Knowledge Panel
When you search, the Knowledge Panel pops up on the right of the screen for less than half of the searching and gives the quick and necessary facts. It’s hard to know if the knowledge panel will be stealing traffic from your personal trainer website without first searching for the main keywords you’re trying to rank for.
WHAT TO DO
Pay attention to the links and information offered in the panel and then you can use that content for ideas and create content of greater value for your website visitors.
WHAT TO DO
Pay attention to the links and information offered in the panel and then you can use that content for ideas and create content of greater value for your website visitors.
8. At Least 3% Of All Total Search Clicks Are On Images
Some estimates place this percentage much higher, around 11%. Infographics which have been skillfully made on Canva, or even by a professional graphic designer can be a fantastic marketing and educational tool to help communicate complex ideas to your audience in a way which is quick, clear and encourages them to take action.
WHAT TO DO
By properly editing the metadata on your image tags, and creating useful infographics for the visitors to your fitness website, you’ll be able to get a share of this image search traffic.
WHAT TO DO
By properly editing the metadata on your image tags, and creating useful infographics for the visitors to your fitness website, you’ll be able to get a share of this image search traffic.
9. At Least 0.23% Of Searches Results Lead To A Click On Twitter
Where most fitness professionals spend their time on social media developing their audiences on Facebook and Instagram, Twitter is often neglected. If your demographic uses the platform, it would make sense to include it as part of your regular content strategy. Estimates range from 0.23 to as much as 7% of traffic going through Twitter, but that statistic isn’t limited to the fitness industry.
WHAT TO DO
As with all marketing, it’s best to test it for your particular client avatar but having a Twitter presence, no matter how active you are, could help you build and grow your audience.
WHAT TO DO
As with all marketing, it’s best to test it for your particular client avatar but having a Twitter presence, no matter how active you are, could help you build and grow your audience.
10. 6.3% Of All Google Search Results Lead To A Click On Youtube
YouTube is owned by Google, and it’s the second largest search engine in the world. This shows just how powerful video can be to reach your ideal clients. If you’re competing for a popular keyword, having the ability to use Youtube for high-quality visual content can give you the edge for SEO. This could be a perfect opportunity to repurpose content which has performed well on your website and redirect traffic to and from your YouTube channel.
WHAT TO DO
Create new content or turn existing content into video to get more business views from YouTube.
WHAT TO DO
Create new content or turn existing content into video to get more business views from YouTube.
11. 0.55% Of All Clicks Go To Google Shopping Results
While Amazon is the e-commerce giant, Google Shopping is growing.
WHAT TO DO
If you have a digital product, such as a pre-written 12 week workout plan, available for sale on your personal trainer website, or a Shopify integration for merchandise available as part of your fitness business, this could something to push with Google Shopping.
WHAT TO DO
If you have a digital product, such as a pre-written 12 week workout plan, available for sale on your personal trainer website, or a Shopify integration for merchandise available as part of your fitness business, this could something to push with Google Shopping.
12. Google Keeps Around 11% Of All Search Traffic For Themselves
When you consider how much of all traffic Google keeps for itself, it’s no wonder they’re such a giant. Google will try to keep users on their search engine by offering products and services they're affilaited with, but knowing your place in the fitness industry, finding ways to get traffic off of Google and into our website will be determined by two main things.
WHAT TO DO
Having an incredible website, that’s well built, optimised for the user experience and regularly updated is the first thing. That’s going to drive traffic from Google’s own search pages and into your fitness website. The second thing is to do an incredible job of giving your ideal customer exactly what they want on your site. That means high-quality content, updated regularly, and a thorough understanding of the problems they face that you are uniquely positioned to help them to resolve. That will keep your user coming back, ideally directly to your site, for more information and help from you.
WHAT TO DO
Having an incredible website, that’s well built, optimised for the user experience and regularly updated is the first thing. That’s going to drive traffic from Google’s own search pages and into your fitness website. The second thing is to do an incredible job of giving your ideal customer exactly what they want on your site. That means high-quality content, updated regularly, and a thorough understanding of the problems they face that you are uniquely positioned to help them to resolve. That will keep your user coming back, ideally directly to your site, for more information and help from you.
13. Three Word Query
Searches performed on mobile devices were slightly shorter than desktop searches and ran around three words in length on average. But searches done on a desktop were not that much longer.
WHAT TO DO
When deciding on the keywords you’d like to rank for on an article for your personal training website, aim for a keyword that’s around 3 words long in order to improve your chances of being found by your audience.
WHAT TO DO
When deciding on the keywords you’d like to rank for on an article for your personal training website, aim for a keyword that’s around 3 words long in order to improve your chances of being found by your audience.
14. 8% Of Searches Are Posed As Questions
This means that for every 100 searches done on Google, 8 of them will begin the same way. With the words “who”, “where”, “when”, “what”, “why” or “how”. This is an incredibly powerful thing to know when writing content - or even paid ads - around your personal training service. People that are searching for a question are, by definition, actively looking for information that will solve an immediate problem. They are to be considered a warm lead, even if they’re not yet on your fitness website. These are the people most fitness professions will want to prioritise, as their “readiness to buy” will be high.
WHAT TO DO
Find out what your ideal clients are searching for and create content around that topic to help those clients get answers and see you as the authority.
WHAT TO DO
Find out what your ideal clients are searching for and create content around that topic to help those clients get answers and see you as the authority.
15. Alternative Search Suggestions
With Google suggesting that 18% of people will change their search query based on the suggestions given at the bottom of the search results page, these are not to be ignored.
WHAT TO DO
To make the best of this information, search for your most common keywords - the ones you’re trying to rank for o your fitness website, and scroll right to the bottom of Google’s first page to see what alternatives they suggest. Try writing blog content and headlines based around these alternative suggestions as these are super valuable for an SEO strategy to collect all the search traffic you can.
WHAT TO DO
To make the best of this information, search for your most common keywords - the ones you’re trying to rank for o your fitness website, and scroll right to the bottom of Google’s first page to see what alternatives they suggest. Try writing blog content and headlines based around these alternative suggestions as these are super valuable for an SEO strategy to collect all the search traffic you can.
Conclusion
With Google having a dominant market share, learning how to harness the power of the search engine giant to rank your fitness website and drive traffic will be an integral part of your business success. Learning how to optimise your fitness website for visibility and increased traffic will indirectly lead to more sales, and more chances to help others with their health and fitness.
Having a high performing fitness website will have one of the best returns on investment you could make to generate incoming leads and boost your income. For many fitness professionals with a well-ranked and properly maintained website, they find that the investment quickly pays for itself in the amount of time saved and new clients it brings into their business. Having a well-designed fitness website is one of the biggest factors in establishing authority and trust for your audience.
Having a high performing fitness website will have one of the best returns on investment you could make to generate incoming leads and boost your income. For many fitness professionals with a well-ranked and properly maintained website, they find that the investment quickly pays for itself in the amount of time saved and new clients it brings into their business. Having a well-designed fitness website is one of the biggest factors in establishing authority and trust for your audience.
