7 Steps to Boost Local Traffic to Your Fitness Website

If you're a personal trainer who serves clients locally and you want to get more business from your website, the guide will help you. 

Local marketing, especially search engine optimisation (SEO), is becoming the nature of modern day marketing for local businesses. All businesses - no matter the industry - are going to rely heavily on local SEO in the near future and like all marketing strategies, it will become crowded. 

So, what does that mean for the fitness industry? 

To develop your following of clientele, you're going to need a strong local presence. In this guide, we're going to talk about 7 of the best local SEO practices for personal trainers to get more local traffic to your website.

1. Content & Social Media

There are a lot of do's and don'ts that come with SEO. But there is no surer way to grow and develop your local presence than to generate a strong following.

None of the practices we'll be discussing will be as important as the reputation of your company itself. And to develop your reputation, content is key. 

Content attracts website visitors and website visitors help your page rank higher on Google and other search engines.

With SEO-optimized fitness articles, you can demonstrate your expertise as a fitness trainer, educate your readers, create a strong following of like minded people and dominate your local online "space". 

How to find content ideas:
To find ideas for your blog content, your best source for marketing information is your existing clients. What do they want to know about? What questions do you get asked over and over again? Write about it.

Create a content calendar:
Next, you'll need to develop a content calendar for your social media pages so you can advertsie your blog content on a regular basis. Your SEO success depends on link sharing, and social media is one of the best enablers for this.

Schedule social media:
Update your Facebook or Instagram on a daily basis. You can see from the image below that we're posting THREE times per day for our client Calumn. One of which is a daily link to his new blog content.

As you can see, a regular and consistent social media schedule has increased post reach as well as engagement. That means more website visitors and more potential leads.

2. On Site Keywords 

SEO keywords will help web users find your website when they look for your services on Google. A keyword is simply the words you use to search for what you're looking for.

For example, if your clients are looking for a personal trainer in London, their keywords might be "personal trainer London".

Where to include keywords:
Include these keywords throughout your website and social media pages for maximum effect. Places to include your keywords include:

• The main header of your site
  
• The first paragraph
• The second header
• The last paragraph
• The page title
• The page description

Google Analytics can also track your website's traffic and help you develop fitness related SEO keywords. It'll help you to see which keywords users searched for before they found your website.

Knowing this information can help you determine the most strategic keywords for SEO. It will also help to inspire better keywords that will attract more users.

3. ​Local Online Directories

Years ago, you would've listed your training services in the local directory books or the Yellow Pages. But nowadays, local directories are online. 

Get listed on Google My Business:
The first local directory source you want to get established on is Google. Within minutes, your business can appear in Google search results, as well as Google Maps. Plus, it's free!

When people search for fitness trainers in your area, your business will appear. They can see your contact information and business hours. They can also get directions to and from your location. 

Create a Comprehensive Profile:
Go the extra mile with your Google My Business page by adding photos and a description of your business. Once verified, your fitness business will appear higher in local fitness SEO results. 

But setting up your Google My Business page is only the beginning. There are dozens of prominent online directories you should list your business with, such as Yahoo Local or the online Yellow Pages. 
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To speed up this process, you can submit your business to services like Moz Local or Yext. For a minimal price, they'll automate your listings with the information you provide.

4. Blog SEO

To become the top result for fitness trainers in your area, Google has to know what business you're in and where. So, how do you do that?

Letting Google know just how local you are is actually simple. For obvious reasons, the name of your company should be clear on the main pages of your website, but your blog also has a huge part to play.

Mention your keywords in blog posts:
Sprinkle your service and location strategically throughout your blog posts. The more natural it's worked into your blog content, the higher Google will rank you.

For example, mention that you're a fitness trainer in your area on the blog where appropriate. You could also mention this again in your call to action at the bottom of the blog page, as well as your contact information.

Include location words in blog posts:
Give directions to your location. When giving directions, mention landmarks, popular neighborhoods, or busy streets. Also, provide a Google Map on your contact page.
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The more local you appear, the better your local fitness SEO game will be.

5. Mobile-Friendly

If you want your website to appear when locals search for personal trainers in your area then you're going to need a website that is easy to navigate on mobile devices.

We live in the day and age where people search for what they want in relation to their location. Once you've completed your My Google Business page, it'll be easier to appear in "near me" or "nearby" searches.

Improving your local SEO game overall will ensure you appear higher in "near me" searches. But one of the ways you can do this is to create a responsive website.

Get a responsive fitness website:
A responsive website is a website that adjust it's shape and content according to the device it's being viewed on. Like our client, Shohreh's website here:

The longer people stay on your website, the better your business will rank. That's because Google looks at how long your visitors stay on your web pages.
In fact, Google penalizes websites that aren't mobile compatible.

A responsive website is just one of the ways to make your website mobile-friendly. But you'll also need to optimise your content and images to make sure they load faster.
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Bottom line: The faster and more efficient your mobile site, the happier your web visitors will be. The happier your web visitors, the better your SEO ranking will be.

6. Get Reviews

Reviews contribute to your overall ranking score by about 8.4% according to research by leading SEO authority, Moz.

In other words, the more reviews your website has, the higher it will appear in Google searches.

Furthermore, people are more likely to browse on websites with published reviews. To them, published reviews demonstrate credibility.

Ask clients for reviews:
Reach out to clients who can speak of your expertise and provide testimonials. Tell them what a review of your business would mean to you and the future of your fitness training.

Go beyond your Google My Business page. Ask former or current clients to leave you reviews on your Facebook and Yelp pages.
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The better your reviews, the higher you'll rate.

7. ​Network & Secure Local Backlinks

Moz developed something known as domain authority. It's a scoring system that forecasts a website's performance in search engine results. Basically, the higher your score, the better your domain authority.

One of the ways you can improve your domain authority is to secure backlinks. Backlinks are links on other websites that link BACK to your website. These links are like "votes" to say your site is awesome.

In previous years, backlinks were a major component in SEO rankings. Though Google's SEO algorithm has changed, backlinks still hold significant weight.

There are many ways to obtain backlinks. For fitness SEO purposes, you're going to want to hone in on other, non-competitive local businesses in the area.

Look to businesses you've already connected with, as well as ones you want to forge with. You should pay special attention to local businesses with high online traffic. If you can backlink with a popular local website, the higher your potential to pull new clientele.
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This is not only an opportunity to boost your local SEO. This is an opportunity to network within the local community - and grow!

Boost Your Fitness SEO & Digital Presence

A local SEO strategy is vital to the success of your business. By implementing these practices, you can maximize your local SEO game!

However, as a fitness trainer, you don't always have time to exert your time and energy into SEO. Here at My PT Website, we take care of your local SEO needs - so you can stay focused in the gym or on the field!