Facebook reach has never been lower. Acquiring new leads and clients from a Facebook Business page is now something that’s talked about in the context of “the good ol’ days”. So, personal trainers are on the lookout for new and alternative sources of leads and potential clients. Search Engine Optimization is an invaluable tool to help reach your target audience and increase online visibility in search engines.
Below, I'll get into SEO strategies you can use for your personal trainer website. In particular, I'll share how you can master the use of SEO keywords for personal trainers. Relevant keywords are, well, the key to connecting with your potential client base online. I'll show you how to unlock this connection to grow your personal training business.
What Is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing field that aims to improve a brand's visibility and position in organic search engine rankings. Implementing an SEO campaign can help you reach potential customers looking for personal training services or fitness content in an online search.
For example, we've used SEO to target fitness professionals looking for help with improving their personal trainer websites. If you type “personal trainer website design”, you’ll find us high up on page one because we've optimized our website using keywords and other techniques.
We've told Google that this is an important service we offer and anytime someone makes a search query around this, we can help.
Google ‘Fitness Classes in Roscommon’ and you'll find our client Full Body Workhouse on page one... three times.
For example, we've used SEO to target fitness professionals looking for help with improving their personal trainer websites. If you type “personal trainer website design”, you’ll find us high up on page one because we've optimized our website using keywords and other techniques.
We've told Google that this is an important service we offer and anytime someone makes a search query around this, we can help.
Google ‘Fitness Classes in Roscommon’ and you'll find our client Full Body Workhouse on page one... three times.
But why not just pay for Google ads? Well, research shows that approximately 80% of all Internet users disregard paid advertisements in favor of organic search results. For a fitness website owner, this means the focus should shift from paid advertising to writing superior-quality organic-results-driving SEO content.
Good, strategic SEO can drive:
- Website traffic
- Revenue generation
- Searches and brand awareness
- Close rates
- Lead generation
- Conversion rates
How To Optimize Your Website With Personal Training Keywords
A fitness marketing SEO strategy can be extremely powerful in the hands of even a novice marketer. And you really don’t have to become an expert to start ranking your personal trainer website on page one of Google search results. Use these beginner SEO tactics for SEO success.
1. Find Your Keywords
A crucial step in all good SEO campaigns is keyword optimization. Keywords are the words and phrases one might type into their search bar when you’re looking for something. When your potential clients are looking for a personal trainer, they might search “personal trainer [LOCATION]” or "personal trainer near me".
There are two kinds of keywords that you can use:
- Short-tailed keywords – Individual words like ‘fitness’, ‘gym’, ‘yoga’, ‘Pilates’ and so on. very difficult to rank for because competition is usually high.
- Long-tailed keywords – Group of words which are always used together; for example, ‘gyms near me’, ‘yoga classes in Manchester’, ‘only women swim classes’ and more. Much easier to rank for, especially when combined with a location.
Examples of effective keywords you could use on your website as a personal trainer or gym owner are:
- Personal trainer [LOCATION]
- Fitness Classes in [LOCATION]
- Pilates classes in [LOCATION]
- Gym trainer near me
- Fitness trainers near me
- Aerobic classes [LOCATION]
These are a targeted and localized examples of keyword use that can help you reach potential customers in your area.
You can also use keyword research if you want to expand to global audiences (ie: if you operate in the virtual fitness industry). Utilize keyword research tools to create a list of geo-targeted keywords you can target. Select suitable keywords while considering the monthly search volume and keyword difficulty. Competitive keywords can be hard for you to rank for and affect your search visibility.
2. Adding Primary Keywords to Your PT Website
When incorporating keywords into your personal trainer website design, try to assign one long-tail keyword to each page of your website. Long-tail keywords are phrases that include three to five words in them. For example, yours could be:
Spread your keyword use across the pages. On this website, we have the main keyword in the domain name (optional) in the site title and the main header.
- Home page – personal trainer [LOCATION]
- About page – [GYM services IN LOCATION]
- Blog page – fitness tips in [LOCATION]
Spread your keyword use across the pages. On this website, we have the main keyword in the domain name (optional) in the site title and the main header.
For effective on-page SEO, mention the primary keyword once in your:
- Page title
- Meta title
- Meta description
- First paragraph
- Last paragraph
Remember, Google is smart so you can also use synonyms of your keyword. For example:
- Personal Trainer
- Fitness Coach
- Fitness Trainer
- Health Coach
- Etc
3. Adding Secondary Keywords to Your Fitness Website
Secondary keywords can often be just as important as primary keywords. Especially, if you have a well-defined niche or service as part of your personal training business. For example, if you specialize in pre- and post-natal training, some niche-specific keywords might be:
You might also want to include keywords like HIIT, Tabata, and TRX as they are more focused and attract a niche crowd. Secondary fitness SEO keywords are an opportunity to highlight the unique aspects of your business.
- Prenatal fitness
- Postnatal fitness
- Fitness for new moms
- Etc.
You might also want to include keywords like HIIT, Tabata, and TRX as they are more focused and attract a niche crowd. Secondary fitness SEO keywords are an opportunity to highlight the unique aspects of your business.
4. Avoid Keyword Stuffing
More is not better when it comes to keywords. The primary focus of your content should always be for the reader, not for the search engine. Two to three keywords mentioned once or twice in the website copy of each page is more than enough.
Search engines like Google have been designed to identify when website administrators indulge in unnatural keyword implementation in websites. Once identified, the search engine automatically demotes the website for wrongful implementation of keywords.
When you stuff keywords into your content, instead of ranking your website higher, your website will be flagged for keyword stuffing. Search engines will penalize you either by demotion in ranking or it may even be removed from the list of indexed websites.
An example of keyword stuffing is:
Search engines like Google have been designed to identify when website administrators indulge in unnatural keyword implementation in websites. Once identified, the search engine automatically demotes the website for wrongful implementation of keywords.
When you stuff keywords into your content, instead of ranking your website higher, your website will be flagged for keyword stuffing. Search engines will penalize you either by demotion in ranking or it may even be removed from the list of indexed websites.
An example of keyword stuffing is:
We have many fitness trainers working with us. If you wish to contact our fitness trainers, take a look at our fitness trainers’ page, select the fitness trainers you want as trainers and call. Our fitness trainers will help you with anything you need.
The word ‘fitness trainers’ is overused, unnecessary and unnatural…it’s stuffed into the copy. Don’t…. Just don’t.
5. Create an On Site Structure
One of the ways Google finds pages on your website is via search engine spiders. Sounds creepy but a spider is just part of the algorithm that searches the web (get it?) to find website pages.
To find new pages, a spider searches the pages it already knows about for links to new pages.
To find new pages, a spider searches the pages it already knows about for links to new pages.
If your home page has zero links to other pages of your website, those other pages would take more time to get indexed and rank in Google search results.
To take advantage of this system, build a link network to the main pages of your website from each page. For example, your Home page would have a paragraph about your company that links to your About page to find out more:
It may have a brief paragraph about your services that links to your Services page. And so on.
This structure helps to create a website hierarchy and makes it easy for Google to index your website pages.
6. Outbound Links
One of the best ways to improve the quality of your Search Engine Optimisation is through outbound links. Include hyperlinks to other websites or blog content that add value to what you offer. For example, if you’re writing a page for your weight loss workout routines, you could link to an article on the nutritional importance of weight loss. This would enrich, add value, and nuance your content.
A lot of trainers worry about linking to competitor websites but hyperlinks to external sources help you create a strong reputation in the industry. After all, if you have the confidence to link to external sources, you must have confidence in your product or service.
Another way to do this is to publish SEO optimized articles with relevant links to authoritative websites. This increases the value of your article in the eye of Google and the website visitor as well. You show them that you have researched thoroughly to create compelling content with the support of references.
A lot of trainers worry about linking to competitor websites but hyperlinks to external sources help you create a strong reputation in the industry. After all, if you have the confidence to link to external sources, you must have confidence in your product or service.
Another way to do this is to publish SEO optimized articles with relevant links to authoritative websites. This increases the value of your article in the eye of Google and the website visitor as well. You show them that you have researched thoroughly to create compelling content with the support of references.
Avoid adding outbound links to your target keywords as this suggests there is a better place to learn more about the topic you're already discussing.
7. Optimising Images
Google spiders have no way of reading the content of an image. An image to the Google spider looks like this:
<img src="personaltrainer.jpg" alt="personal trainer">
So it's important to identify what that image is with the file name and the alt text of the image. If the filename says “personaltrainer” then, by definition, the Google spider will assume the image is of a personal trainer.
That alt text describes what the image is to the Google spider. Just in case the file name of the image fails to do so. It's important to try and be as descriptive as possible in your alt text.
<img src="personaltrainer.jpg" alt="personal trainer">
So it's important to identify what that image is with the file name and the alt text of the image. If the filename says “personaltrainer” then, by definition, the Google spider will assume the image is of a personal trainer.
That alt text describes what the image is to the Google spider. Just in case the file name of the image fails to do so. It's important to try and be as descriptive as possible in your alt text.
So your job when adding images to your website is to:
- Change the file name of the image to what the image is before you upload it. Don’t cheat and call an image of an apple a personal trainer.
- Add the alt text of the image. You can usually find this in the image settings somewhere depending on your site builder.
That’s It
Follow the steps above to optimize your personal trainer website and, in time, your website's search rankings will make massive improvements. With SEO, it's important to focus on making high-quality content and use fitness SEO keywords as support.
Always keep tabs on the keyword landscape and average searches for content with a fitness focus. It keeps you abreast of industry trends and how you can create high-quality, relevant content.
If you get stuck with your keyword planner or want to help design a successful SEO strategy, send me a message or comment below.
Always keep tabs on the keyword landscape and average searches for content with a fitness focus. It keeps you abreast of industry trends and how you can create high-quality, relevant content.
If you get stuck with your keyword planner or want to help design a successful SEO strategy, send me a message or comment below.
