Knowing what to put at the top of your website, above the fold, can be confusing. One expert says you need an email marketing opt in while another says you should make an offer. Instead of listening to opinions, we go straight to the research to find out what really works.
Fitness Website Header Essentials
On a personal trainer website, there are some things that need to be above the fold like the navigation. When you think of the Menu options, there are a few standard ones everybody will want to see straight away. These are the Home, About, Services and Contact pages.
You ideally will have a blog that can be found through this navigation bar too. You may want the logo for your fitness business to be displayed too.
But other than that - what should go to the header section of your pages? Here are a few options.
You ideally will have a blog that can be found through this navigation bar too. You may want the logo for your fitness business to be displayed too.
But other than that - what should go to the header section of your pages? Here are a few options.
1. Your Lead Magnet
A lead magnet is something that you give away for free that your ideal audience would find valuable in helping them to solve their current problem. If you’re a personal trainer that offers nutrition support, this might be some low-calorie recipes. If you specialise in callisthenics training, this could be a 7 day email series with daily no-equipment workouts.
Your call to action could be something like “enter your email address now to download your free guide”. You could also promote a free course like our Managed Website client, Laercio through his website's blog page here:
Your call to action could be something like “enter your email address now to download your free guide”. You could also promote a free course like our Managed Website client, Laercio through his website's blog page here:
The point of the lead magnet is to “lead with value”. Giving a visitor to your website a free gift to say thank you for visiting, will draw them into your world. Once you’ve delivered the lead magnet, you then continue to nurture that lead through email marketing. Don’t neglect this step. Once they’ve come onto your site, they’re actively searching for a solution to a current problem. They are a warm lead. So giving them a lead magnet that’s outstanding quality and over delivers is a great way to make a positive first impression.
IDEAL PAGES TO USE A LEAD MAGNET
It's important to note though, that a lead magnet doesn't work well in any or all of your pages header section. We preach that each of your main website pages have one single purpose and the "above the fold" section of each pages needs to be in line with that.
Visitors who are looking for free advice because they want to solve their problem on their own will be hanging out on your Blog page. It's effortless to offer them to download a free guide that will answer their question and the opportunity to join your email list in the process. This way, they will hear from you for months to come and once they are ready to hire help with their issue, you'll be top of their mind.
IDEAL PAGES TO USE A LEAD MAGNET
It's important to note though, that a lead magnet doesn't work well in any or all of your pages header section. We preach that each of your main website pages have one single purpose and the "above the fold" section of each pages needs to be in line with that.
Visitors who are looking for free advice because they want to solve their problem on their own will be hanging out on your Blog page. It's effortless to offer them to download a free guide that will answer their question and the opportunity to join your email list in the process. This way, they will hear from you for months to come and once they are ready to hire help with their issue, you'll be top of their mind.
2. An Image Or Video
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and images are a great way to connect with your audience. This could be an opportunity to showcase fantastic transformational photos you’ve achieved with your clients. It could be a place to display your best testimonials from smiling, happy clients. The idea with the “above the fold” image is for it to be immediately obvious what you do, and what your brand philosophy is.
IDEAL PAGES TO USE AN IMAGE
Images are particularly effective on the home page. That's because the brain processes an image much faster than they process wording so the image can help the website visitor understand what the site is about much more quickly.
You could show a high quality, professional headshot of you - perhaps while training clients. If you have the budget to afford a professional photographer, this is a great place to invest it. They can help you to visually communicate that brand message.
When making a video, the focus is help to build a relationship with your visitors quickly. It establishes that they know who you are, they already like you, and they trust your knowledge and experience as an expert.
Images are particularly effective on the home page. That's because the brain processes an image much faster than they process wording so the image can help the website visitor understand what the site is about much more quickly.
You could show a high quality, professional headshot of you - perhaps while training clients. If you have the budget to afford a professional photographer, this is a great place to invest it. They can help you to visually communicate that brand message.
When making a video, the focus is help to build a relationship with your visitors quickly. It establishes that they know who you are, they already like you, and they trust your knowledge and experience as an expert.
IDEAL PAGES TO USE A VIDEO
Videos are a great way to sum up complex ideas. We've used one on our Institute of Personal Trainers education page to sum up how the membership works for people who might not want to spend the time to browse the site.
Videos are a great way to sum up complex ideas. We've used one on our Institute of Personal Trainers education page to sum up how the membership works for people who might not want to spend the time to browse the site.
3. Promote Newest Content
When you’re regularly updating your website, and creating new content for your blog, this content will be what you’ll want to direct your visitors to. You might make an above the fold feature of the newest article, to lead the visitor there as soon as they come onto your site.
According to Google, they prioritise ranking websites which are regularly maintained and updated - with an ideal publishing schedule of weekly blog articles.
According to Google, they prioritise ranking websites which are regularly maintained and updated - with an ideal publishing schedule of weekly blog articles.
IDEAL PAGES FOR FEATURED CONTENT
Driving traffic towards your website with outstanding fitness content means that your ideal clients are visiting your website to get those golden nuggets of information. Which makes blog pages and resources page ideal locations. You are nurturing leads, and establishing yourself as an authority.
If sticking to a publishing schedule is something you find difficult, you might consider implementing a content calendar. This can make it far easier to stick to a routine of researching, writing, editing and publishing the sort of content that your ideal audience would love to read about. Your call to action on this promotion could be “click here to read more”.
Bonus Tip: Mobile Design and User Experience
With most people accessing websites using a mobile device like a phone or tablet, remember mobile resolutions and design your responsive fitness website around this. The user experience is vitally important to how long people will stay on your site for. Sites which have a high bounce rate (meaning that people come on and navigate away again quickly) are ranked poorly by the Google algorithm.
This is important if you’re opting for a larger file above the fold, such as images or video. Images can be compressed with software like TinyPNG, and videos should be kept short and to the point. If you’re using video, always include subtitles so that the video can be watched without sound.
This is important if you’re opting for a larger file above the fold, such as images or video. Images can be compressed with software like TinyPNG, and videos should be kept short and to the point. If you’re using video, always include subtitles so that the video can be watched without sound.
Conclusion
“Above the fold” is an important space on your personal trainer website pages that should not be wasted. Using that space to build relationships through images or video, or to give something of value like a lead magnet or a recent blog article is going to be key to building authority in your particular industry niche.
Spending some time testing out these different high performing options to determine which works the best for your audience is an intelligent way to make an informed decision. There’s no reason the guess at what they’d prefer when we can simply ask them and test it.
The navigation bar and business name should remain visible through the site. Regardless of which page your visitors are and which type of content you added to the headers. The above the fold area should also include a direct call to action. This will indicate to your visitor what they should do next.
Spending some time testing out these different high performing options to determine which works the best for your audience is an intelligent way to make an informed decision. There’s no reason the guess at what they’d prefer when we can simply ask them and test it.
The navigation bar and business name should remain visible through the site. Regardless of which page your visitors are and which type of content you added to the headers. The above the fold area should also include a direct call to action. This will indicate to your visitor what they should do next.
