It might seem like an odd consideration at first. Your personal trainer website being impacted by COVID-19. But adapting your website for COVID-19 is essential.
Your personal trainer website is the first look inside your business that a potential client gets. Many people checking out your website will be looking for some reassurance that you have considered the impact of COVID-19 on your personal training business and that you’ve taken steps to keep them safe.
How COVID Is Changing Lives
In a post COVID world, the fundamental elements of daily life have changed for many people and when you factor in how these changes impact not only how people use website but also how they judge your business.
No More Commuting
With no commute to and from work, with many people now working from home, the working day looks entirely different for many people. The time and stresses saved by not leaving for work are changed by the lack of separation between work and home.
Homeschooling
Add to that the added pressures of homeschooling or caring for children at home and people are now having to juggle work life, teaching their kids, managing their exercise and a dozen other new challenges. All against the backdrop of potentially being very worried about a global pandemic and having their relaxation space taken over by zoom calls with their boss at all hours.
Exercising at Home
For the majority of clients, exercise was something they might have struggled with even if they had the tightly structured routine of meeting a personal trainer at the gym regularly. Now, they might be inclined to avoid the gym, for the time being, opting instead to exercise at home with an online personal training app, or taking up outdoor exercise. That’s if they’re managing to exercise at all.
No More Commuting
With no commute to and from work, with many people now working from home, the working day looks entirely different for many people. The time and stresses saved by not leaving for work are changed by the lack of separation between work and home.
Homeschooling
Add to that the added pressures of homeschooling or caring for children at home and people are now having to juggle work life, teaching their kids, managing their exercise and a dozen other new challenges. All against the backdrop of potentially being very worried about a global pandemic and having their relaxation space taken over by zoom calls with their boss at all hours.
Exercising at Home
For the majority of clients, exercise was something they might have struggled with even if they had the tightly structured routine of meeting a personal trainer at the gym regularly. Now, they might be inclined to avoid the gym, for the time being, opting instead to exercise at home with an online personal training app, or taking up outdoor exercise. That’s if they’re managing to exercise at all.
Small Groups
Depending on where your clients are located in the world, they are likely restricted to socialising in small groups at home or outdoors. For many people, they might have done almost no socialising in the last 6 months, and they may be feeling lonely - or anxious about spending time around people again.
Food Deliveries
Their whole lives are suddenly based around their houses, buying products online to get delivered, including food. They may be renting and watching movies at home more than usual, making them even more sedentary. This could be causing some anxiety for some, and they’re likely to be managing that by using telehealth apps - also from home.
Local Trips
Any trips will stay very local, and very short. People’s worlds have shrunk to not much beyond their laptop screens. So when they land on your personal trainer website, they will be imagining a better, healthier future for themselves. Your website is always communicating a belief that people’s futures can be better than their presents, and that they have the power to make it so. So framing that in the context of the safety precautions you’re taking to protect them from COVID will be critical.
Making Website Visitors Feel At Ease
People visiting your website may already feel anxious about working out at the gym even before there was a risk of catching COVID. Obviously, your clients want to avoid catching the virus or spreading it to loved ones that may be vulnerable.
On your website, make sure to show the clear measures you take at the gym to keep clients safe. You might, for example, demonstrate how the equipment is sanitised before and after use. You might highlight the availability of hand sanitising facilities. You could have photographs showing the distance between equipment. The goal here is to demonstrate that you’re taking the necessary steps to make clients feel at ease in a way which allows them to imagine themselves training in your space.
State the Guidelines
On your website, it’s worth reiterating the government regulations in your particular area and making sure that your understanding is up to date. Show visitors to your website how you’re compliant with these rules including checklists, photographs and videos, even using call-out boxes to emphasise and highlight the notable parts.
You can find these guidelines on the main CDC website or your local government site:
You can find these guidelines on the main CDC website or your local government site:
This shows that you know what the rules are, you have a plan in place to make sure everyone in the facility is following them, and that you’re keeping everyone as safe as possible at the gym. You’re already following the rules anyway; it helps to be seen to be following the rules.
Acknowledge Economic Hardship
The impact of COVID-19 has had an economic element for some people. If you are in a position to offer a discount to people who have been financially affected, it might be worth considering. You don’t ever have to give discounts and shouldn’t feel obliged to discount your services, but some income is better than none.
You might consider offering a small number of discounted sessions per week or month for people that have been economically affected by COVID-19.
You might consider offering a small number of discounted sessions per week or month for people that have been economically affected by COVID-19.
Create COVID Safe Services
Aside from discounting your services for people that have been financially impacted by COVID, you might want to consider specific deals or services. This could include discounts for key workers or hybrid training options which have a limited face to face element and instead supplement support through online platforms.
If you’d like more information on how to start with online training, you could check out our trusted partner, the Online Trainer Academy to learn more about how to set up your online business offering.
Ditch High-Pressure Sales Tactics
This is good advice all the time, but after COVID, this is more true than ever: users don’t want high-pressure sales tactics. They might be anxious about their health, their finances and are looking to you for reassurance.
Therefore, inbound marketing is going to be very important. This means that people who are interested in personal training come to you. This is an ideal way to run a personal training business as the people who get in touch with you are likely to be more committed to buying from you.
Therefore, inbound marketing is going to be very important. This means that people who are interested in personal training come to you. This is an ideal way to run a personal training business as the people who get in touch with you are likely to be more committed to buying from you.
Some examples of how you could generate inbound enquiries include making incredible quality fitness content and giving it away for free. This might include a lead magnet on your website that your ideal client really wants. To download the lead magnet, they will have given you their email address - where you can deliver more help and support. You could even publish a regular schedule of high-quality articles on your blog, tailored to exactly what your audience is interested in.
These content creation strategies are going to help build a relationship with your audience so that when they are ready to invest in personal training, you’ll be the person they think of.
Use COVID Safe Photos
The images on your website will be one of the clearest ways you can reassure visitors to your site that you’re COVID aware and compliant. You could do this by limiting the number of photos where people are in close contact in groups. Even if they were taken long before COVID, people may not realise that. Don’t assume that it’s clear to a visitor to your site who is seeing that image for the first time.
Increasing the number of photos which have a sense of open space, and sanitary conditions will be a great way to reassure people. Even if you don’t include any photos of you actually sanitising the gym, it will still create a sense of space and cleanliness.
Attracting Clients During COVID
When creating content for your inbound marketing strategy, you might consider mentioning the challenges people are facing at the moment. The difficulty in training around children, and the needs of their wider family.
You might try to suggest ways to make exercising at home more engaging and fun, or how to use outdoor space. You might offer an online coaching option for people who are not local to you, or a hybrid model for people who might want to limit their time in the gym.
Your personal trainer website is a “shop window” for your business. Showing visitors that you are able to prioritise their health during COVID-19 is a must.
You might try to suggest ways to make exercising at home more engaging and fun, or how to use outdoor space. You might offer an online coaching option for people who are not local to you, or a hybrid model for people who might want to limit their time in the gym.
Your personal trainer website is a “shop window” for your business. Showing visitors that you are able to prioritise their health during COVID-19 is a must.
