Are you having trouble gaining clients from your self made personal trainer website? When personal trainer websites are designed the right way, they're an excellent way to reach new clients and show people why they need your help to get fit.
But if some important features are missing you might have built for yourself a very time consuming and expensive online business card that no one is going to see unless you send them to it.
If you don't plan your site right, you could be doing more harm than good for your business so in this guide, we'll talk about how to build a DIY personal trainer website the right way.
If you don't plan your site right, you could be doing more harm than good for your business so in this guide, we'll talk about how to build a DIY personal trainer website the right way.
Successful Elements of Personal Trainer Websites
Having the right content, images, layout marketing strategy and design are all necessary to have an engaging site that pulls in new clients.
Trustworthy Design
If you're a client looking for a personal trainer, you're going to be looking for someone who you're confident can help you. Someone that's fit, active, great at training and above all, someone you can trust.
Your website should be able to show (not tell) people that they can trust your training services. A study by the Nielson Norman Group found that Design Quality is still one of the main factors of a trustworthy site.
In other words, crappy design, no trust.
A trustworthy website makes use of professional pictures, an easy layout and a simple navigation to access all the important pages of your website.
Need some inspiration? Check out the designs on our Portfolio page.
Your website should be able to show (not tell) people that they can trust your training services. A study by the Nielson Norman Group found that Design Quality is still one of the main factors of a trustworthy site.
In other words, crappy design, no trust.
A trustworthy website makes use of professional pictures, an easy layout and a simple navigation to access all the important pages of your website.
Need some inspiration? Check out the designs on our Portfolio page.
Robust Marketing
I say this to my clients regularly: A website alone will not get you clients. It's how you use the website that will get you clients. Much in the same way that the best workout program won't get your clients results unless they put in the work and keep track of their nutrition.
If a website is a workout program then nutrition is marketing. You need to invest time in both consistently to see any kind of progress.
If a website is a workout program then nutrition is marketing. You need to invest time in both consistently to see any kind of progress.
Constant Content
What would you think of a business that hasn't changed their website in years? Personal trainer websites are created to build an audience, update and inform people about product offerings and services.
Adding the right pages and creating content on a regular basis helps the website visitor to see that you're comprehensive, correct and current.
Popular personal trainer websites always have new content up. Whether that's fresh photos in the gallery or new blog posts, there's always something new to see every few weeks.
Adding the right pages and creating content on a regular basis helps the website visitor to see that you're comprehensive, correct and current.
Popular personal trainer websites always have new content up. Whether that's fresh photos in the gallery or new blog posts, there's always something new to see every few weeks.
Should I Design My Own Website?
If you're thinking of building your own website, but you're still on the fence on whether or not it's a good idea, there are a lot of pros and cons to weigh out. Here's what you need to make it work.
Get Web-Savvy
The internet has become a daily part of nearly everyone's life, but you can use something every day and not understand how it works. Before you can determine if you should build your own website, you need to ask yourself how web-savvy you are.
What do you know about website design? What do you know about what a website visitor needs to see before they buy from you? Would you be able to build something from scratch because you know how to code, or would you need something set up on a site like Wordpress?
What do you know about website design? What do you know about what a website visitor needs to see before they buy from you? Would you be able to build something from scratch because you know how to code, or would you need something set up on a site like Wordpress?
What can you do?
If you don't know much about building a website, using a pre-built model can help somewhat. Layouts provided by DIY website builders like Wix, Weebly and Squarespace can take a hug load off but be sure to stick to the provided layouts and format.
Become Intuitive to Your Visitors' Needs
A good website is half awesome content and half functional and appealing design. The only trouble here is that most people think appealing means unique or different.
Don't get me wrong, a new website layout or animation I've never seen before can make me smile but that kind of attention to detail is usually best left for the companies that can afford to spend money on creation and testing.
What can you do?
When prospective clients land on your website, they're looking for information and they probably have little time to invest in their search. So they want to know:
Figure out how to answer these 5 questions and you've already won half of the battle.
Don't get me wrong, a new website layout or animation I've never seen before can make me smile but that kind of attention to detail is usually best left for the companies that can afford to spend money on creation and testing.
What can you do?
When prospective clients land on your website, they're looking for information and they probably have little time to invest in their search. So they want to know:
- Are you what they are looking for?
- Are you local/convenient?
- How much do you cost?
- Are you competent?
- How do I get in touch?
Figure out how to answer these 5 questions and you've already won half of the battle.
Learn How to Market Online
As we previously mentioned, there's no point in having a personal trainer website people won't be able to find. If you want plenty of new visitors to your site every month, you need to have a robust online marketing strategy.
Are you familiar with SEO and keyword research? Do you know about header, title, and alt tags? Do you have a strategy that will get your work seen on Facebook and other social media platforms?
Are you familiar with SEO and keyword research? Do you know about header, title, and alt tags? Do you have a strategy that will get your work seen on Facebook and other social media platforms?
What can you do?
Some of this may seem like it's outside of the realm of building a website, but marketing and website creation now go hand in hand. If you don't know how to build a website with the right marketing techniques in mind, there are other things you could spend your money on to get more client so you can make some money to pay a professional.
Make Time
The moment you became a personal trainer, you became a business owner. Between your training appointments and your own workouts, you may not have the time you need to devote to launching a website.
Most PT's don't factor in how much time it can take maintaining a website. In between adding new content, staying up to date on SEO, and troubleshooting, it can take up several hours a week.
What can you do?
If you're thinking of going down the DIY route, be prepared to spend a considerable amount of time testing, tweaking and learning the ropes. If that's not something you have time for right now, your energy might be better spent elsewhere.
Most PT's don't factor in how much time it can take maintaining a website. In between adding new content, staying up to date on SEO, and troubleshooting, it can take up several hours a week.
What can you do?
If you're thinking of going down the DIY route, be prepared to spend a considerable amount of time testing, tweaking and learning the ropes. If that's not something you have time for right now, your energy might be better spent elsewhere.
Next Steps
If you have any questions about building your own fitness website, contact us so we can help.