Using a responsive web design for your business website is no longer optional. It’s a necessity. This is especially true for fitness businesses like yours. If your website has professional photos or progressive images, video testimonials, clickable embeds, CTAs, and other interactive media, mobile responsive design is a must.
What is Responsive Website?
A responsive web design rescales all the content and elements on your website based on the needs and screen size of the device on which it’s viewed. This means users on mobile phones or tablets can interact with your site almost the same way as those with a desktop.
Such levels of accessibility and flexibility are crucial for your fitness business for several reasons. Below, we explore these reasons and outline a few tips to help you create a mobile responsive design for your site.
Why Is Mobile Responsive Web Design Important For Your Fitness Site?
A responsive design is essential for your fitness website because it allows you to:
1. Reach More Potential Customers
Over 59% of all Internet users use mobile devices when browsing. With a fully mobile responsive design, your fitness products and services become accessible to all mobile device users, plus users of other devices with different screen sizes.
Without a responsive design, you lose access to over half of all Internet users and limit yourself to desktop users (about 37.97% of Internet searchers).
2. Enhance User Experience
Because a mobile responsive website adjusts to the screen size and display capabilities of different devices, it offers an enjoyable experience to all users.
The responsive design supports resizing images, videos, and other elements like the navigation menu. Visitors browsing your fitness website will see all images at their correct resolution and interact with all functions seamlessly. Pages will also load faster, whether visitors are using a phone, tablet, or desktop.
Check out this website that doesn't use a responsive design:
The responsive design supports resizing images, videos, and other elements like the navigation menu. Visitors browsing your fitness website will see all images at their correct resolution and interact with all functions seamlessly. Pages will also load faster, whether visitors are using a phone, tablet, or desktop.
Check out this website that doesn't use a responsive design:
Responsive web designs even adjust site layouts to match specific mobile browsing preferences. For example, a site will change from a three-column to a one-column layout when mobile device users switch from landscape to portrait mode so all content becomes readable without strain.
Offering a smooth, enjoyable browsing experience for various users portrays professionalism. As a result, more prospects are likely to trust your fitness site messaging and choose to work with you.
3. Increase Time Spent On Site
Responsive websites increase the time visitors spend on a site, which, in turn, increases conversion rates.
On a mobile-responsive website, visitors don’t get frustrated with the unnecessary zooming and panning that often occurs with sites that lack mobile responsiveness. They can take their time to comfortably read through your fitness content until they find what they’re looking for.
On a mobile-responsive website, visitors don’t get frustrated with the unnecessary zooming and panning that often occurs with sites that lack mobile responsiveness. They can take their time to comfortably read through your fitness content until they find what they’re looking for.
Clear navigation functions on mobile-friendly websites also let visitors spend more time on your gym website as they can move from one page to another fluidly. The more time potential customers spend on your website, the higher the chances they’ll purchase your products or services.
4. Improve Rankings On Search Engines
In 2015, after realizing mobile browsing was becoming increasingly popular among web users, Google introduced mobile-first indexing as a ranking factor.
That meant mobile-friendly websites had an added advantage and could rank higher on search results than other sites that lacked optimization for mobile screens. The same is true today, as mobile friendliness has more weight in Google’s determination of search rankings.
That meant mobile-friendly websites had an added advantage and could rank higher on search results than other sites that lacked optimization for mobile screens. The same is true today, as mobile friendliness has more weight in Google’s determination of search rankings.
If your gym website is mobile responsive, it boosts your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Your fitness business has a high chance of ranking among the top Google search engine results, making it easier for more of your target customers to find you.
The opposite is also true – Google penalizes sites that aren’t mobile-friendly. So, not using a responsive design for your fitness website will hurt your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.
5. Cost-Effectiveness
Without a responsive design, you may have to create and maintain separate sites – one for mobile users and another for the non-mobile, say desktop and tablet users. Maintaining separate sites can be costly. You eliminate this need and save money using a responsive design since a responsive website can serve all audiences on all devices.
6. Ease Of Management
A mobile responsive design simplifies website management. It allows you to adjust different aspects of your site fast without seeking the help of a designer.
Having one mobile responsive website also makes managing other parts of your fitness business easier. For example, when marketing your personal training services on various social media platforms, you can redirect users to one central place (your website).
You won’t have to worry about sending the right audience to the right place, i.e., your mobile or desktop site. Also, with a responsive design, all your marketing material, like banner ads, will automatically adjust and load correctly on other devices.
Having one mobile responsive website also makes managing other parts of your fitness business easier. For example, when marketing your personal training services on various social media platforms, you can redirect users to one central place (your website).
You won’t have to worry about sending the right audience to the right place, i.e., your mobile or desktop site. Also, with a responsive design, all your marketing material, like banner ads, will automatically adjust and load correctly on other devices.
7. Enjoy Mobile App-Like Benefits
If you don’t have plans to develop a mobile app for your fitness website, don’t worry. A well-designed mobile responsive website will feel and look like a mobile app if used from a smartphone. Your mobile users will access all the features and have the same experience they would if you had an app.
Plus, you won’t have to go through all the hassle business owners go through when creating mobile apps unless you’re ready.
7 Tips For Creating A Mobile Responsive Web Design For Your Fitness Site
Here are a few tips for creating a responsive website for your fitness business:
1. Adopt A Mobile-First Approach
Prioritize the mobile experience when designing your fitness website since more people access the web from their smartphones. One way to do this is through mobile-optimized content. Use concise text throughout your site and break it into scannable sections with images to make it more engaging.
Check out how the Institute of Personal Trainers website builder has a mobile layout for editing your website specifically on a mobile device.
2. Use Scalable Vector Graphics (SVGs)
Find and use scalable vector images and icons throughout your site. They minimize load times and maintain image quality across devices.
3. Choose Fluid Grid Layouts
Flexible grid systems adjust following screen sizes. They ensure all the elements on your fitness website scale down proportionally without compromising the design when users access your site from different devices.
4. Choose Readable Typography
Work with font types and sizes that are legible across all devices. Avoid tiny texts as they may require zooming in on your site’s mobile version.
5. Ensure All Buttons Are Touch-Friendly
Your website buttons and other interactive features should be large and well-spaced to accommodate tapping without accidental clicks.
6. Optimize Your Fitness Website For Speed
Optimize your fitness website for speed by compressing images and leveraging browser caching to minimize load times. You can perform a page speed test at https://pagespeed.web.dev/.
7. Monitor Regularly
Remember to regularly test your site across devices to identify and fix any issues with site responsiveness in good time. Mobile responsive web design issues can attract penalties from Google and cause you to lose some ground on your rankings quickly.
When auditing your site for issues, do it from as a visitor using different devices to see if all elements on your site are working well for everyone. Alternatively, you can set up a feedback form for your audience to notify if they experience any problems navigating your site.
Check out our guide on responsive fitness website design for more tips on creating a responsive fitness website that’s easy to navigate.
When auditing your site for issues, do it from as a visitor using different devices to see if all elements on your site are working well for everyone. Alternatively, you can set up a feedback form for your audience to notify if they experience any problems navigating your site.
Check out our guide on responsive fitness website design for more tips on creating a responsive fitness website that’s easy to navigate.
Final Thoughts
A responsive design is the cornerstone of successful gym websites. It boosts your rankings on search results, increasing your online visibility and allowing you to attract the right leads organically.
The higher you rank, the more prospects you’ll attract and convert into well-paying customers. And the more you’ll build your authority as a thought leader within the fitness industry. Good luck and happy optimizing!
The higher you rank, the more prospects you’ll attract and convert into well-paying customers. And the more you’ll build your authority as a thought leader within the fitness industry. Good luck and happy optimizing!
