How to Rank Fitness Websites on Google
Here are our favorite tips to offer fitness companies, broken out into technical, on-page, and off-page suggestions.
These SEO strategies apply to gym chains, boutique fitness studios, outdoor fitness companies, group fitness classes, dance fitness companies, fitness apparel companies, and other fitness companies.
1.) Technical SEO Tips for Fitness Companies
Technical SEO refers to optimizing your fitness company website's infrastructure so it can be properly crawled and indexed by search engines, which includes aspects like site speed, mobile optimization, XML sitemaps, and structured data markup. This ensures search engines can easily access, understand, and rank the website's content.
We can help out with all of these items and more, or you can handle them on your own:
- Ensure your website has a responsive design that works well desktop, small laptop, tablet, and mobile devices. There are a lot of screen sizes out there to accomodate. On a desktop computer, you can resize your browser window from large to small to see how different layout elements adjust for smaller screen sizes.
- Review your website's speed with a tool like Google PageSpeed Insights. Don't get caught up trying to pass Core Web Vitals. It isn't always possible on complex websites and might not be worth the investment. Instead, try to fix simple things to get a score of 60+.
- Use HTTPS encryption for website security. Most hosting companies offer free SSL certificates.
- Create and submit a sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools to help search engines index your website.
- Implement schema markup to help search engines better understand your fitness-related content, such as workout routines, nutrition plans, and equipment reviews.
- Use canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues, if you have the same content available on multiple URLs.
- Monitor your website's crawl errors and fix them promptly. You can find such errors in Google Search Console.
2.) On-Page SEO Tips for Fitness Companies
On-page SEO involves optimizing each page of your fitness instructor website to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. This often focuses on elements like keyword presence, meta tags, quality of content, user experience, page organization, and internal linking.
We can help out with all of these items and more, or you can handle them on your own:
- Create high-quality, original content that targets your audience's search intent, such as blog posts about fitness trends, workout plans, or nutrition tips. While ChatGTP is a popular content writing tool, don't rely solely on AI content. It is often generic, repetitive, and/or inaccurate. Be sure to proofread content before you post it.
- Use relevant keywords in your website's page titles and meta descriptions, such as "personal training", "group fitness classes", or "yoga retreats".
- Optimize your website's headings and subheadings with target keywords, such as "fitness tips", "healthy lifestyle", or "strength training".
- Include target keywords in image alt tags to help search engines understand the context of your images, such as "fitness equipment", "yoga poses", or "healthy food".
- Use internal linking to help search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of your website, such as linking to your membership plans, class schedules, or event pages.
- Use descriptive URLs with relevant keywords, such as "yourfitnesscompany.com/personal-training" or "yourfitnesscompany.com/nutrition-plans".
- Display customer testimonials and success stories prominently on your website to build credibility and trust with potential clients.
- Scan your website for broken links and fix them right away to avoid frustrating user experience for your website visitors. You can use this free tool from Ahrefs to scan for broken links.
3.) Off-Page SEO Tips for Fitness Companies
Off-page SEO involves all the actions taken outside of your fitness company website to impact your rankings within search engine results pages (SERPs). This includes strategies like link building, social media marketing, and reputation management. Such efforts help increase your website's reputation, authority, and visibility online.
We can help out with all of these items and more, or you can handle them on your own:
- Build useful backlinks from relevant websites, such as health and fitness blogs, online directories, or social media platforms.
- Create and maintain a strong presence on social media to engage with customers and build brand awareness. Use social media platforms, such as Instagram or Facebook, to showcase your workout routines, healthy recipes, or fitness challenges.
- Encourage satisfied clients to leave reviews on Google My Business and other review sites to improve your online reputation and increase your visibility in search engine results.
- Collaborate with other local businesses or influencers to cross-promote services and build backlinks.
- Participate in local fitness events or charity runs to increase your brand exposure and build connections with potential clients and partners.
- Create informative and shareable infographics related to fitness or nutrition topics to increase your website's visibility and attract more organic traffic.
- Make videos to showcase your services and build engagement with clients. Create video content about workout routines, nutrition tips, or success stories.
- Monitor your online reputation and respond promptly to client feedback and reviews, both positive and negative, to show that you care about your clients and their experiences with your fitness company.
We can review your website and rankings, then provide a recommendation on which areas of technical, on-page, and off-page search engine optimization need the most attention. This will help establish a budget and scope for ranking you higher in search results!
Alternatively, if you don't need help improving your rankings, check out this guide on DIY SEO!
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Top Keywords for Fitness SEO
Looking for suggested keywords to target within the SEO campaign for your fitness center or gym? Whether you plan to hire us, or optimize the site yourself, we've got you covered!
Before starting an SEO service for a fitness center, we like to scan the website and see what you've got to work with for content and link authority.
From there, we'll check to see what types of services you'd like to promote. Maybe you offer a unique workout program and want to attract clients looking for a new fitness challenge. Perhaps you just don't feel like you are getting enough leads for your personal training services.
Having this information helps us determine what types of keywords to focus on for content writing and link building.
Focus Keywords for Fitness Centers / Gyms
- Gym [city/area]
- Fitness center [city/area]
- Personal training [city/area]
- Group fitness classes [city/area]
- Yoga classes [city/area]
- Pilates classes [city/area]
- Crossfit [city/area]
- Weight loss programs [city/area]
- Cardio equipment [city/area]
- Strength training [city/area]
- Personalized workout programs [city/area]
- Fitness challenges [city/area]
- Nutrition coaching [city/area]
- Fitness community [city/area]
- Membership plans [city/area]
- Virtual workouts [city/area]
Keyword Tip #1: Fitness centers and gyms often target keywords related to their services and location. This helps you attract potential clients who are searching for gyms or fitness centers in the area they live in.
Keyword Tip #2: You should consider targeting long-tail keywords, which are more specific and less competitive. For example, "personal training for women over 50 in San Francisco" may be easier to rank for than just "personal training".
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