Local SEO | 7 Tips to Increase your Gym SEO

An image of a computer displaying a website and a GYM with local SEO

Are you looking for a way to drive new online traffic to your gym’s website? Tired of being outranked in the google search results? Rhinofit can help!  In this article, we will give you some tips on how to improve your local search rankings and local SEO with just a few simple steps. By improving your gym SEO, your business can benefit from increased website traffic, new leads, and member sign ups.

Did you know?

According to Google, 76% of people who conduct a local search on their mobile device visit a business within 24 hours, and 28% of those searches result in a purchase. Not only that, but 61% of consumers said in a recent survey that they search locally every day!

For gyms, there are over 1.8 million monthly searches for a “gym near me”. These statistics should not be ignored, and gyms must take advantage.

What is Local SEO?

Local business search, also known as local SEO (Search Engine Optimization), is the action of optimizing your online presence to increase visibility in local search results. With local SEO, gyms can target potential members that live nearby in a specific region, city, or neighborhood.

How does Local Business Search work?

When users search for a certain product, service, brand, or question, small businesses compete with one another to rank for these terms. For example, if a potential member searches for a “gym near me”, Google returns local business results in the area based upon the user’s location settings. This includes any local gyms that fall into that search term or business category. Google then displays the top 3 gym results in your area based on the number of reviews and rankings. By clicking on “more businesses,” you can explore the top 20 gym results for that local search.

Overall, Google’s mission is to deliver searchers the best answer for any question… and businesses are fighting to be the top answer! Google uses a ranking system to sort through hundreds of factors to return relevant search results. You want your gym to be one of these!

How Google Determines Local SEO Ranking for Gyms

1. Relevance

With relevance, Google is simply asking: “Is this business relevant to the search”?

Google says that adding complete and detailed information about your gym can help them better understand your business and match your listing to relevant searches. This includes content, onsite SEO, citations, and relevant content.

2. Distance

The distance refers to how far each potential search result is from the specific location in the user’s search query. If the user doesn’t have a specific location, Google will use other collected data to calculate the distance (location history or previous searches).

Google is essentially asking: “Is the gym close enough to the searcher to be considered a good answer to their query?”

3. Prominence

With relevance and distance in mind, Google also looks at how well-known or important a gym is. To determine the prominence of a business, Google looks at links, reviews, and web results. Think of prominence as how well your brand stands out compared to your competitors. The more popular and “prominent” a business is, the more likely they will show up in search results.

Why Local Business Search Matters for your Gym

With almost 7 billion Google searches being conducted per day, there is great potential for gyms to attract website visitors with local SEO!

The benefits of local business search include:

Increase lead volume and member sign ups with Local SEO

Increasing lead volumes and conversions is the biggest local search benefit for most small businesses. Your gym can therefore increase audience attention, sales, and revenue by strategically targeting customers based on their location at a given time. Ranking highly in these searches allows your business to capture the interest of customers at a vital decision-making moment.

Improve your online reputation with Local SEO

The internet is a dynamic tool and has the power to either make or break your business. If a few angry customers leave bad reviews, this could lead to a major decrease in sales. This is why it is crucial to monitor what people say about your business online – both positive and negative feedback. Then you can address any concerns potential customers may have and provide them with positive information about your product or service!

By taking full advantage of local SEO for your gym, you can address negative reviews before they damage your brand. It can help build trust with potential customers when you demonstrate your active pursuit of rectifying a negative consumer experience.

Expand your market at your gym with Local SEO

Unlike traditional marketing, local search marketing allows you to take your business to the next level by reaching a broader range of audiences. Appearing in a “Near Me” search significantly amplifies your visibility to local customers. People can now find and research your business with just a few simple clicks!

Save money on advertising at your gym with Local SEO

What business doesn’t love saving money? With a successful local SEO strategy, you can save money on advertising, which can often be a pricey investment. The leads coming from local SEO are likely to result in more sales because they have already been prequalified based on the user’s location. Rather than paying for ads that may or may not work, you can focus on long-term strategies that are more cost-effective.

Build trust and authority at your gym with Local SEO

Consumers tend to trust the accuracy of local search results to guide them to the most relevant and credible businesses nearby. When your business proves to be credible through your website content, Google and other search engines reward you. This also increases your authority with searchers, and trust is built. The more trust people have in your brand, the more leads and sales you will gain!

7 Tips to Improve your Local SEO Marketing for your Gym

1. Create a Google My Business Profile for your gym SEO

When it comes to local search marketing, creating a Google My Business (GMB) Profile is one of the first things you should do. Google My Business is a complimentary tool that enables businesses to manage their online presence on Google. First, create and verify your profile. When completing your profile, be sure to fill out all relevant business information. Also, it is recommended to add high-quality photos of your business, products, services, and more. 

For the best results, be consistent with this profile and make sure that it is always up to date. This includes answering reviews (both good and bad) and regularly updating important information.

2. Include a location-specific “about us” page for your gym SEO

Your website is where people go to learn about your business. One of the best local SEO marketing tips is to create a unique page on your website that discusses the business itself, location, hours of operation, and phone number. Describe what your business offers, while including keywords that are relevant to specific localities.

The web page is crucial when it comes to local SEO. It should inform viewers about why they should choose your product or service over your competitors’. This will help improve your local rankings and boost your search engine optimization efforts!

3. Research and use relevant keywords for your gym SEO

Not only should you include dynamic keywords in your “about us” web page, but there is also great benefit in optimizing your entire website with business relevant keywords.

To identify local keywords that potential customers are using, conduct keyword research on a platform of your choosing (like Google Keyword Planner). Then, incorporate local keywords into your website content, including headings, meta descriptions, and body text.

Keep in mind, Google is smart and can detect if there are too many keywords being used. Find a healthy balance when using keywords to avoid “over-optimizing” your website. This may result in Google penalizing your website in the search results. 

4. Add photos to your website for your gym SEO

There are many benefits of adding photos to your website. First, quality images attract people’s attention much quicker than just words on a screen. Include images of inside your business, your products, client spotlights, or helpful images that breakup paragraphs. This not only optimizes your website with relevant picture content, but it can help your business rank on Google’s image results. This will direct more people to your website.

5. Get regular reviews from happy customers for your gym SEO

Not only do positive customer reviews optimize your Google Business presence, but they are the perfect way to gain trust from potential customers. It is not always easy to get reviews from customers, so it is effective to send a post-purchase email or text asking customers to write a review. You should also professionally respond to existing reviews, thank reviewers, and address any complaints.

6. Post on social media regularly for your gym SEO

Today, social media is one of the most successful and cost-effective ways for brands to advertise. It is a key way people find out about brands. By sharing relevant content, you can capture the attention of your audience in seconds! Search engines are starting to take social media into account – which means you need to pay close attention to the social media algorithms.

Social signals play an important role in Google searches. Social signals are metrics that measure engagement (likes, comments, reposts, shares, and more.) Google uses these metrics to improve their overall search results experience. Although they are not direct ranking factors, high engagement pages tell search engines that certain content is doing well – and therefore may help others. The search engines will then push that content to a higher ranking.

7. Start a Fitness Blog for your gym SEO

A fitness blog can help to boost your local gym SEO and page rankings. By using highly searched keywords in your blog, you will have a much better chance of being noticed online. Fitness Blogs are incredibly useful because they can provide valuable information for visitors who are searching for a specific topic. The more clicks on a blog post, the more website traffic you will gain!

Image showing social media apps for improving local SEO at a gym

What now?

After implementing these 7 tips, it is vital to keep track of key metrics such as local search rankings, website traffic, and conversion rates to measure the success of your local SEO efforts. This can easily be done. Use analytics tools to monitor local SEO performance and adjust your strategy where needed.  

It is estimated that Google changes its search algorithm around 500-600 times each year! Although most of the changes don’t significantly affect the SEO landscape, some updates are substantial and may change the way local SEO is written.

With Google’s ever-changing algorithm, ranking your business among the top local search results can seem challenging. The best thing you can do is keep up with these updates as much as possible! Be prepared and understand how the changes impact your local SEO strategy. Keeping track of Google algorithm updates is necessary in order to stay ahead of the game and your competitors.

By staying prepared, you will ensure that your gym doesn’t just take advantage of local SEO but has a solid foundation when new features are introduced!

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