Let’s talk about website design. Specifically, the same design you’ve used for your gym site for a couple of years now. Needless to say, your 2020 design might be a little out of date.
It’s important to maintain an appealing website. Your website is an extension of your gym’s brand. If your website appears outdated, it will repel potential clients. When you’re unable to onboard new clients, your revenues will become stagnant. Not ideal.
Luckily, you’ve come to the right place because we’re huge fans of website design. We love helping gym owners craft pro-looking websites that would inspire Mark Zuckerberg to bang out 25 burpees.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps to designing an eye-catching site for your gym.
Step 1: Do Your Research and Visualize Your Ideas
Grab a pen, some paper, and any device with an internet connection. Google three or four of your competitors and take a look at their site layouts. Jot down anything about their sites that catches your attention. Does their homepage feature an eye-grabbing video? Do they write a monthly blog full of useful and actionable fitness information? Take note of anything special.
You’ll be able to use the notes you take from studying your competition’s website to guide you in your design. Getting an idea of how the competition presents their website can inspire you to create a better site. People who visit your site might take note, which can increase their interest in your gym.
After seeing your competition’s site design, channel your inner Carravagio and sketch out how you want your site to appear. By doing this, you’ll create a blueprint for your site, which will help bring your designs to life.
Step 2: Determine Your Site’s Features
Now that you’ve got a website blueprint and a list of competitors, you’ll want to think about the different pages that you want to include on your site. These pages will provide site visitors with basic information about your gym. You’ll give them a good idea of your gym’s environment, culture, and other important things that they shouldn’t miss out on.
Highlighting these features is crucial in getting site visitors to show up at your gym and become members. Here are some other sections you’ll want to consider including on your site:
1. Your Gym’s Basic Information
When visitors come to your site, they’ll come looking for the basic information about your gym. Make the following super simple for anyone to find on your site:
- Your gym’s address, phone number, and hours of operation. Site visitors will want to know when they can visit your gym. Not letting site visitors know your hours of operation may result in fewer people signing up for your gym because they won’t know when to drop by.
- A map integration that shows the exact location of your gym. When your gym is on the map, people will know exactly where your gym is located, which will increase the chances that you’ll receive visitors. This is obvious, but failing to provide your gym’s exact location on a map will result in fewer people being interested in joining your gym.
- A contact form, email, or an online booking tool you can custom-make using an app builder like Adalo. When visitors can easily get in contact with you, they’ll be more likely to do so.
2. Create Valuable and Enriching Content
You’ll want to share your fitness expertise with site visitors. When you do this, they’ll think of you as an authoritative voice in the fitness industry, which can increase the chances that they’ll join your gym. Who doesn’t want to join a gym run by an industry-leading expert?
Creating content in the form of a monthly blog and videos will do the trick. Here are some ideas that might keep site visitors coming back for more:
- Videos showing how to lift weights with the correct form and how to avoid bad posture.
- An article hashing out the pros and cons of whey and soy protein.
- A virtual tour of your gym.
- Guest blogs that are written by nutrition experts, physical therapists, or anyone in your network who can bring their expertise to your site.
- Short video clips of customers sharing their experience at your gym and why they recommend others should join your gym.
The point is to consistently post content on your site. Try to get a fresh blog or video up weekly. If writing isn’t your thing, consider hiring a freelance writer from a platform like Fiverr or Upwork. These sites are great for finding a writer that fits your needs – just post a job opening to find your best fit.
These platforms allow you to negotiate prices with each freelancer. You can work out deals for bulk articles at set prices or pay for one article at a time. Whatever deal you make with your freelancer, your terms and conditions will be spelled out in a contract enforced by the platform. The platform will ensure the contract is fair for both parties.
Freelancing platforms also provide 3rd party mediation and conflict resolution services should you need them. These platforms provide you with resources to solve issues. Using a platform to hire a freelancer is a very convenient and safe way to get quality content on your site quickly.
Your Team and Your Gym’s Features
You’ll want to introduce your gym to the world. Do this by creating profiles for your personal trainers, providing a photo gallery of your gym, and spotlighting any other cool things you have to offer, like a sauna or massage services.
Everyone who visits your site will like to see your gym’s equipment, as these are the tools that will literally help them hit their targets. When site visitors learn about your trainers’ backgrounds, they might find the perfect one that clicks with their fitness goals and choose them. And who doesn’t love a relaxing sauna session after a brutal workout?
Step 3: Choose a Website Builder
You’ll find a long list of website builders out there. Trying to find the best one might be a little difficult. Luckily, we’ve reviewed the majority of them and have determined our top three recommendations.
Here’s how we evaluated our top website builders:
- Ease of Use: The site builders we selected use no code, drag-and-drop interfaces that allow the average person with zero programming and coding experience to build an attractive and professional site.
If you can operate a mouse, you’ll be able to build your own site in no time.
- Free Trial or Free Version: We understand you’ll want to consider your options and try each site builder to determine which one you like the most. Each site builder on our top three list includes a free trial or a free version that allows you to test the waters.
You’ll be able to try each one out without committing a single penny from your bank account - meaning you won’t feel any pressure to keep using a site builder that you don’t like because you paid upfront. But we’re pretty confident you’ll like each site builder on our list.
- Online Payments: Today, most people prefer paying for services quickly and without cash. We chose website builders that come with integrations to payment platforms like Square, PayPal, and more. These let your clients pay for their memberships with the push of a button from anywhere.
The ability to renew memberships or register with your gym super quickly is a convenience any client will appreciate.
Here are our top three website builders for maximizing your gym’s website design:
Adalo
Adalo is an app builder and a website builder, allowing you to build your own website and mobile gym app that people can download directly to their phones. When building, you’ll be able to see each page of your under-construction site from the main building page, and you can even navigate between pages.
How Adalo Can Maximize Your Web Design
- Use Adalo to build out a super convenient booking feature. Your clients will love being able to book time with personal trainers without the hassle of picking up the phone. You can also let potential clients use this tool to book consultations quickly.
- Adalo has over 5,500 integrations. You can use the Twilio integration to custom-make your gym’s personal messaging system. Clients can use this system to ask questions or chat amongst themselves.
A feature like this will allow for quick communication between your team and clients, and it will help transform your gym into more of a community.
- After you build your native app, publish it on the Apple App Store, the Google Play Store, or your own website. These platforms have such massive audiences you’ll get your gym in front of more eyes, which may bring in even more clients.
These features and integrations make Adalo our favorite website builder.
Pricing
Adalo’s pricing starts at $36/month.
Weebly
Are you looking for a super affordable option that doesn’t skimp on features? Weebly is a super affordable website builder that packs a decent punch with design tools. You’ll get high-resolution, visually appetizing templates that will draw visitors to your gym using Weebly.
How Weebly Can Maximize Your Web Design
- Use Weebly’s integration to Square’s business suite to build out your gym’s online store. You’ll be able to sell merchandise, supplements, and anything else directly from your site. With an online store, you can sell products that motivate and help clients achieve their goals.
- Weebly has a top-notch and easy-to-use analytics tool. This can help you determine which pages are performing the best and why. Use these analytics tools to optimize your site’s individual pages so you can get more visitors.
- Don’t have time to build a site on your desktop? Weebly’s website builder lets you make your site right from your phone or mobile device. This convenient feature is great for building your site when you’re away from your desk, on the bus, subway, or during an extended lunch break.
Pricing
Weebly’s cheapest option starts at $10/month, but to get the business suite integration, you’ll have to pay $29/month.
Wix
Perhaps the most popular website builder on the market today, Wix provides several functions and features like an e-commerce suite, thousands of integrations, and the largest template library on our list. You’ll find a sizable number of gym and personal fitness-themed templates to design and build your site.
How Wix Can Maximize Your Web Design
- Wix comes integrated with an easy-to-use email marketing feature. Use this to send out a monthly newsletter or reach out to potential clients for marketing. This tool will help you market and popularize your gym.
- When you use Wix’s content manager to write blogs, you’ll get access to a powerful SEO tool. This useful tool will help get your blog in front of a large number of potential clients so more people can benefit from your valuable expertise.
- Are you super picky and can’t select a template from Wix’s vast library? Don’t worry! You can use Wix’s new AI feature, Wix ADI, to kick-start your website design. Just answer a few questions and Wix will generate a site design catered to your tastes. Feel free to make adjustments to make it perfect.
Pricing
You can pay $16/month for Wix’s entry-level plan. To get all the snappy plugins, you’ll have to pay $23/month.
Next Steps: Design, Build, Optimize
Follow our advice and begin your site design! When you put the finishing touches on your site, ask colleagues, employees, and friends for feedback. People who use your site can provide valuable feedback for optimization.
Listen carefully to feedback about user experience, layout, and overall appearance of your site. Always be willing to make adjustments and changes, especially if these people all agree on a few glaring issues.
When your gym gets new equipment or hires new employees, include photos and descriptions of them on your site – your site should grow as your business grows. Remember to publish content monthly. You’ll find that the more work you put into your site, the more popular your gym will become.
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