Local SEO is a huge part of marketing for gyms and fitness studios. If you are trying to attract new members or customers, it's important that they can find your business on search engines. In this blog post we will go over 10 ways you can improve local seo for your gym or fitness studio!
What Is Local SEO
Local SEO should be one of the most important parts of your marketing strategy if you have a gym or fitness studio.
It's what can help people find you on search engines if they are searching for your services. Local SEO can also help you rank higher in the local map when searches are done on mobile devices, so it's important to maximize its effects!
Why is Local SEO Important For Your Gym?
Local SEO is important for gyms and fitness studios because it can help you rank higher in the local pack when searches are done on mobile devices. It also helps people find your business more easily if they are looking specifically for a gym or fitness studio!
Are you wondering how to write blogs to get better Local Gym SEO ranking?
What is Local Search Pack?
The local search pack is the set of businesses that show up in the top results when someone searches for a place on their mobile device.
Ranking higher in the Local Search Pack will lead to more eyeballs on your website, because people tend to trust Google - and Google delivers what it deems the best results at the top of all search results.
Tips To Improve Your Gym Local Search Rankings
Improving your local search rankings will take time and effort, but it will be well worth it in the long run.
Build these processes into your daily workflow and you will soon find your fitness studio ranking better on local Google searches in your area!
- Google My Business Profile. Make sure you have claimed your GMB Profile and have your google my business profile fully filled out. This includes adding a contact phone number and website address to the appropriate fields in Google My Business. PushPress client Obiike Fitness in Round Rock, Texas has nailed their ongoing GMB business profile and management and over time they've become the #1 gym in their local search rankings!
- Update your GMB Profile! The simplest hacks we found here (after updating your name, address, phone and hours) is posting images and posts to it DAILY. Take photos of your clients and post them to GMB every day - Google loves knowing you're an active business.
- Drive Google Reviews. Encourage customers to leave a review on your Google My Business Profile. This helps increase your Domain Authority and is one of the most important factors for local businesses. Make sure to build a process into your business to continually ask your clients for Google Reviews.
- Get a PushPress Website. Sites by PushPress is a Local SEO optimized gym and fitness studio website platform that has been designed to get more leads and convert them at a higher rate. We have done a lot of the work for you, building out all of the Local SEOs
- Phone / Address / Map. , always include a local phone number and address as well as a Google Map in your website's contact section. This helps your potential clients find you and contact you - a very important concept to Google!
- Keyword Research. Keywords are the words people type into search engines to find your business or product. For local search, you generally need to rank for terms similar to "Gym near me". Often times this involves writing about your city(see Local Resource Guides below). Wellness Revival in Fresno, CA has crushed the keyword game.
- Build Your Domain Authority. Increase your domain authority with back-links from other sites, ensuring a high ranking in Google's search engine results page for keywords related to fitness studios and gyms (such as "gym near me"). Ask other local small businesses and media outlets to share links and blog posts with you! (crazy, we're backlinking some Sites by PushPress clients here to give them a little help... see how that works!)
- Create Quality Content Regularly. Search engines value websites that have quality content relevant to the user queries they receive. Regularly post new content and update your old posts to keep people coming back! Forrest Jung of CrossFit Southbay in Hermosa Beach, CA has been always been on the cutting edge of this - from blogging to TikTok's he understands the value of delivering content to stay relevant.
- Create Local Resource Guides. Building pages on your website that showcase and discuss local resources can help your local SEO - as it signals to Google that you are a local expert in your town. Check out this KS Athletic Club Overland Park Resources page for a great example of this!
- Build Relationships with Other Fitness Studios on Social Media. If you are local, follow or friend other gyms in the area on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. This way when someone does a search for "Best Gym Near Me" they will be listed as a result. Jamie Hagiya from Torrance Training Lab is a queen fo social media, and has been earning herself some mad backlinks for a while now!
- BONUS: Build and Submit a Google Sitemap. A Google sitemap is a list of all the pages on your website and how each page relates to one another. This makes it easier for search engines to index your site and rank it for keywords. Once built - you must submit the sitemap to Google Search Console. PushPress Sites auto generates the sitemap, and our staff auto-submits the sitemap to Google. If you are building your own website, make sure to do this important step!
Using these types of tactics have been shown to increase your local search ranking. Local SEO takes time to build, but if you continue to practice these techniques above, you will see the results over time!
