Are Outdated Website Designs Holding Your Fitness Business Back?
A website is more than a collection of pages. It is a digital environment that supports the goals of an organization by putting user needs first.
A website is the single best way to convert visitors into customers. But when a website is outdated, it can actually hurt your business.
1. You’re not mobile-friendly
As mobile devices continue to dominate the digital landscape, it’s more important than ever that your website is optimized for mobile users. A non-mobile friendly website will have a much poorer user experience, and your visitors may quickly leave if they’re struggling to read your content or navigate your site. If you have noticed that your website is getting a lot of negative feedback from your visitors, it’s definitely time to start thinking about updating it.
A website can be an effective marketing tool for your fitness business, but it has to be well-designed in order to attract and retain customers. A poorly designed website can be off-putting for potential clients, and can lead them to question your credibility as a fitness professional. A professional fitness web design, on the other hand, will showcase your expertise and professionalism, while leaving potential clients with a positive impression of your gym.
One of the biggest mistakes many modern businesses are making is not optimizing their websites for mobile devices. Google reports that more searches are now performed on smartphones than computers, and a website that’s not mobile-friendly is going to be frustrating for users.
To test your website’s mobile-friendliness, you can use the Mobile Friendly Test provided by Google. This will give you a score, as well as tell you whether your website is responsive and adapts to different screen sizes. A non-responsive website will not appear correctly on a smartphone and could result in users having to manually zoom in and shift around in order to view the content.
2. You’re not SEO-friendly
When it comes to SEO, having a website is essential to being found online. If you’re noticing an increased bounce rate, decreased organic traffic, or a high number of people who never make it past your homepage, it may be time to do some digging into your site analytics and reassess the health of your business website.
An outdated website design makes it difficult for visitors to find what they need and can lead to frustration and abandonment. This is why it’s important to have an updated site that includes clear and concise call-to-action (CTA) buttons, as well as a fast load speed. You can use free tools like GTMetrix and Pingdom to test your website’s speed and see if there are any areas that need improvement.
A well-designed, updated website can help you attract more clients and increase the likelihood that your current ones will return for more workouts. It is important to keep it up-to-date at all times, so be sure to set aside some time for reassessment and maintenance throughout the year.
Running a fitness business without an effective website is like working out six days a week and eating fast food for every meal – you’ll get some results, but sooner or later you’ll hit a wall and need to make some changes to get the most out of your efforts. An outdated website is one of the most common roadblocks to growing your business.
3. You’re not mobile-responsive
While there’s no denying that the 90s gave us some of life’s greatest wonders – Tamagotchis, Pokemon on VHS and the Macarena for starters – there are a few things about the 1990s that are best left in the past. And unfortunately, outdated website designs are one of them.
As your business’s single online presence, your website needs to be a representation of who you are and what you stand for, while providing an easy-to-navigate, seamless experience for your visitors. If you’re sporting a dated design that looks like a mishmash of templates pasted together, it’s time to revamp your fitness website.
One of the quickest ways to let your visitors know that your site is in dire need of an upgrade is by having a navigation bar that shuffles around depending on which page they’re on. This design feature may have seemed cool back in the day, but with advancements in web technology, it’s now a clear indicator that your website is out of date.
When a visitor enters your website, they’re looking for information that helps them accomplish their goal – whether that be finding out more about your services, booking an appointment or signing up for a membership. If your website doesn’t clearly communicate what you can offer or guide them through this process, it will be difficult for them to take the next step and become a client of your fitness business.
4. You’re not mobile-friendly
While many fitness business owners make the mistake of creating their website and then forgetting about it, a modern business needs to constantly adapt to changing consumer behavior and online search trends. Your website is one of the most important aspects of your digital marketing strategy, and you should be updating it regularly to ensure that it is working for you and not against you.
A website is an excellent tool for introducing your fitness business to new potential clients, but it’s also important to keep existing clients engaged with your brand and encourage them to return. You can do this by offering a variety of resources and content on your site, including blog posts, articles, video tutorials, and social media feeds. Additionally, incorporating social proof on your website through customer reviews and success stories can help build trust with prospective clients and increase the likelihood of them converting to members.
If you’re not sure where your fitness business stands in the digital world, consider asking a professional web development agency to take a look. They can help you determine whether your website is outdated and recommend ways to improve it. They can also provide you with a free, no-obligation consultation on how to best move forward with your web design and digital marketing efforts.