James Breese: [00:00:00] Strength Matters Media. Video. Print. Podcasts.
Josh Kennedy: Today's topic is the hidden formula behind every successful personal trainer website. Uh, we know a little bit about this because we're doing some websites at the moment. Um, and James, how many times over the years have you built and rebuilt the Strength Matters website?
James Breese: A lot. A lot, I think is the best way to describe it, for a very good reason. Well, your computer
Josh Kennedy: training background is now coming into, uh, into full effect, right?
James Breese: Yeah, it really is like I can't I've lost count and that's not just on the strength matters website It's when I was doing the kettlebell fever.
We were doing the e commerce websites and we did a really powerful high end E commerce websites as well to get everything moving and selling and the shipping Stuff to go with it. So yeah, there's, there's a lot of experience in building websites to show and know what works, but also when you're doing websites yourself for a business that you're running yourself, you want to see it convert [00:01:00] because there's nothing worse than having something that you're trying to sell where it does not convert technically or anything else at all.
People say, Hey, this should work because theory is good. It's a, there's a lot of practical elements going into this as well. And like, you know, it's all good until you hit in the face, right? Classic Mike Tyson quote. And it's exactly the same here. So we want to try and share more stuff. I'm seeing where agencies and web design agencies are building training websites for personal trainers, where they're still doing stuff that's 10 years old.
And then we're trying to try and help you guys avoid this, these mistakes and start implementing them. So you can see your websites converting better if you have a website. And if you haven't, that's your first mistake and not getting new leads. So that's a whole different topic.
Josh Kennedy: Well, I think the important thing is, um, you know, when I was doing one to one PT, I've mentioned this before.
I always thought, Oh, I should probably have a website. It kind of scared me a bit because I didn't have a clue where to start. But now I think the technology is there, you know, Squarespace and Wix and stuff like that to help you build it easier. And if, if I was doing [00:02:00] that now, I'd probably like build my website and go great, all done, and then sit back and.
You know, try and wait for the customers to roll in, but there might be one rather big key missing factor to that, right, James, with the old Google factor.
James Breese: Yeah, the Google factor. So the, yeah, the hidden formula on every successful website is quite this, simply this, if you can't get found, it makes no difference.
If you can't get found on Google, if people can't find you when searching for you, no matter how good your website is, no matter how fancy it looks, how much, how many thousands of pounds you spent in building it, if you can't get ranked and found in Google where people and customers and clients are actually searching for you, it's a waste of time and money.
And this is what we're seeing a lot of people getting frustrated about at the moment. So, the number one thing you've got to bear in mind is that when you're creating a website or writing your website or asking a professional to design your website for you. It's got to come down to the fact that can it be found?
And is it designed specifically for Google to [00:03:00] find it? If not, you're wasting time and effort. You can have the best website in the world and not be found. And it's a crappy website. On the flip side, you can have a terrible website. But, if it's able to be found by Google and people can go to it, it's still better than the high converting potential website that you've theoretically built off the side of things.
So, you've got to build it with Google in mind, in search terms in mind, and how people find you. And the best way for people to find you is, yes, you can do social media postings and link back to your website. But the highest quality leads and clients you will get when people type in stuff like gym near me Personal trainer near me that is the best way for them to find you and if you're not in there then Your website is is terrible in that sense.
Yeah Andrew,
Josh Kennedy: what's your experience? Did you have a website when you were doing your bootcamps? I
Andrew Wallis: did. Um, I knew early on because I'd invested in to a business mentor to help me because I, at that stage I was, [00:04:00] I was raw as a, as a marketer and I was doing things offline and they were. Bring it in success.
But I realized that was sucking up a lot of my time having a website as opposed to depending on Facebook. I owned that space then, you know, that was my digital storefront and I could then direct people to it so that I didn't have to answer those same questions again and again and again. I could just simply direct them to the website.
Josh Kennedy: Yeah, yeah. So as you say, James, if you could have a crappy website, but as long as it's found that you're doing better than having a great website that's not found, but what would it, let's say your great website is found, what would be, what should it look like, like, in terms of like, Thank you. Uh, you know, the, the, the landing page, like a story on there or call to actions or what, what are the key
James Breese: elements, right?
Key elements. So when, say you can be found, so you type in personal training near me and Josh Kennedy personal training comes up, right? That's the first thing that comes up here.
Josh Kennedy: I hear he gives an [00:05:00] amazing service. Honestly,
James Breese: he does do amazing service, soon to be unemployed by strength matters. But apart from that, that's how it's going to be.
But no, so imagine this comes up now. Now, once they click on that link, how fast does that website load? Right? Because it matters. Because if you're there on your phone waiting around for it to load, what do you do? You flick off. So, the two things go hand in hand now. If you have, if you have a website that can be found on Google, great.
But also Google only now ranks websites that not only are fast in loading, I'm talking rapid. If you go to strengthmatters. com, right, look how fast that loads. No matter how bad your internet is, look how fast that loads. It's there for a reason, because if it doesn't load fast, people aren't gonna, aren't gonna hang around to wait for you.
If they can't see it, well, they'll just click off to the next website. Alright? So speed absolutely matters in loading time to make a decision. Now once you have that loading time... You have three seconds to capture their attention to tell them what it [00:06:00] is that you do. Now, a simple formula which I recommend everybody using is that if you're, let's use um, Simon Bradbrook actually is a great example, which built his website for him in Forest Hill out in London.
So, if you type in personal trainer Forest Hill, he now comes up in the Google map pack, you click on his website, it says something along the lines of Um, leading personal trainer in Forest Hill. Well, you know, something along those lines, because it links to what you're trying to do. It tells them in the right space, it confirms in the right space for the right products and services that you are delivering.
It needs to be a quite clear, compelling statement of who you're working with and who it's, who it's for. So I think his, his, his, lead, uh, Forest Hill's leading personal trainer for busy parents 40 plus. That's the statement. That's the statement, you know, on his, on his thing off the top of my head now with that they know what it is It's personal training for busy parents in Forest Hill.
Brilliant That is like that's like got me good here if they're living in New York and they want to [00:07:00] do that We'll know that they know they're in the wrong place, right? But if in Forest Hill and they're looking for personal training and they were busy parents boom, you've absolutely nailed it here So it's a compelling message saying what it is that you do And you can visibly see the call to action quickly.
What is that call to action? Now we recommend most people offering free strategy calls because it's better than the consultation or get started. It's just the nothing free strategy calls is what works best for us. And we've seen it work best for our clients and particularly in the website builds, that's what you're trying to do.
So it's getting found speed. And this idea of like saying what it is you do, and people can understand it in less than three seconds with compelling call to action that's repeated through the course of the website that's clear and simple and easy enough to read. Is that right? Have I explained that for all the...
Particularly for you Josh, who's a technotard. Here we go.
Josh Kennedy: Here we go, some of the more of the insults. Andrew, in terms of, obviously, you've got experience doing boot camps, as do I, actually. So if obviously if you do, if you're a one to one PT and you've got, you can say free [00:08:00] strategy call, if you're a bootcamp, a little bit different, would you be tempted to offer a free session in that sense?
Here's a special message from our
James Breese: sponsor. Want more clients without breaking the bank on ads? Google is your ticket. Imagine being the first name clients. See when they Google your services near them sound impossible. It's not when you've got strength matters on your side, we'll build your website and get you ranked high on Google for free.
You'll save thousands on ads, web design and SEO services. Plus get a suite of business tools to help you grow your business effortlessly. All you cover is our bulletproof hosting that comes with a full 90 day money back guarantee. Ever wonder how many new clients you're losing by not being Google's number one.
Don't wonder act now book your free strategy, call it strength matters. com forward slash website today.
Andrew Wallis: Yeah, and I always gave a free session was told I was again. I had an early mentor that tried to push me away from that. But because I was working with a group and we were taking those sessions anyway, having one extra person or a couple of extra people [00:09:00] in that session didn't make any difference to me as the boot camp operator.
But what it did make a big difference to was that person was experiencing my services. It was, um, yeah. low barrier to entry. They were welcomed into the group, so it was an easy decision for them to make then that, um, yes, I really enjoy this group. I want to be part of the group. How do I sign up? Um, so, yeah, I'm a big fan in group settings, but definitely not in in one to one.
Yeah,
Josh Kennedy: I mean that's exactly what we, sorry James, hang on one sec, that's exactly what we used to do in, uh, BMF Military Fitness, we'd offer a free trial session. James, do you want to jump in and, uh, sum up as well, like the key takeaways?
James Breese: Just very quickly on that note, so that you still, I would still offer a free class, but still drive them to a free strategy call, but they don't know it's a strategy call.
Hey, try a free class, book in your free call, have a speak to them, talk to them about on the phone, so you have this conversation and dialogue before they start. You book them in at a specific time and date they can come to, so you know when [00:10:00] expecting them. And there's follow up to make sure they turn up as well.
So that's really important. People go, yeah, try a free class, just pop in whenever you want to. No, Control that dialogue, control that story, control that element. Coming into it. So there's reminders like they would do like in Anyone who gets a website through us we get set this up We set like a booking appointment reminder system where it's all linked into it So that people are showing up time and time again So that's an important thing absolutely for group classes try free class is a great great way to get people in but control the narrative But again, just a couple of other topics on this idea of, of the website design.
So once it's found in Google, you've got a clear message of what, who you are, what you're doing, who you're servicing, and there's a clear call to action. You've got to do the basics in place of having a fast website that's clean and easy to read and narratable. Again, some of the fanciest websites in the world that some big agencies build.
They don't get work. They don't work. It's great if you're a big brand who people already know about you, but you have to earn the right to get there. And as [00:11:00] trainers, we don't, haven't earned the right to get there. Right? We're not a big brand. So you be careful and it's clear narrative. And the one thing that Google penalizes is poor grammar and spelling on your website.
And poor clutter. If it's not easy to read and there's not enough white space to read stuff and text. They will penalize you and you will never get found. So, simple works best. Keep it simple, stupid is the mantra. But focus on those things here. So, again, make sure website gets found in Google. If not, it's a crappy website.
It's fast, it's SEOed to the max, if you can. And then make sure it's quick and it reads well with a compelling call to action.
Josh Kennedy: Fantastic. Anything else you want to add to that before we wrap up, Andrew?
Andrew Wallis: just follow these and keep, keep it simple and make sure that the content that you put on the site is, it's not you focused, uh, they, your potential clients don't want to know all about every single, um, Qualification you've attained [00:12:00] over the years.
They want to, uh, they found you, which is great. Uh, your SEO is working. They now want to know if you're the right solution for the problem that they're experiencing. So make the content about them as opposed to about you.
James Breese: The number of times I'm seeing websites now, literally quite literally post a picture of their naked torso on the front.
And it's all about them in personal trainers is horrendous. Like it's horrendous. Like, it's
Josh Kennedy: just the Instagram generation, mate.
James Breese: It is. But also if you're into that transformation physique bikini model thing, maybe that is what you want to show that you can do and help them. So that's a very distinct model, but that's not the model we're at here at Strength Matters.
We're trying to coach and help. It's a bigger, there's a way bigger market out there than just the bikini physique factor, which everyone talks about. So again, if you're, if you got naked photos of yourself, like posing and stuff like that, it's not what people want to see. It really isn't. It doesn't convert well.
Potentially.
Josh Kennedy: Anyway, testimonials, get some good testimonials on there as well. And as, as [00:13:00] Andrew said, don't worry about your qualifications. I don't think I ever had any clients ask me about a qualification when I was doing one to one PT. That is it for today. Please don't forget to rate, review and subscribe.
And if you want to find out what's holding you back from growing your fitness business, go to strengthmatters. com forward slash quiz.