Nine times out of 10, when someone wants to learn more about your gym, yoga studio or personal training business, the first place they’ll go is to your website. It’s where first impressions are made and the hub of your marketing strategy.

Suffice it to say, it’s important to get your fitness website right. That means it needs to be mobile friendly, fast, easy to navigate and have a professional, simple design. And, luckily, the Websites 360® website builder makes it easy to build a great fitness website on your own — without the need for a professional designer.

Most of the time, when someone is looking for a group fitness class, personal training or a gym, the first place they’ll look is online — on a search engine, like Google or Bing. Your ability to show up on a search engine will determine whether or not you get those leads.

Increasing your organic visibility on search engines starts with optimizing your website for the relevant keywords people are searching for, like “gym near me,” “fitness center Fort Collins,” etc. You also need to make it a point to add content to your website on a regular basis. A great way to do this is through your blog.

Social media used to be about staying connected with friends and family, but more and more people are using social media to discover new brands and find local businesses, like fitness centers. If you’re not on social media, it’s a huge missed opportunity.

You might not get many sales or new members from social media, but it’s the perfect place to build awareness in your brand and connect with your community. You do that by posting consistently on the social platform your customer base is using, like Facebook and Instagram.

In addition to search engines and social media, the other most common places people in your area will go to look for a fitness business are local sites, directories and apps, like Yelp, Top Rated Local® and beyond.

Not only do you need to make sure that you have a listing on all of these places, but you also need to make sure that the business information on that listing is up to date and accurate. Listings management software can help you save time and simplify the process.

Whether someone finds your fitness business on Google, Facebook or even Top Rated Local, the first thing they’re going to do is read your reviews. If you have a low star rating or — even worse — you don’t have any reviews, they’re going to turn to one of your competitors.

People want to know that they’ve found the right gym, personal trainer, Pilates studio, etc., and great reviews will give them the peace of mind they need. Build a strong reputation by asking your happy members for reviews, and replying to those reviews.

Ranking organically in the search results is a great way to increase your visibility, but by combining your organic efforts with paid advertising, you can boost your visibility faster and dominate multiple spots on the page.

In addition to taking advantage of search ads on Google and Bing, it’s important to advertise anywhere and everywhere potential members are looking. Multi-channel advertising on popular channels, like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram will help you capture market share and drive leads.

Getting new leads is just half the battle. You also need to turn those leads into members, and the best way to do that is by offering the convenience they’re looking for. The first step is to accept payments on your website.

Whether they’re paying for a one-time class, a recurring monthly membership or shopping from your online pro shop, allowing your customers and members to make payments online makes the process easy for them.

Online payments can add convenience to your customers’ and members’ lives, but so can offering online booking. Whether they’re reserving an appointment with a personal trainer or a consultation, give them the option to do so on your website.

Not only will online booking help to make your customers’ and members’ lives easier, but it will also help to make your life easier because it means that you can spend less time on the phone booking appointments and more time managing and growing your business.

New customers and members are great. Every business needs them to survive. But, your very best customers and members are the ones that keep coming back to your business. They are the ones who will spend the most money and spread the word to their friends and family.

One of the best ways to stay connected with your existing members and customers is through email and text message marketing. With the right software, automated email and text message campaigns are quick and easy to build, and can drive more repeat business.

Marketing isn’t one size fits all. A marketing strategy that works for another gym or yoga studio may not work for your business, and if you want to find the right strategy for your needs, you need to monitor your performance and fine-tune your strategy.

Pay close attention to what’s working for you and what isn’t, so that you can invest more in what’s working and less in what’s not.