Strength Matters
The Strength Matters podcast is a weekly show for health and fitness professionals who want the systems, tools, and resources to grow and scale a successful fitness business. Hosted by Head Coach Josh Kennedy and Strength Matters founder, James Breese.
Join the world’s leading experts in helping personal trainers and coaches uncover cutting-edge training solutions and share them with you.
Strength Matters is a system of training and education for fit pros and experienced enthusiasts who want to optimize performance and enhance their health span.
The central question that drives our work is, “How can we train smarter?” To answer that question, we like to talk about science-based ways, made simple, to solve practical health and fitness problems.
However, science doesn’t always have the answers. That’s why our work combines both science and practical real-world experience. What works in a textbook, doesn’t always work in real life.
This is why we like to talk about and share our client results with you… the good, and the bad, so that we can all learn from them, move forward to live, and perform better.
Strength Matters
A Beginner's Guide to Local SEO for Gym and Studio Owners
Welcome to another episode where we dive deep into the world of local SEO specifically tailored for gym and studio owners. If you're struggling to make your mark in the digital world and want your fitness business to be the first thing potential clients see when they search online, this episode is your golden ticket. Join us as we unravel the mysteries of SEO content, keywords, and much more, ensuring your gym or studio isn't just another fish in the vast ocean of the internet.
Timeline Summary:
- [00:01:32] Writing Effective SEO Content
- [00:03:00] Importance of Local Content Creation
- [00:04:15] Optimizing Content for Users
- [00:06:05] Role of Social Media in Local SEO
- [00:07:50] Analyzing Content Effectiveness
Key Takeaways:
- Understanding SEO: SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, crucial for making your business visible on search engines like Google and Bing.
- Content is King: Creating SEO-focused content is not just about filling pages with keywords but providing valuable answers to your local community's questions.
- Keywords Matter: Identify and use keywords that potential clients are searching for, such as "gym near me" or "best personal trainer in Cardiff."
- Social Media Influence: A strong social media presence can enhance your SEO efforts by driving traffic to your website and increasing your business's trustworthiness.
- The Power of Backlinks: Earning backlinks from reputable sites boosts your site's authority and search engine ranking.
- Measuring Success: Use tools like Google Analytics to track your website's traffic and see if your SEO efforts are paying off.
- Content Marketing: This strategy positions you as an expert in your field, attracting more traffic, and ultimately, paying clients.
Websites and Links Mentioned:
Quotes:
"SEO content has a specific purpose to be found in search engines." - James Breese
"97 percent of all web pages were not found on Google in the last 30 days." - James Breese
"Creating content locally helps answer the questions people are searching for." - James Breese
"All roads lead to Rome when it comes to your website." - James Breese
"Content marketing...positions us as the expert, which will then lead into becoming paying clients." - Andrew Wallis
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FREE Downloads
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[00:00:00] James Breese: Strength Matters Media, Video, Print, Podcasts.
[00:00:06] Josh Kennedy: Today's podcast is all about a beginner's guide to local SEO for gym and studio owners. James, I'm going to come to you first. Can you explain or define what exactly is SEO content? And is it, is it different to just
[00:00:20] James Breese: content? Uh, yes and no. You can write content for anything to, to solve a problem or solution or to entertain anybody.
[00:00:27] But SEO content has a specific purpose to be found in the search engines. So you can get found and be recognized and it can drive more business to you. So there is a, there is a difference. For those who don't know what it is, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. And it's the way the search engines, Google, Bing, all the other ones that make no sense at all whatsoever, you know, focus on Google and Bing.
[00:00:52] They help the people find your business in the first place. So that's essentially what SEO is. Essentially. Cool. And
[00:00:59] Josh Kennedy: what, so we'll [00:01:00] go back. We've said this stuff many a time, but we need to keep reiterating. It was the stat for getting or not getting
[00:01:05] James Breese: found on Google. In the last 30 days, 97 percent of all web pages were not found on Google.
[00:01:13] There you
[00:01:13] Josh Kennedy: go. So it's rather important to have some SEO based content. I think if you want to get found and you want to generate, uh, you want to generate leads, Andrew, I'm going to come to you next. Um, how then do we go about writing SEO content? What are the key things to consider?
[00:01:32] Andrew Wallis: For me? Um, and this is what we do with, with the clients within Strength Matters is that we look at building out a marketing calendar.
[00:01:40] Uh, initially, um, and then each month I've found, well, for me, it helps if I have a central theme, uh, each month that gives me focus and direction on what I'm going to be creating content on, then breaking that theme down into weekly topics, and those topics are then based on. [00:02:00] Keywords that people have been searching for around that overarching theme, then we can get those topics from questions.
[00:02:11] We get asked from our client base in the studio on social media on forums like Reddit. Quora, um, answer the public as well as a great, um, option where we can find what questions are being asked, but choosing a topic is, is the first step, uh,
[00:02:30] James Breese: for sure. So just to, just to let people know, so this is the beginner's guide to SEO.
[00:02:34] So SEO is about making sure your business and your website gets found number one on Google when people search for it, but also in terms of the local map pack. So the local map pack is the three bits at the top. Where Google says and recommends businesses, they think in the EU, you should go and visit. So that is the key to this.
[00:02:51] Now it's all about getting you found. However, when we talk about content creation, we can optimize your business to be found in a local area and start [00:03:00] working on that side of things. But people don't find your business usually by searching your business name. They're looking for problems to their solution.
[00:03:06] So when we're talking about Andrew talking about finding content and topics, we've got to find and deliver answers to people locally that they're searching for. For example, they could be looking for the best gym in Cardiff. The questions they're asking, topics, who are the best personal trainers in Cardiff?
[00:03:22] How much does a personal trainer in Cardiff cost? So we're gonna find ways to answer these questions. So when they're searching for them, You become top of mind. So that's the most important thing is like creating content locally, people can search for that answer the questions they have, and that's where you're going to think about when we creating local SEO content and the ultimate guide almost to local SEO for James.
[00:03:43] It's not just about doing your website and the maps. It's creating the content for local people to answer their questions too. And this is really talking about content and finding relevant information.
[00:03:54] Josh Kennedy: Is it a local shop for local people? Not everyone will get that comment in there, but [00:04:00] there we go. Uh, congratulations.
[00:04:02] If you got that reference, uh, James, you are web boy. I've almost given you a superhero title there. Web boy. Um, how then do we. Optimize that because it does need to be optimized, right? For, uh, for
[00:04:15] James Breese: users. Yeah, we do. So as Daniel was talking about finding content, finding topics, we've then got to find what relevant word to people searching for.
[00:04:24] So for example, if you're a gym owner, right, or a studio owner, people will be looking for a gym owner, a gym near me or personal trainer near me or personal training studio near me. So therefore those become what we call keywords. So we're going to make sure that these keywords. appear across your website and your content.
[00:04:44] So let's, let's go back to the gym model first. So if people in Cardiff are looking for a gym, and they've never been here before, and they want to learn more things, and they haven't got any recommendations, guess what they're going to do? They're going to type in gym near me. So therefore, Google needs to see you as a [00:05:00] gym, your website.
[00:05:01] And find it. So you need to have these things, these words, gym across your website, particularly in content and what the search intent is going to be. Cause search intent is important. People will be, if people are searching for the best gym in Cardiff, it means they're looking for the best gyms. And they're in the process of making decisions about.
[00:05:19] you know, joining a gym. Whereas if they're looking for gym membership prices in Cardiff, that's a higher intent because that means they're ready to buy and they're now basing their decision making a little bit around price. So we can create content around these keywords. To help people find relevant information.
[00:05:38] So your website is one thing, helpful content is another thing, which does mean writing blogs. The biggest companies in the world are writing blogs. How long we'll do another whole episode on that again sometime. But the point is you've got to create a helpful content because people will come to that helpful content before they come to your homepage.
[00:05:57] So
[00:05:58] Josh Kennedy: what then, what [00:06:00] role does. Social media play in, um, in local SEO.
[00:06:05] James Breese: Huge because it's Google, they don't tell us what they use to rank your pages and your content, but they want full authority. They want people to have an authoritative as the trustworthiness around them. And if you have a social media account that has 10, 000 followers, 15, 000 followers, et cetera, et cetera, it shows the Google that, Hey, these guys are pretty trustworthy.
[00:06:25] But on the flip side, you're creating awareness about your gym on social media to drive people to your website to convert. So remember all roads lead to Rome. When it comes to your website, you're going to think about that. So whatever you do in social media should be driving them back to your website so they can get to know like and trust you there too.
[00:06:41] So it's a huge part of it.
[00:06:43] Josh Kennedy: What about, um, link? We've talked about backlinks before and link building. What significance does that play?
[00:06:50] James Breese: Again, a huge element. Okay. Because again, you become more trustworthy when you have more backlinks. Now, for those who dunno, what backlinks are is when another website [00:07:00] refers back to you to say, Hey, this is a great bit of content, or this is a great website to go and join.
[00:07:06] Most people think backlinks come from like partners and friends saying, Hey, I'll put my link on your website and if you link back to mine, we'll do it that way. What you want is other websites linking to some great content you've created. To push to your website in the first place, because that really does drive higher quality backlinks up.
[00:07:24] Again, the more backlinks you have, the more trustworthiness you have, the more Google likes you and it starts to boost your content higher up the chain. Fantastic.
[00:07:33] Josh Kennedy: So we've found a great topic for SEO content. We've written it. We've got the keywords. We've. Optimized it, we've shared on social media, built the links.
[00:07:44] Ultimately, then you've got to analyze whether it was effective. How do we do that?
[00:07:50] James Breese: Well, how long is a piece of string? Briefly,
[00:07:54] Josh Kennedy: how do we do that?
[00:07:55] James Breese: Uh, we analyze it by saying, is this at the top of Google? Yes or no. Very [00:08:00] simply, if not. Then we need to make the content better. Because again, we can't just write any old content.
[00:08:04] And whatever you do, don't use AI to write the content for you, because that's just regurgitating old hat, old information that Google doesn't like. And it quite explicitly tells you that now with the recent updates. So just bear that in mind. So. You want to analyze it by seeing the traffic. If you haven't connected your website to Google Analytics, you need to do that now.
[00:08:27] Right? If you need to connect it to Google Search Console, do that too. And you'll see the search terms. People are searching for search terms linked to you. To find you and you're getting more traffic to your website. That's the best way to measure it. There we go. Google
[00:08:39] Josh Kennedy: analytics. That's what I was going for.
[00:08:41] That's what I wanted you to say. Andrew, any final thoughts before we wrap up?
[00:08:47] Andrew Wallis: Just put the, uh, you know, take on board what we've discussed here. It's, uh, content marketing, in my opinion, is something that is a fantastic way for us to [00:09:00] generate. Traffic to our website, which ultimately positions us as the expert, which will then lead into becoming paying clients, which is essentially what we're all after.
[00:09:11] So, um, you know, take some insights from this and, and put it into play.
[00:09:16] Josh Kennedy: Fantastic. Thank you so much guys. That is it for today. Please don't forget to rate, review and subscribe. And if you want to help getting more clients or patients, then booking for your free 15 minutes strategy call with us by going to strength manners.
[00:09:27] com forward slash strategy.
