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
Google Reviews: Why Your Gym Needs Them Regularly!
In this episode, we delve into the crucial world of Google reviews and their undeniable impact on local businesses, with a special focus on gyms and fitness centers. Join us as James Breese and Andrew Wallis from Strength Matters unravel the secrets behind leveraging these reviews to skyrocket your business's online visibility and customer trust. Whether you're a seasoned business owner or new to the digital marketing arena, this episode packs a punch with actionable insights and easy-to-implement strategies that promise to transform your approach to online reviews.
Timeline Summary:
- [00:00:48] Contrasts in Business Review Strategies
- [00:02:30] Benchmarking and Aiming for More Reviews
- [00:03:29] Secret Bonus Hack for Reviews
- [00:04:40] Photo Reviews: A Golden Strategy
Key Takeaways:
- The Power of Recent Reviews: Recent Google reviews significantly boost local businesses' rankings across various sectors, not just gyms.
- Strategy Contrast: Many businesses fail to recognize the importance of Google reviews, while those who focus on generating organic, positive reviews see substantial traffic increases.
- Benchmarking for Success: Aim for at least one review a week to outdo competitors and enhance your Google Maps ranking.
- Engagement is Key: Replying thoughtfully to every review increases your business's trustworthiness on Google.
- Photo Reviews Enhance Visibility: Encouraging clients to post photos with their reviews can turbocharge your business's online presence.
- The Personal Touch Matters: Sending personalized thank-you cards to reviewers can foster goodwill and enhance word-of-mouth marketing.
- Continuous Improvement: Always look for ways to innovate in gathering and utilizing reviews to stay ahead in the digital space.
Websites and Links Mentioned:
Quotes:
"Google reviews can skyrocket your local business's online visibility." - James Breese
"Aim for at least one review a week to stand out." - James Breese
"Engaging thoughtfully with reviews signals your business's legitimacy." - James Breese
"Photo reviews turbocharge your online presence." - James Breese
"Personal touches in marketing foster goodwill and enhance visibility." - Andrew Wallis
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[00:00:00] James Breese: Strength Matters Media, Video, Print, Podcasts. Google reviews and why your gym needs them regularly. We keep looking at more data coming in about this topic. And it's interesting because we've been playing around it behind the scenes with not only our businesses, as well. But also with our clients businesses too.
[00:00:20] And what we're seeing is the ones and the businesses that rank higher and not just gyms or personal training businesses. I'm talking coffee shops. I'm talking, you know, any other kind of like local business in the world of Google land is ranking higher when they have recent reviews. So Andrew bring into you, when you look at other businesses, we've been looking at recently, what are you seeing in terms of Google reviews?
[00:00:44] Do they have any, are they doing them? What are you seeing on that kind of landscape?
[00:00:48] Andrew Wallis: Um, two extreme contrasts, I guess, um, one where it's tumbleweed, you know, they're not even realizing the power that Google brings [00:01:00] to the table for that business. And equally, um, having, you know, Um, a system where they can generate reviews, but then on the switch side, those that do get it, um, and the clients that we're certainly working with, we're making a, um, a key focus on generating organic reviews from happy clients is that there's a, there's a, an increase, a ramp up of traffic that's being generated then from that side of things.
[00:01:28] And I know Josh is away this week, so it's just the two of us, but all of us are a bit. Coffee lovers. And we always talk about the number one example is coffee shops. I'm back on the islands now after traveling around the UK and wherever I go, it's always coffee shop near me. And then I'm looking specifically at the, the map pack and the three top ones there.
[00:01:51] And I made my decision more often than not on the number of positive reviews it's got. And that's what we need to be doing as [00:02:00] fitness, fitness business owners.
[00:02:02] James Breese: Well, absolutely. And the most important thing is now is I think we're very little hack. And I read this from one of the top SEO experts. Let me give him a shout out.
[00:02:08] What's his name? Darren Shaw. So shout out to Darren Shaw for those who want to go really uber geeky on SEO stuff. He's a, he's a really good guy to follow. If you understand what he says. Good luck. Cause half the stuff I don't understand, but it was one that I did understand. And it was this, it was like, well, if you are a local business in the same town and you have a competitor, how many reviews do they have?
[00:02:30] When was, how often are they getting reviews? He gave an example of if you're getting two reviews a month, you need to get more. 3, 4, 5 reviews a month, if they're doing it consistently, that's a good benchmark to have. Now, me personally, I think everyone should be aiming for at least one review a week, right?
[00:02:49] I'd like to think most gyms have a new member every month at least, or at least 4 to 5 new members. And if you're not, well, reach out to us, we can maybe help you. But that's kind of like a little benchmark, which I'll get [00:03:00] here now. So the idea is, if you can get one review a week, that's 4 reviews in a month, over the course of a year.
[00:03:07] Do your maths. Like it's, it's very simple. That's what you're going to get. You're going to get between 44 and 48 reviews, ideally 48 if you get it right. But that's what we're trying to aim for. Now, here's a bit of a secret bonus hack that we're seeing that works even better because we're trying to signal to Google how to help you rank higher and that you're a trustworthy site.
[00:03:29] You reply to all the reviews, right? You reply with a comment that's not generic or AI generated. You give them a really good, uh, thank you, say thanks for the review. Not just say thanks, give them a heart, well thought, you know, thought, felt, thought, felt review. If I can get out of my mouth there and really focus on that because that signals more intent that you're a legitimate business, increasing your trustworthiness.
[00:03:58] Now, an even [00:04:00] bigger hack that you can try out with is this. Get them to post a photo of your business in the reviews. You do that, you're turbocharging everything to do with your business. And that is what the experts are seeing in terms of how to rank your business How to rank high on the Google map packs.
[00:04:18] and how to help you get found more in your local areas. More reviews more often, do more than your competition, reply to those reviews, and then guess what? Get somebody to take a photo of your premises, of your facility, with you ideally. And that will turbocharge the reviews and the listings. Andrew, anything you want to say to anything to
[00:04:40] Andrew Wallis: that?
[00:04:40] I was going to say, if you can get that photo of you and that client, then that's gold. And we've got clients that have been testing this out. I'm thinking Frizzo, a shout out to Frizzo Boone, for example, where he's had some great success. with that element. Um, equally, what, what I used to do, [00:05:00] um, and this was pre Google reviews.
[00:05:02] This is more when you were getting testimonials and case studies, but the same, um, hack, what you will, uh, applies is that whenever I got a, a, or any review, Um, but ideally positive. Of course, I was thanking them and I was sending them a little, um, card, thank a little thank you card out to them because that goes and that plants the seed then that wow, it was out of the box.
[00:05:27] It wasn't expected and they talk about that. And that's ultimately what marketing is. Um, having people talk about you and your business and amplifying the message out there. So these little hacks, as we say, can don't take too much time, don't cost a lot of money, but you know, they have a significant impact.
[00:05:47] James Breese: Yeah,
[00:05:47] Andrew Wallis: exactly.
[00:05:48] James Breese: So they have it. Google reviews for the win. And if you do that and you're still not going anywhere and you want some help, well, reach out to us. We're more than happy to help you guys. So go to strengthmanners. com forward slash strategy. And we will show you and [00:06:00] talk to you and brainstorm some ideas together on how you can get some more gym members, personal training members, clients, patients, whatever it is, or just have a good old chin work about your business.
[00:06:09] So it's strengthmanners. com forward slash strategy and get those Google reviews up and running, posting photos and replying to them. So thanks for now. See you guys.
