A couple of weeks ago I was talking to the owner of a fashionable clothing line. She shared her frustration with me about finding a Pilates studio to take classes at while traveling. When she searched local results (in California, so we are not talking about some backwoods town in the middle of nowhere) she said that the websites looked very uninviting and dull and didn’t excite her about booking a session. She ended up taking Barre classes instead of Pilates. Pilates is the Chanel of the fitness industry. When customers are planning to pay top-dollar for the services they don’t expect to do that in a Dollar Tree setting. Most of the US population spends over 7 hours every day online. Your clients are more likely to hear about you or find you ONLINE than through any other channel of promotion or advertising. And yet, about 63% of local businesses still don’t have a website (ouch, let’s hope that your Pilates business doesn’t fall into any of these categories.)
7 Easy Steps to Have an Amazing Pilates Website
Having a website for your business today is as essential as breathing in Pilates. But it is even more important to have an awesome website that presents your high-end services in an attractive packaging congruent with the industry pricing. 1. The basics: the space and the landlord. As much as it is important to have a good location for your business it is also important to have a good domain for your website. Your clients must be able to remember your domain and search engines should be able to pick it up as a reputable business address. I like to describe a hosting provider for your website as your landlord (because you are in fact renting a space on their server.)
- Pick a fast host. Fact: most consumers will abandon a slowly loading page within 1 and 5 seconds.
- Make sure to pick a host that offers back-ups.
- Excellent customer support is equally important.
- Do your research or ask a professional for help. If you are not ready to invest into creating your own website then consider using one of the free hosted solutions like Wix.com, Weebly.com, Yola.com, WordPress.com etc.
2. Easy mobile access. In January of 2014 CNN Money reported consumers spend over 60% of their Internet time on mobile devices. Responsive design is one of the must-haves of the modern web technology but the majority of local businesses are not mobile-friendly. Talk to your developer about creating a mobile-friendly website and test the finished product on as many devices as possible. 3. Decorate your space wisely. The layout of your website should translate the same emotions as your physical space. Dull and amateur-looking websites send the same message to your potential clients: your teaching style and studio are boring.
- Use professional-quality images of your space on your website.
- Use images of attractive people to demonstrate the results that your clients can get at your studio.
- Keep the layout clean with as few banners as possible.
- Use as little text as possible (long dull articles only bore the viewers).
- Make your call-to-action take above-the-fold spot on your website (your new client promotion, newsletter sign- up, location and contact details.)
4. Let your clients praise you. Testimonials are the most powerful part of your website if they are done right. Ask your current clients to share:
- Why they came to your studio.
- What goals you helped them reach.
- What they have gained from working with you.
- Why they would recommend you to their friends.
If possible, try to do video interviews for your website or ask your clients for the permission to use their pictures with their warm words. Seeing faces of your clients will give your visitors a sense that they are talking to a real person about your services. It is a major trust and conversion factor.
5. Keep your navigation simple. Here is a quick breakdown of the pages that the visitors are actually looking for:
- About Page – it should be about YOU and your studio, not about Joseph Pilates or the history of the method. Make this page fun and personal, help the visitors get to know you. Throw in some testimonials from your clients to complete your presentation.
- Class Schedule/Pricing – before visitors are ready to call you and book a session they want to know your pricing. Most people don’t feel comfortable calling about a service if they don’t have any idea how much it is going to cost.
- Contact – include your full address with easy driving directions or a Map, your phone number and email or a contact form. It is a good idea to have your phone number and address on every page of your website to make it even easier for the visitors to contact you.
- Email Signup – asking new visitors for their email is the best thing that you can do to connect with new clients. Make your email signup the focal point of your website because it’s the most valuable component of online marketing.
6. Stay in touch (but make it fun!) Make your subscribers want to open your newsletter every time!
- Use an email provider to send out professional-looking emails (I like Mailchimp because they have an easy-to-use interface and let you have a free account until your list reaches 2000 subscribers.)
- Post consistently. Decide how often and on what days you would like to post and stick to your schedule.
- Use the same branded template for your communication. It will make it easier for your readers to find the exact information that they are interested in.
- Share relevant tips and resources to engage both your loyal clients as well as the readers who have opted in on your website but haven’t booked a class yet.
7. Share your Pilates voice. Andrea Maida says that starting her own blog has helped her articulate and deepen her understanding of the method. Her blog brought hundreds of visitors to her website and has helped to share her authority and credentials with the potential clients. However, few things look worse than an abandoned blog post advertising a New Year special two years ago. If you are planning to commit to blogging then get at it but if you don’t have the heart for it then use Facebook and Twitter to share your news and tips. A website is a powerful tool in your marketing toolbox that requires little maintenance once it is done. Use it wisely to create a constant flow of clients who are excited to experience the amazing Pilates transformation.
Anastasiya Goers is following her passion for Pilates by running a community-based Pilates website – PilatesBridge.com (http://www.pilatesbridge.com ) that unites Pilates professionals and Pilates students. Her goal is to teach people to enjoy movement and feel comfortable in their bodies as well as to give the instructors all necessary tools to grow their Pilates business and education. Anastasiya also helps Pilates business owners create authoritative web presence, design/redesign their websites with the new goals in mind as well as come up with creative ways to connect with new clients (more information can be found here http://pilatesbridge.com/website-services/.)
