Okay, so I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I own a gym, that I'm a fitness blogger, or anything like that. Instead, I'm here as a SEO content writer that knows, not only how to start a fitness blog, but how to use it to get leads for your gym.
If you own a gym, or are a personal trainer, want to sell fitness courses, etc. then this is a great place to start.
Why? Well, because successful fitness bloggers have either been doing this for a long time and learning as they go or hiring people like me to grow their audience. There is a third option, however, and that's continuing to blog and getting absolutely nowhere with it. What I mean by nowhere is, even if they gain somewhat of an audience... scratch that. Even if they gain a massive audience, that doesn't always translate to $$.
Sure, many fitness bloggers eventually use it to promote products or services (affiliate marketing), or their own products or services, which is great! But there are a lot of people that end up blogging just for the sake of it or because they've been told that's the thing to do.
It is... it really is. But you have to do it RIGHT!
What does that mean? It means you're using your blog as an engine, pumping leads to your business- your site, your products, your gym, your subscriptions...
So how do you get started, and how do you grow? Let's dive into that, shall we? Follow me (imagine walking alongside me through a busy gym, meandering through the pumping weights to get to the offices). Here we go.
Why Every Gym Needs A Fitness Blog
(and you too, fitness product salespersons and personal trainers)
A lot of people start their health blogs, wellness blogs, fit lifestyle blogs or whatever else you want to call them because they've been told they MUST. Well, you do. But if you're just blogging because you think it's an obligation, you're not going to get as far as you could.
Others start their blogging journey because they know they can use it for affiliate marketing or start it to genuinely connect with people and share a fitness life.
Here's why you should really start a fitness blog:
Businesses that blog gain 67% more leads than those that don't
Companies that blog get 97% more links from other sites, which is helpful to show Google you're of value, which helps you rank on that first page of search results.
Google judges your site consistently. If you don't update it regularly, they don't consider you relevant. Ergo, you won't get noticed.
Websites that blog have 434% more indexed pages, which means you have more space on the internet and Google can judge more pages to judge and tell audiences that you're relevant.
But, there are 600 million blogs out there. If you don't use SEO, and you don't consider buyer intent, and you don't blog consistently, and you don't provide relevant information... you'll get lost in that 600 million.
With that in mind, here's how to blog to get noticed and gain clients.
Starting A Fitness Blog
The first thing you need to know when beginning a fitness blog, is why you're doing it. A lot of people start a blog simply because they're really into fitness and feel like sharing what's worked for them. Many today know they can make money from that kind of thing, and dive in because of that.
Don't start a blog just because you want to make money. This won't work. Instead, you have to think of it as your tin can telephone to your potential clients, where you whisper motivation and resources for their fitness journey.
In other words, it's a resource, for you and for them. It's your connection to each other. It should promote your business but by proving that your business is legitimate, worth their time, and can provide them the results they're looking for.
How do you do that? You:
Give them better content than anyone else
Give them engaging content that has them begging for more
Inspires and motivates them to work out and be better versions of themselves
Legitimately want to help them
Give sh** away for free
I'm totally serious about this last point. People need to trust you. They need to see that you know what you're doing and that you want to help them. You do this by actually helping them. Give information away that you would in training programs. Provide diet tips, recipes, and workout routines. Give them a way to be the version YOU are trying to encourage them by signing up for your gym or product or training program.
Now that we've established that, here are some steps to starting your blog, and not failing.
Fitness Blog Topic Research
Okay, so this isn't a common step a lot of first time bloggers take, but it should be, and that's why I'm telling you to do it.
I want you to take a look at your audience, who they are and what they want, as well as what you're trying to get them to do.
If you're selling protein powder, then you're looking for customers that are looking for protein powder. That means you want to write blogs about protein powder, not about how to start a fitness blog, ha. (Unless you want to be a fitness business coach)
Generate a list of the topics and possible article titles you could write on. Believe me, this is SUPER helpful when you know you need to post but can't think of something to post about. You don't want to just throw articles out there and hope they stick. You need to have a strategy.
For instance, think of articles you can create in a series. This blog is going to be a part of a series of fitness articles, all geared towards helping your business get noticed. I want you to succeed, with or without the help of my content writing service, which is why I'm leading by example and "giving sh** away for free".
To build your list of fitness blog ideas:
Step 1: Know your audience and what they want. Create a little profile for them.
Step 2: Go onto Google, and do a little searching around for things like "why use protein powder" or "how to stay motivated in the gym". Your search depends on what you want your readers to do.
Do you want them to sign up for a gym membership, type in things like "Why get a gym membership?" and you'll see in the "people also search" section things like "Is a home gym worth it?" and "Is a gym membership a waste of time?"
THOSE are your fitness blog topics. Add them to a plain Google doc, or a spreadsheet, whatever works for you.
Step 3: Research your competition.
You're unlikely to beat the authority of the top health blogs and those of big brands- LA Fitness blog, or the Anytime Fitness blog- but you should be trying, and you should be looking at what they're doing.
I'm not saying emulate their articles, and definitely don't just write about the same things. Instead, write BETTER articles. Write for YOUR audience and their needs.
Step 4: Build a content calendar
Put your blog ideas into a calendar to keep yourself accountable... But also think of it like a story. You want to take your readers on a journey. One chapter and then the next and the next. So, for instance. This blog is about how to start a fitness blog. The next one is fitness blog ideas. After that is how to find the right keywords... It should make sense, and readers should feel compelled to push onto the next blog.
Speaking of which, we've covered what you need to know about how to get started blogging for fitness (which even applies to bodybuilders blogs and motivation websites). Your next step is to read on to my fitness blog ideas article (once I've written it next week).
OR... and?
Sign up to get a free content assessment, where I'll take a look at your site and tell you alllll the things you're doing wrong and how to fix it. Plus, I'll even add a bit to try to convince you to let ME fix it (and blog for you)... all the things. Below is the link if you'd like more information.
