Redsox vs. Yankees

Redskins vs. Cowboys

SEO Vs. PPC?

Ok so the first two are great rivalries, but the last one is becoming quite the rivalry. SEO (search engine optimizations) is lucrative for many reasons, mainly because the traffic is free.

PPC (pay per click) is not so free, in fact it can be very expensive. PPC has many great benefits as well. Let’s have a closer look at the pros and cons of each one.

PPC - The Good

You can sign up for a google adwords account and market your personal training business in as little as one hr. You completely control the budget and flow of traffic. I don’t know of another medium that allows you this type of control. There are no long term contracts either.

It is also the most targeted form of advertising that has ever existed. You can place your ads only in front of people that are searching exactly for your products or services.

You can also use ppc to test different webpages, marketing promotions, etc.

PPC - The BAD

PPC advertising can be costly, especially if you do not know what you are doing. You need to learn the ins and outs of google adwords in order to keep your costs down and be profitable.

This type of advertising is also very competitive. As is easy as it is for you to get started, it is equally as easy for your competitor to jump in.

SEO - The Good

You can get a ton of traffic from organic search engine rankings. The search engine results are pretty consistent although I have a feeling this is changing. In other words you may have the number 2 spot in google today and drop out of the top 10 by next week.

There is also a school of thought out there that suggests people “trust” organic results more so than ppc results.

SEO - The BAD

If you are late in the game, it is likely going to take you a long time to get good rankings. There are millions of websites online and many of them have a head start on you. Don’t be too discouraged because you can improve your rankings. Just don’t expect it to happen over night.

Although the actual traffic is free, getting rankings often involves you spending money. You may need to buy or rent links, and you may need to pay someone to create lots of great seo friendly content.

So there you have it. What do I suggest? Use both! Together, these two strategies can deliver serious traffic to your personal training website.

I hope you found this personal trainer marketing tip helpful. Please leave a comment if you would like to learn more about ppc or seo..

Keith
Personal Trainer Marketing Coach

No matter how bad it gets, you could always be this guy:)

If you haven’t noticed we are seeing a shift in search engine rankings and it is becoming google’s goal to provide up to date relevant content, much of which is generated by users not businesses. There’s a reason why google spent Gazillions of dollars buying video sites like youtube.com

User generated content is the future of the internet. So how does this effect your business? Well, there are customer review sites that rank very well in the search engines and it can be extremely beneficial to you if your customers are talking nice about you behind your back…

In fact, I encourage it. The more people talking about you online the better. Unless of course they are talking smack! There are ways for you to keep an eye on the smack talkers as well!

Here’s an example… Yelp.com is a site where people talk about their experiences with businesses, personal trainers, gyms, yoga studios, etc. Not only can you get traffic from sites like this, they are preselling your services for you.

There are dozens of sites out there that are just like this, use them to your advantage. Now, this isn’t something that should be #1 on your TODO list but when you get the chance tell your happy customers to go to yelp and leave you a great review. Warning: Do not be sneaky and leave your own reviews, what goes around comes around:)

Keith

Personal Trainer Marketing Coach

Creating a top notch website can be overwhelming. Trust me I know. I have a flow chart that has about 50 individual concepts that I look for when creating a website. I realize that it is impossible for most people to grasp so many things so I wanted to simplify it a little. Here are three things your personal training website must have if you want to compete in this game..

1. Ridiculously Simple Navigation - put your site to the 10 second test. Ask a friend to find something on your site like your rates, or studio location, if they can not find it within 10 seconds, you need to redo your navigation. Keep it simple and very obvious.

2. WTSA Headline - (What’s This Site About) The headline on your home page should tell the visitor exactly what your website is about. Don’t try to be cute, just tell them, and use benefits in your copy.

3. Call to Action - Bottom line, tell them what you want them to do. If you want them to call you, tell them to call you and give them a damn good reason why they should.

As I said before there are at least 40 something more elements that every kick butt personal training website should have but those 3 are probably the most important when it comes to turning visitors into clients.

Have a look at your website right now, if you would like more tips like this please leave me a comment and I will be glad to help…

Thanks!
Keith

In case you haven’t noticed there is a major shift going on in the world. That is the way that media is delivered to consumers. In simple terms, people used to have to watch or listen to whatever the mass media wanted you to. Not anymore, now you practically control the whole game. You want to watch something about “kitchen makeovers” you go online and find it. Smart business owners are taking advantage of that and they are using video to gain a HUGE ADVANTAGE over their competitors.

This is just the beginning, the sooner you jump on board the better…

If you are not using video in your marketing you are missing out big time. It’s not expensive like it used to be, all you need is a basic digital camera, a cheap tripod (not always) and a free editing software. By the way all pc’s come with windows movie maker and it is pretty easy to use once you play with it for a minute.

As always, if your not good at editing, find someone else to do it and you can produce your own video footage, or personal training commercials for a great price.

Get to it,

Keith
Personal Trainer Marketing Coach

One of the biggest mistakes I see personal trainers make is to dedicate to much precious web space to their certifications. Don’t get me wrong there are vast differences between “weekend warrior” trainer certs and accredited certifications and university degrees. Yes, credibility is important but…

What I ‘m saying is that you can use your credentials to your advantage but that should not be your main selling point. When a plumber comes to fix your toilet, do you ask where he got his plumbers license? Probably not, as long as he is licensed and does a good job..

People want to know first and foremost how you are going to help them. You personal training certifications are a bonus.

To prove my point, look at the many Hollywood starts including one who’s name I wont mention, (who was on Dancing With The Stars, Who was Married to Elvis Presley) have cosmetic surgery done by an unlicensed surgeon. This particular one injected her face with a form of motor oil. She’s not the only one, there are stories like this all the time. My question for her is, does she have to go back for a check up every 3,000 miles

Come on I’m only kidding. But it proves my point. Given the fact that most of your competitors hold descent certs, the potential customers in your market are going to choose a trainer based on results (proof), price, service and presentation.

If you enjoyed this personal trainer marketing tip, leave a comment as I would live to hear from you.

Keith