If a visitor sees the word “community” within the first five seconds of viewing your website, I think you have a branding problem.
If you have this problem, don’t worry: I highlighted “community” on my website back in the day. It’s a common mistake.
What’s the problem?
You know what community is, and you see its value.
But here’s what your average website viewer will think if they find your gym when looking for fitness services:
“What does ‘community’ mean? I have lots of friends. When do we talk about my goals?”
And then they click out and visit a better website that’s selling what they want to buy.
“Community” isn’t a bad thing. It has an effect on retention—but you can’t measure the effect.
And “community” doesn’t get people in the door. It means less than nothing to a website visitor. It’s not a selling feature.
If you rank the things gym website visitors want, you’ll get a list like this:
1. Weight loss.
2. Fat loss.
3. Increased muscle/strength.
4. More energy.
5. Less pain.
6. Improved sports performance.
You could summarize this as “look better and feel better.”
Way down the list, maybe in 50th place, you might find that people wouldn’t mind “training with other cool people and making new friends.”
So why would you try to market “community” instead of “look better, feel better”?
Bad Gym Branding From Around the World
“Community” is a branding problem. But it’s not the only branding problem in the fitness, uh, community.
Here’s what I did: I clicked into gym websites in major markets with the goal of finding five examples of good branding. I wanted taglines and words that told me within five seconds which of my problems the gym could solve.
I found lots of bad stuff.
I logged it below, with some pointed comments for entertainment purposes. You’ll find the great lines I found after the bad stuff I had to wade through.
These examples all come from real websites, and everything was visible immediately after landing on a page or within a very short scroll. These were prominent words and phrases clearly placed on the page as part of a marketing strategy.
If you have this stuff on your site, don’t feel bad. I made almost all the mistakes on this list, too. But don’t let your website visitors see this stuff as soon as they land on your page.
1. Results based—which results?
2. Looking for a new challenge?—Actually, I am trying to deal with an existing challenge. Want to hear about it?
3. Unlock potential—whose, how and potential for what?
4. Protocols/training principles—Are you speaking to your college ex.-phys. prof or a dude who has sore knees?
5. Best equipped—your gear is irrelevant.
6. Welcome!—Thank you. Now what?
7. Premiere functional fitness facility—So what exactly do you do?
8. Lasting success—As a crypto buyer, mechanic, parent or something else?
9. Oversight—Is your gym a prison?
10. Where trainers can build their brand—To whom are you selling what?
11. Discover what sets us apart—I’m new here. Could you just tell me?
12. System of fitness—Will your system help me get stronger?
13. Empower your spirit—Can we talk about weight loss, too?
14. Strength in community—What about strength in my legs so I can run faster?
15. Family—Are you niching down to specifically help families accomplish fitness goals?
16. People focused—I hope so!
17. You’ll never walk alone—What if I want PT? Can I run alone?
18. Complete CrossFit box—I need nutrition help. Do you have that?
19. Passion for improvement—That’s pretty general. Want to hear about my goals?
20. Unforgettable workouts—I’d prefer lasting results, like keeping off the 20 lb. I want to lose.
21. Check out our merch store—I already have lots of T-shirts.
22. Competance, confidence—I am not making this up. “Competence” is spelled wrong.
23. Drop-in policy—Is it cool if I try to create a lifelong habit, too?
24. Try it for free—Try what for free?
25. Elevate your fitness journey—Kinda vague, no?
5 Good Lines
And now, after all that, just five lines I liked:
1. Get in the best shape of your life.
2. Lose weight, feel great!
3. We improve your health and performance. (I love this.)
4. Take control of your health and achieve your fitness goals.
5. Getting stronger and losing weight starts here. (This is my favorite by far, even if the grammar is a little off.)
Fix Your Landing Page Today!
The lesson: Most gyms have vague or ineffective branding on their websites.
You can set your business and your website apart by doing this today:
Step 1: In as few simple words as possible, clearly tell your ideal client how you will solve their problems.
Step 2: Take that phrase and put it in giant font on your landing page.
That’s it.
Don’t pay a brand manager to tell you what to do, don’t try to be clever, don’t be wordy or obtuse.
Just clearly tell website visitors how you solve their problems and your brand will be stronger.
