Google is about to unleash a new change that may initially seem insignificant at first but is be the starting point to change the way you get leads off the internet in the future.
If we look ahead in the next year I will make a prediction that at least 60-70% of your leads for most local small fitness owners will come directly off the Internet. If not then you are missing a big piece of the lead generation puzzle.
Okay so lets get back to Google Latest Change That Is Going To Send a Shock Wave through the fitness industry.
When a potential customer searches for Fitness Trainer in your area, in Google, two types of searches actually show up
- Paid searches that are shown at the top and on the right side of the page called pay per click.
- Organic searches that appears just below the paid searches and generally Google shows local sites and other local based websites depending on the way the site has optimized their pages.
It is no secret that the first two sites that show up on the organic search results gets over 50% of all the search clicks from potential new customers. It pays to have your sites in the top positions of paid searches
Google is going to be removing the paid searches on the right hand side of the search index.
So paid ads in position 3-7 on the right will now be moved to the bottom of the Google Index. See image showing ads on the right.
So here is a snapshot of what this would look like when the paid ads are shown at the very bottom of the Google search index. Picture taken directly from http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-ad-placements-on-search.html
Here is how this is directly going to impact our fitness business in 2012 and beyond
- Since the ads on the right are moved down, the organic searches would get more of the traffic and clicks. If people don’t click on paid ads then naturally the organic results will get more of the searches
- The top 2-3 spots will still show paid search results. The costs of those ads will skyrocket. Fitness Businesses will spend more money to get the top 2 positions.
- More local fitness businesses that have never taken Search marketing seriously in the past will now get in the game. The top positions will matter more as local gyms that can rank high will get traffic and build a successful business. Other business will have to work 10 times harder to drive the same amount of traffic
- The cost for Google qualified SEO professionals will skyrocket as you need really good technically competent companies to get you that top spot. That means if your market is competitive you will end up paying much more in SEO services to get to that top spot
Here what I recommend you do next:
- Identify the keywords that you know will bring in qualified customers or make your phone ring. If you get this step wrong you will end up paying more to fix these errors and going after the wrong keywords
- Start some form of SEO Work right now. If you are short on cash flow then I would suggest you write articles and place them on your blog everyday. Yes, I recommend everyday.
- If you have cash flow but no time, first get yourself the right SEO strategy. Once you have the right plan then you can outsource this to find low cost providers to get you the results. Let me save you some money upfront. If you just outsource work to cheap staff overseas you will be in for a rude awakening 6 months from now. You will find yourself spending thousands of dollars with no results. Delegate only after you have the right plan
- Partner with others. Maybe you cannot afford to do this or compete in the market. Partner with other complimentary businesses in your local market who are already ranking high and see if you can refer each other business and maybe pay a rental fee to place your ads or telephone number on their site. For example a yoga or martial arts site that is ranking well
If you have any questions on the implications of this for your business post your comments below or would like to set up a free session to create a SEO marketing plan worth $397 please send an email message to nino@super-trainer.com
Yes!! great info! I need this! on my top to do list !! I’m sure your going over this on weekend with you Sam.
Yes sir Lenin my man Neil is coming all the way from Chicagoland to explain his SEO strategies.
Thanks Sam for keeping us updated, as always, and posted on info that would affect our fitness business’s. You’re the man! Look forward to your weekend event coming up soon!
Why should I pay for marketing on google?I like the idea of organic. I won’t pay for advertising on the web. In real life you get clients from referrals. 95% of my clients have come from referrals and not the web. I do not agree with you what so ever.
@Michael:I agree with you that referrals are by far the best way to organically grow your business. Having said I strongly disagree to rely 95%
on any source. To have a thriving business we must have “multiple poles” in the water and get clients from variety of different sources.
I don’t know what you mean about real life (I know you’re from Utah) but anywhere else in the world businesses rely on search engines
to be found. If I move to a new town and I am looking for a personal trainer myself and 90% of other people are going to “Google it”
Again things in Utah must be different ;)
@Sam this was very eye opening. I think coming up with a strategy for trainers is so important. I am definitely not an expert and can’t wait to hear Neil speak about this on the mastermind weekend with you and your crew.
@Michael I totally agree with @Sam. You must know what works but if you want predictable consistent results you must have many poles in the water. There is no one way because eventually your market will get tired of it. If you wait until then you will be paying catch up. Not a pretty place to be.
Cheers,
AC
Good informations and good heads up for everyone. I liked the way how classified your 4 recommendations which is absolutely true. which one of these 4 recommendations is the fastest in your opinion? and which one is the most practical one?
Cheers mate
G