Why Online Reviews Are More Important Than Ever for Your Gym

Most gym owners know that positive online reviews are good for their business, but many aren't aware of how much they can impact it. Consumers are increasingly relying on reviews to make purchase decisions; in fact, recent studies found that: 

• 88% of consumers trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations. 

• 92% of buyers rely on reviews when making a local buying decision. 

• 87% of customers read reviews to help them find local businesses.

• 87.5% of Americans do not trust traditional forms of advertisement.

• As of 2017, the impact of Google reviews on search engine rankings has increased by over 20% year-over-year. 

Therefore, building up reviews for your gym is, more than ever, an essential component of your marketing strategy, especially when we know that the amount of people trusting paid advertising is decreasing year-over-year. 

Three review websites your gym should be listed on 

• Google Business Profile - A must for every Gym; it increases web traffic and engagement with customers online. 

• Yelp - Great for local organic search. Yelp is one of the most well-known online directories.

• Facebook - #1 social network. It provides many ways for customer feedback and engagement.

As a gym owner, you should be actively collecting online reviews and you should start by focusing on getting positive reviews. One way to do this is by encouraging reviews after a client has reached some specific fitness goal. 

How to get reviews 

• The best way to encourage clients to write reviews is to "just ask." 

• More often than you think, your clients will be happy to write a review about their experience with your gym if you just ask them. 

• One way to incentivize satisfied clients to leave positive reviews is by offering discounts or promotions, such as free membership and raffles. 

• To increase positive reviews for your gym, educate your clients on how important reviews are to your business. Gym members who want to support you will show their support by writing positive reviews.

• On your website, add links to your Google Business Profile and Yelp profiles to make it easier for people to leave a review. 

• To scale and ensure continuity for review requests, you should eventually automatize the process of asking for reviews. 
  
  

Conclusion

A gym with a good ratio of positive reviews is likely to rank higher on Google and other search engines. This correlation is partly because many of these reviews will contain relevant keywords that clients use to express their experience at your gym.

Online reviews matter and could be the deciding factor between you and your competitor. So, always be bold and incentivize reviews. Embrace the power of reviews!