If you’re running a fitness website but your blog posts aren’t kicking you the type of revenue you were hoping for, it’s either because your content is:
- Not answering search intent, so it is not ranking.
- Not converting your pre-existing traffic.
If you’re not ranking, you need to do better keyword/topic research. I have a separate post on how to do that.
In this post, I’m going to explain why your fitness content is not converting readers to clients.
I have written over 200 long-form articles about fitness, and I understand this niche very well.
Fitness content follows the same content marketing rules as any other industry. However, there are certain guidelines to keep in mind while creating content for fitness websites that will help you convert your audience.
1. Make them believe it's possible
So many fitness websites I have visited will just right away start talking about processes and how to get results. Or worse yet, why their product will help them get results.
This is a big NO-NO.
You first need to give your readers some motivation/reaffirmation that whatever their goal is, it’s possible for them.
Understand this. Fitness is full of people filled with self-doubt.
Your readers didn’t find your website because they are super confident with who they are. They don’t have faith in their ability to achieve and accomplish whatever you’re talking about and will most likely see it as a pipe dream.
This is the first drop-off point for most readers.
To circumvent this, give them courage and faith in themselves, almost like a parent talking to a child. Help them first believe they are good enough to achieve their goals and that they are capable!
2. Use examples to reinforce faith in themselves
Even after you give them some encouragement, they’re going to be highly skeptical.
They have been conditioned over a lifetime to not believe in themselves. This is why you reinforce your point with science. Hit them with hard facts and studies (if possible) backing everything you’re saying and proving beyond a shred of doubt that they can achieve their goals through your system/app/etc.
Finally, use tons of examples to really drive the point home.
The key to doing this right is to use a wide range of examples that comprise a lot of different situations. Remember, every reader thinks their problem/situation is unique, and that you’re not going to solve it through your content.
Their lack of confidence in themselves has led to a lack of confidence in any possible solutions.
They are looking for reasons to discredit your information and using examples can restore faith in your words.
Through your examples, you can show your readers that they aren’t unique in their problem and that others suffering through your reader’s problem found solutions through you or otherwise.
The main aim in the very beginning is to just make them believe a better life is possible for them.
3. Give them your solution
Once you’ve got them believing in themselves a bit, your next step is to discuss how they can actualize their ideal self-image.
After you’ve made your readers believe a better life is possible, they have a new mental image of themselves.
Their goal now is to reconcile that new mental image with reality.
Which makes this the perfect time for you to introduce your process to do just that.
Here is where you will demonstrate your expertise and solution to your readers.
For example, for personal trainers, nutritionists, physical therapists, etc. this is where you will discuss your program and how it works, as well as, how your reader can do this themselves.
Your goal here is not to sell them.
You have to give them realistic information on how they can make a change. I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch upon the quality of your solution here.
If your solution is no good and you’re doubtful that whether it’s going to appeal even to readers who are already primed and ready to make a change, then none of this will work.
Your solution needs to be something with some kind of uniqueness to it.
This can be:
- A shorter length of time
- Less expensive
- Easier to accomplish
These are just generic examples but you get the point. You need a “unique selling proposition”
If you solution is just more of the same, then you will revert your readers mental state right back to what it was when they started reading your article– full of self-doubt, doubt in your solution, likely to exit your page, and going back to what they were doing.
Additionally, I would litter this section with images of people (contextually, of course) who have already achieved what your solution provides.
This ensures the motivation to read through the process stays high as they continue to remain inspired by the end result.
4. Scold them
Yes.
Scold them.
“But didn’t you just tell me to encourage them..?”
Yes.
But right after, you need to light a fire under their ass to get them to do something, and take action.
Once you have them believing that your solution will work for them, you need them to move forward.
FOR THEIR OWN GOOD!
Consider this, how many times have you watched a motivational video on Youtube only to go back to whatever you were doing right after watching it?
However, if someone called you out on that, you’d think twice before retiring to whatever you were doing before.
So.
That’s what you do with your readers.
Explain to them that they are not living their best life, they are capable of doing a lot more than they are, and they should have been doing what you’re advising yesterday!
Your goal is not to berate them, but to motivate them to place a full imposition on their potential.
Once you motivate them this way, you can channel that motivation to have them act on your CTA and click/sign-up/book a meeting, etc.
Also worth noting is that scolding them doesn’t have to be its own section. It can even work as a line or two in the end like,
“You’ve put off finding a permanent solution to your lower back pain and where has it landed you? On meds, at home, not living life. How much longer will you let this go on? How old are you going to be before you finally fix this? It’s time to improve your life.”
I know this seems like breaking their spirit, but more often than not, you are really just breaking their arrogance.
Which is important for them to get over their preconceived notions about what your content just elegantly explained and take the plunge to act on your CTA.
5. Know who you are writing for
Above all else, make sure you know who you are writing for. This will be especially important in knowing how to “scold” your readers as well as which examples to provide.
I’ve mentioned this in a lot of my previous posts as well, but create personas. I cannot stress this enough.
Have an accurate mental image of who you are speaking with.
When creating personas, I will use a combination of data from statistics websites or my own analytics (if I have a large enough sample size) and insights from Reddit.
I’ll leverage the statistics websites to get a general idea about who they are:
Are they married?
Where do they live?
Gender?
Income?
Political views?
Age?
Etc.
Once I have this basic profile, I will use Reddit to understand them on a deeper level. I’ll go to a subreddit where my audience hangs out and open the individual profiles of the subreddit commenters/posters that match the basic profile I have created.
Once on their profile, I’ll take the time to understand them very deeply, right down to the core fundamentals of how they think and what they believe in.
For example, if you’re researching amateur bodybuilders, you will find that they are driven by accomplishment and are willing to take on massive pressure and sacrifice comfort to win their shows. This separates them from the large majority of people who would prioritize comfort and convenience.
As such, you would also notice this prioritization of pressure over comfort lending them a superiority complex. You should then create content that feeds into their ego because this way you’ve polarized your content and made it exclusive to them.
As a result, when your readers notice that you are going against the safe and normal rules of society to support their ego and sense of self, they know that you are truly batting for them.
This is just an example, but you get the point. Understand them at their core. Reddit will usually reveal quite a lot of your audience’s personality to you.
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