How to Make Sure Your Website is Working For You: A Q&A with Connie Holen
A Q&A with Connie Holen, founder of Pixality Design
Creating an optimal website is a craft. It takes thoughtful planning and a keen eye as well as an understanding of your target audience to properly know how to design and structure your site. The fitness and wellness industry in particular requires a particular touch—one that conveys your unique services and presents a strong “story,” while still making the process less intimidating for a new client. With all of this in mind we turned to Connie Holen, founder of Pixality Design for her take on what factors a studio should consider when designing or revamping a website. As a web designer and digital strategist specializing in the fitness industry, she understands the nuances of yoga/fitness-based businesses and has helped dozens of studios create a website that is not only beautiful to look at but also a powerful sales-generating tool. We sat down with Connie to help you understand where to put your focus and your energy.
Q: When someone is looking to create a new website or revamp their existing site, what 5 key factors should they consider?
A: 1. Photography. Good quality, well-lit photos of your studio space and real clients is a huge factor in making a good website. Aim to have a photo shoot that shows the diversity of your clients and a variety of your services.
2. Brand messaging. Don’t fall into the trap of using cliche, generic headlines and text on your website to sell your services. Your studio isn’t like every other studio, so make sure you spend time to tap into what makes your studio unique and how you want to communicate that to your ideal clients
3. Visual brand vibe. Is your logo dated? Do your colors or fonts need a refresh? If your branding doesn’t quite reflect your current business now’s the time to give your brand identity an update.
4. What will be used to schedule clients and process payments? If you’ve happy with your current scheduling software, you’re all set here, but if your business ops have changed and your current software is no longer a great fit, switching up your tech stack alongside a website redesign may be a good option. Out with the old, in with the new all around!
5. What’s the first step you want prospects to take? Do you have an intro offer? First class free? Get clear on the #1 best way you want prospects to first engage with your studio when they’re ready to get started. A good website design will funnel new readers toward this all-important offer at each turn.
Q: What is the #1 thing businesses miss when designing/creating their website? How can this be resolved?
A: Make sure your location info is obvious! Way too often I visit a studio website and have to dig to find out where in the world they’re located. If it’s hidden from prospective customers, it’s also hidden from Google and Google can’t show your website listing to people searching for what you offer near where you offer it!
To fix this, add your location + primary service (ie. Lagree Fitness | North Seattle) to these 3 places:
Website title (you can see what your website title is by hovering over the browser tab of your website)
Home page headline (this doesn’t have to be in the biggest headline, but should be somewhere in a headline very high up on the page)
Your footer (your full business name, address and phone number should be on every page of your website and identical to your Google Business Profile listing. It doesn’t have to be the footer, but this a great place for it)
Q: If a website isn't properly running what kinds of problems might a business see?
A:
• A drop-off in customer or prospect inquiries (broken forms)
• A high number of social buying sales, walk-ins or app sales (if it’s hard to buy on your site, people will go elsewhere (best case scenario) or not buy at all!)
• A lot of phone calls asking basic questions about class times and help with scheduling
• A decrease in visibility in search results and overall less client leads!
Q: If you only have time to do/modify one thing to your existing site what should it be?
A: Make sure there is a very clear path to becoming a new client. If you have competing calls-to-action’s (ie. you’re trying to promote too many things) or no clear way to get started (ie. no intro offer) then that needs to be fixed asap!
Start by creating a page just for that intro offer… tell people why it’s great, and what they will get from it. Add in some testimonials and some beginner-level FAQ. Next, add a link in your navigation that goes directly to that page and update buttons throughout your site to promote that intro page. Doing this will clear the way for prospects to feel confident in the action that needs to be taken and will improve the effectiveness of your website.
Q: Are there platforms you prefer to work with? If so, why?
A: Yes, definitely! Squarespace is my go-to website builder. My clients love how easy-to-manage it is and how well it works with their scheduling software. It’s all very flexible design-wise so I have a lot of creative options when working with it.
As far as studio scheduling software goes, Mindbody, Walla, Mariana Tek and Acuity all have good interfaces for displaying and selling your offers on your website.
Q: What does a successful website look like/mean to you?
A: A successful studio website provides both a good user experience (it’s easy to navigate and understand) and shows up well in search results. A website isn’t effective unless it’s found, but simply finding it doesn’t make it effective!
To gain insight into your website and whether your current site is helping to drive your sales, book a free intro call with Telomere. Our services include social media audit, social media planning and strategy and full social media management, as well as website planning. We work with Connie at Pixality Design to help you create the website you need!
Connie Holen is a web designer, digital strategist and Mindbody Certified Business Consultant. Her boutique web design agency, Pixality Design, works with fitness and wellness studios owners to create websites that are easily found, are easy to update and provide visitors with an amazing online experience. Connie is also a retired Air Force Pilot and lives just outside of Lincoln, Nebraska with her husband and 4 sons.
Telomere Consulting provides business consulting and marketing services to studio owners in the boutique fitness and yoga space. The Telomere team helps you navigate business strategy from conception to implementation. We provide end-to-end fitness marketing support and would love to hear from you. Click here to book your free intro call. We want you to treat your business the way you treat your body – making the right choices now to optimize its potential for a long and healthy life. Visit us here to learn more.
