SEO for gyms, where January is won in November.
Gym search has the sharpest annual pattern of any category we work in. Interest roughly doubles in the first fortnight of January and settles by February, and every gym in the country is competing for the same weeks.
Rankings take months to build, which means January is decided in October and November. A gym starting in the last week of December has missed it entirely.
Rank before the rush
This is the whole timing argument and it is simple: the traffic arrives in a fortnight, the rankings take a quarter, so the work has to happen in autumn.
It also means the quiet months are not wasted. September to November is when a gym should be publishing, collecting reviews and fixing its profile, because that is what determines its position when the demand arrives.
What people actually search
Not 'gym'. They search a class, a goal, a schedule or a price — beginners classes, strength training, pilates near me, gym prices, 24 hour gym, creche gym.
Each is a separate page. A single membership page listing everything ranks for very little, and it is the structure almost every gym website has.
A page per class or programme
With times, level, what to bring and what it costs. Class timetables are searched heavily and rarely indexable.
Price, plainly
The most searched and most hidden thing in the category. Hiding it loses more members than it protects.
Beginner-focused content
The January audience is overwhelmingly people who are nervous. Content that reduces that fear converts far better than content about equipment.
The metric is retention, not sign-ups
A gym that fills in January and empties by March has not grown; it has had an expensive month. The members who stay are the ones who found something specific they wanted rather than a discounted membership.
That changes what to optimise for. Pages about classes, coaching and beginners attract people who stay. Pages about price attract people who leave.
What it costs
SEO is included in the €1,500 a month alongside the advertising, the social and the lead follow-up. There is no separate SEO fee, no setup fee and no contract beyond the month you are in.
Questions from gyms and fitness studios
October or November. The traffic arrives in a fortnight in January and rankings take a quarter to build, so starting in December is too late.
Yes. It is the most searched and most hidden thing in the category, and hiding it loses more members than it protects.
Retention rather than sign-ups. Class and coaching content attracts people who stay; price-led content attracts people who leave in March.
No, and nobody honest does. We report enquiries and what they cost, with rankings as a diagnostic rather than the deliverable.
SEO is included in the €1,500 a month alongside everything else. There is no separate SEO fee and no setup fee.