7 Ways to Improve your CrossFit Website

When designing anything you need to think about your goal. Just like movements in CrossFit, your website needs to be functional and goal-oriented. Explosive hip openings aren’t just for show, they’re the best way to move load overhead. Before laying out flashy designs for your CrossFit website you need to identify its goals.

CrossFit websites have three key goals:

• Build community within the existing membership
• Encourage new members to join
• Run your box more efficiently

It’s common for most gyms to focus on the first aspect. While that is part of the reason for building a website it doesn’t achieve the entire Cross website strategy and misses out on opportunities to grow a bigger and better CrossFit affiliate.

Most CrossFit websites start as blogs displaying the workout of the day and fail to evolve beyond a simple Wordpress blog. Below are seven practical tips you can use today to improve your website.

1) Make the website more appealing to prospective members. The biggest issue that needs to be addressed as most boxes focus too much on existing members and fail to consider what potential members are thinking when they visit your site.

• Most CrossFit websites are designed to appeal to the community > Focused on the WOD and using vocabulary that non-members don't understand
• Orient content and images to How to Get Started, Why CrossFit so that new members can understand what you’re about

2) Make navigation simple and easy to follow, with a clear call to action. Many websites will have too many options at the top menus - so l, users will get lost and not sign up. Keep things simple!

• Too many buttons, options, and links confuse users!
• Show only what you have to, nothing more and make the purpose of each page clear

3) Expand your branding to reach a diverse demographic. While CrossFit’s original focus was elite fitness, at this point most new members will come from old or fewer fit populations that are already intimated by CrossFit’s warrior image.

• Skulls, heavyweights, and photos of muscular men appeal to a narrow demographic of males
• Update your pictures to show your average community member, not your 8-packed firebreathers

4) Compare CrossFit to personal training, not a gym membership. When you get people on your site, and hopefully into your box, CrossFit’s relatively high prices can discourage new members if they are not properly positioned

• Many sites list pricing without context
• Describe the value proposition as personal training effectiveness with group experience community and fun

5) Make contact information easy to find - contact email and phone as high up as possible. The primary purpose of your website is to get more people into your box, so make contact information easy to find!

• Many websites bury their contact information in the footer - making it hard for members to contact you, especially when on their especially.
• Adding your phone number and email to the header typically increases free trial signups by 30%
• Add a chatbot to your site to make it super easy for leads to reach out and connect. Metrics show that you will get 3x the amount of lead signups with a chatbot. We love the aNinja chatbot

6) Make signup really, really easy. Even when potential members find the signup form, some boxes make signup a challenge

• You should be getting between 10 - 50 free trial signups a month. If you are not, something is wrong with your signup form. If you’re getting less, let's talk about 3 ways to get more potential members to visit your website
• Key your signup form simple and make sure to track all signups in a form that you track

7) Help prospective members understand what to expect on their first day, first week and first month will be like

• A clear and value-based onboarding process will increase the free trial signups you receive. Prospective members have preconceived notions of what CrossFit will be like - be straightforward with membership costs, group training sessions, and community events.
• A more clearly defined onboarding process increases the conversion rate of free trials to members. If prospective members experience the preconceived benefits of CrossFit during their free trial, they will be much more likely to join your box.

If you need help implementing any of these tips, let's get in touch

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