When using Google My Business as a personal trainer, your main goal should always be to attract clients in your local area, rather than on a global scale.
OriGym’s complete guide will show you exactly how to maximise your results, and market your business as effectively as possible on Google.
Contents:
- What is Google My Business?
- How To Create a Google My Business Account
- Ranking Factors Behind Personal Trainer Google My Business Pages
- How to Optimise Your Personal Trainer Google My Business Listing
- Why Set Up a Google My Business Personal Trainer Page
- Why Has My Personal Training Google My Business Account Been Suspended?
- How To Fix My Suspended Google My Business Account
If you’re looking to make your Google My Business listing stand out, sign up for a specialist qualification such as one of our advanced Nutrition courses! Find out more by downloading our FREE prospectus to learn more about all of the courses we offer.
What is Google My Business?
Using Google My Business is one of the most effective ways to get your business found online which will make it easier to make money as a personal trainer. Potential clients who are searching for local qualified personal trainers will find you ranking in their Google search results.
Users who are specifically conducting local search have a “high intent”, which means that they know exactly what they want from a personal training business.
When it comes to personal training, Google My Business can be used in the following ‘high intent’ manner – ‘Where can I find a personal trainer in Liverpool?’.
Adding the location at the end of the Google search is what makes it a local search – clients in the immediate area of Liverpool won’t want a trainer based in London, as this won’t benefit them.
According to Search Engine Land, 80% of high intent searchers lead to sales, a site visit, or consultation within 24 hours. Furthermore, this research also states that 92% of customers will choose one of the first three businesses listed.
These top results are commonly referred to as the local 3 pack, a term that refers to the 3 top ranking options on Google maps. These options will contain clickable buttons for a businessess’s website, directions to the business’s location, and other relevant information.
For example, when you type in Personal Training in Liverpool, Google will pull up the following results, in which OriGym ranks first within the local 3 pack.
When clicking the ‘view all’ option underneath the local 3 pack, you will be presented with a list of all the local PT businesses within your immediate area.
Once you have selected the business that you require, you can select the My Google Business Profile, which will bring up detailed information relating to said business.
This information will typically include opening times, website links, contact details and other personal information.
For all freelancers looking to register as a personal trainer on Google My Business, you must do so as a service based business. This is to signify to the search engine that you don’t have a fixed location, and can in fact travel to your clients wherever they require you.
If you operate a personal training business and own a studio or private gym, though, you can willingly select this as the location of your business if you so wish.
However, you can also operate as a hybrid service area business (SAB).
This option relates to trainers who operate out of both their own location, as well as being willing to travel to their clients.
In relation to personal training, please note that freelancers with no fixed location are always referred to as service area businesses. If you fall under this category you must not put any location on your Google My Business page.
This covers the basic information that you need to know before you start to use Google My Business for personal training purposes. Now, let’s turn our attention to the process of creating an account to optimise your business.
How to Create a Google My Business Account
Learning how to use a new platform or software is always a daunting task, but creating a Google My Business account is a fairly straightforward process.
We are here to detail everything you need to know about this process, which should make your business registration as easy as possible.
#1 – Sign Into Google My Business
Before you can use Google My Business as a personal trainer, you need to first register with Google. This is a fairly straightforward process, requiring you to create a G-Mail account and corresponding password.
Please note that if you already have a G-Mail account for your personal training business, you can use this one if you so wish.
#2 – The Importance of Your Business Name
Once your account has been created you will then be directed to the ‘Find and Manage Your Business’ page. Here you will be able to search for your existing personal training business or register it.
When using Google My Business for personal training purposes, there is a list of set recommendations that must be adhered to should you wish to find success.
Firstly, ensure that your business name does NOT include any additional keywords, location-based information, or any other additional words to describe your business.
This violates Google My Businesses terms of service and can result in an immediate suspension for your account.
For example, if your business was called ‘Jack’s Weight Training’, you would not be able to register the business as:
- Jack’s Weight Training Personal Trainer
- Jack’s Weight Training Liverpool
- Jack’s Weight Training Liverpool Workout
You should only include your business name. It may be tempting to try to use your SEO skills here, but keyword cramming will only be to your detriment. If Google sees that you’re breaking these guidelines they will immediately suspend your account.
Our advice is to keep your business simple and straight to the point. Google Maps will automatically include your city in the search regardless.
During the actual registration process you will have the opportunity to place your business into a category. As evident from the screenshot above, this section is where you will add other keywords such as personal trainer.
For more advice on this topic, and ideas on how to get started, check out our article on personal training business names.
#3 – Inputting Further Information
The next stage of registering as a personal trainer on Google My Business will require you to input further information relating to your business.
The first question you will be asked is if you wish to add a location for customers to visit. Remember, if you’re working on a freelance basis be sure to select no, and instead register as a service based business.
However, if you do have a fixed location, you will then be directed to a secondary page. Here you will be required to cite further information such as the postcode, town, and exact address of your business.
Please note, personal trainers with Google My Business accounts cannot register PO boxes or shared spaces. For example, if you are primarily located at a popular chain gym you cannot register your business here, as this location will probably already be claimed by the gym in question.
Alternatively, personal trainers who operate on a hybrid basis will then be given the option to select whether or not they provide ‘home or delivery’ services.
Should this be a service you provide, you will then be directed to a secondary screen that asks you to list every area in which you’re available to work.
However, be aware that in order to select this option on Google My Business you must have some form of fixed location.
Finally, you will be asked to provide Google My Business with your Personal Training website and phone number. This will complete your application process and will allow you to proceed onto verifying the information.
#4 – Manage Your Listing
Now that Google My Business has all of your relevant information, you will then be asked to verify your personal training business. This is done through a postcard containing a specialised pin number that will be sent to your listed place of residence.
Remember, Google is very selective about the businesses that they choose to list on their site. They want to know that all personal trainers are properly qualified and have provided relevant and accurate information.
Whilst it’s somewhat tedious to have to wait 5 -14 working days for this pin code, it does help to weed out the fake and potentially harmful businesses that seek to mislead clients.
Once this listing has been verified be sure to provide Google My Business with further information such as:
- Working Hours
- Business Description
- Relevant Photos and Videos
- The Date The Business Was Founded
And there you have it! That’s the complete creation process summarised in 4 easy to follow steps.
Be sure to read each direction carefully when using Google My Business for personal training businesses, as if Google believes you are being deceitful, they will not verify your account.
Ranking Factors Behind Personal Trainer Google My Business Pages
When creating your personal training Google My Business page, you’ll naturally be aiming for a spot among the coveted local 3 pack.
This achievement can be obtained through optimising Google’s 3 main ranking factors:
- Relevancy
- Prominence
- Location & Quality
Let’s take a look at each of these factors in detail, this will help you to determine what steps you can put in place in order to ensure your business ranks well.
#1 – Relevancy
According to the Google My Business help section, relevancy relates to the information that you provide the search engine with.
As a business they want to provide their searchers with the most relevant information and results. One way to increase the relevancy of your business is to ensure that your company and/or product are listed in as many places possible.
This will signify to the search engine that you are a reliable source that many other companies deem to be valuable.
One way OriGym increases its relevance is through the use of journalistic inquiries.
Media outlets, such as Huffington Post like the example above, will reach out to our content marketing team with questions relating to health and fitness, which then be answered in as much detail as possible.
Our responses have been featured in the likes of Glamour, The Independent, and Metro to name a few.
By having our brand listed in various places across the internet we are effectively proving that we are experts in all things health and fitness.
This improves our relevancy when Google users search for things related to personal training and will push us up in their rankings as a result.
Anyone can sign up to write journalistic enquiries – they’re completely accessible to everyone wanting to make their online presence known. We’d strongly recommend the following programs if you’re looking to boost your relevancy – Response Source (paid) or Help A Reporter (free to join).
#2 – Prominence
Relevancy directly relates to prominence, which is another factor that can affect a personal trainer’s Google My Business ranking.
Much like relevancy, if you’re prominent across the internet (e.g. featured in multiple different articles) then you will gradually see yourself climbing towards the local 3 pack.
However, please note that sites must be of an authoritative manner, meaning that they too must be relevant, and produce high-quality content. For instance, we’ve been featured as contributors in the Independent, a nationally recognised newspaper and online publication.
If you choose to feature on a site with less authority than you, or one which produces sub-par content, you won’t notice much of a difference in your Google My Business ranking.
Furthermore, prominence can also relate to the quantity of content you’re producing. At OriGym for example, we’re regularly producing blog posts, YouTube videos and new personal training courses for site visitors.
By creating such a vast quantity of content across a variety of platforms we are asserting our prominence within the field of health and fitness.
#3 – Location & Quality
When potential clients use Google My Business for personal trainers, they’ll typically type something along the lines of ‘Personal trainers near me’.
However, other searchers may add a phrase linked with quality onto their Google search such as ‘The best personal trainers near me’.
Therefore, when it comes to Google rankings the topics of location and quality are always linked to one another. In this instance, a searcher may be close to a PT business, but Google may show a result that is further away.
This is due to Google’s algorithm, which always places a greater focus on quality rather than proximity.
For example, when comparing the two screenshots of this section we can see how adding the phrase ‘best’ influences the local 3 pack.
Village Gym Wirral is further away than all of the locations listed, but due to the higher amount of reviews they have accumulated Google will rank it as being of better quality. However, it’s worth noting that this gym also paid for an Ad, which will automatically place at the top of the local 3 pack.
If you’re looking to improve the quality of your personal training Google My Business page then we have a few tips for how you can optimise your ranking.
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If you’re enjoying learning how to use Google My Business as a Personal Trainer, we think you’ll like these other OriGym articles too:
- Starting a Personal Trainer Business Checklist
- How To Make Money As A Personal Trainer
- How To Stand Out as a Personal Trainer
How to Optimise Your Personal Trainer Google My Business Listing
If you’re unsatisfied with your current Google My Business listing, there are a number of ways you can optimise it to ensure that it ranks more favourably and will attract more potential clients.
Let’s look at some of these methods now:
#1 – Make Sure Your Website Corresponds
Whilst this article is primarily focused on using Google My Business as a personal trainer, your end goal should always be to drive traffic to your website.
Essentially, the use of Google My Business can be seen as an elaborate marketing strategy for personal trainers, which if done correctly, will generate leads and new clients for your business.
From the screenshot provided above, we can see how Sheffield-based trainer LEP Fitness’ Google My Business information corresponds over to their website.
Google’s algorithm is growing smarter by the day, and if you have information on one page that does not correspond with the other, it’s going to assume your business is fake or harmful to the end-user.
As a result, you will be pushed further down the ranking and may never crack the local 3 pack.
LEP Fitness as a business regularly ranks in Sheffield’s local 3 pack for providing the best personal training service in the area. This is because all of their information is coherent, ensuring that Google can certify it as safe and suitable for the end-users.
#2 – Add Images
When using Google My Business for your personal training business, uploading relevant photos is essential. This simple method can drastically improve your ranking, but only if you use the right types of images.
Below is a list of photos that you should be including on your Google My Business listing as a personal trainer:
Exteriors: If you’re located in one primary location (your own private gym, for instance), then Google recommends adding photos of the building’s exterior. This will make it significantly easier for clients to find your business when visiting in person for the first time.
You may want to take this a step further and take photos of the exterior at different times throughout the day. This will be particularly helpful if the surrounding area is poorly lit during the night or early hours.
Service: In order to promote your PT business through a Google listing, it is so important to demonstrate the service you provide. Therefore, you should include photos of you working alongside your clients at the gym.
Try to make these photos as varied as possible, and include clients working on different workout programs and pieces of equipment. Furthermore, if you sell your own branded gear or products, it will be worthwhile featuring these items too.
For example, at OriGym we include photos of trainers working with clients, as well as successful students who have recently completed their diploma in personal training.
You may even want to take photos of your service a step further, by including screenshots of personal trainer testimonials that your clients have written.
Common Areas: When creating your personal training Google My Business listing clients will want to see where they’ll be working. That’s why it’s so important to include photos of common areas, in which the client will spend a large portion of their time.
If you’re a personal trainer who owns their own gym for example, you should look to feature photos of the gym floor, reception area, as well as the changing rooms and parking facilities (if applicable).
Including these photos gives potential clients an immediate sense of expectations. Reel them in by showing them how clean your communal areas are, as well as highlighting what equipment your facility has to offer.
Without these pictures, clients will be less likely to sign up for your service, as simply put they don’t know what they’re purchasing.
For example, at OriGym we are sure to feature common areas such as our kitchen and classroom on our Google My Business page.
Just from one glance, potential customers will be able to see that we offer a clean and safe learning environment, providing them with more incentive to sign up.
By including example photos of these three simple categories, you can optimise your personal training Google My Business page and attract more clients into signing up for training.
#3 – Add Categories
Adding categories to your personal training Google My Business listing can attract significantly more clients to your business.
Think of adding categories as expanding your net, in order to capture your target demographics. Local businesses who choose to ignore this feature are essentially failing to direct more traffic to their website.
Google advises users to be hyper-specific when selecting your categories, as this will help optimise your personal trainer Google My Business listing, and direct your ideal clients to you.
As you can see from the screenshot provided above, OriGym’s chosen categories on Google My Business are specific to our business of qualifying personal trainers.
This can also be seen in Zander Fitness, which regularly ranks among the local 3 pack in Cardiff. From the example categories displayed above, we can see what kind of training is provided at their facility, as the Google My Business page stresses a focus on bodybuilding prep and coaching.
As a personal trainer, you should naturally include the personal training category, but for the others you may wish to highlight your specialist areas of interest.
Like Zander Fitness, your training may have a particular focus and niche clientele base, and if this is the case you should choose your categories accordingly.
For example, if you’ve qualified from a nutrition course, you may wish to include a nutritionist category too, or if you’ve got a specialism in diabetes and weight management, you can categorise your business to attract those clients.
#4 – Get Google Reviews
Google reviews truly have the potential to make or break an entire business. If clients can see others raving about the training you provide, they will be more incentivised to sign up for training.
However, on the other hand, if your personal trainer Google My Business is littered with negative critics, then you’re likely to lose potential clients who simply won’t bother signing up in the first place.
Fitness Lab Soho appears to be the top answer when searching for the best personal trainers in London. From just one glance at their Google My Business reviews, it’s easy to see why the search engine favours this company over many of its competitors.
Simply put, the more positive reviews you have, the higher you’re likely to rank within Google.
For example, the search engine will be able to see that The Fitness Lab has over 132 reviews and a perfect 5 star rating. As a result, it’s naturally going to rank higher than its competitors in the surrounding area who have less reviews, or an overall lower rating.
In order to get these reviews you may need to ask clients directly, as a personal trainer a good way to approach this is by sending follow-up messages following a successful training session.
For example, if you have just assisted in helping a client reach their goal, they are more likely to be in a positive mood, which will translate into a better review.
#5 – Get More Business Listings
Another way to optimise your personal trainer Google My Business listing is to focus on your name, address and phone (NAP) citations online. These are occurrences when your business name and address are featured across other webpages.
Please note, NAP doesn’t need to directly link back to your website – the information provided is enough to get customers to visit of their own accord.
This again relates back to ensuring that the information on your website and Google My Business page is accurate.
If the information is misleading in any way, the NAP citations will continue to spread these falsified details, which could result in Google believing your business to be harmful and pushing you down within your local rankings.
Once your information is accurate we’d advise you to personally spread NAP citations by using other third-party websites such as Yelp, TripAdvisor or ForSquare.
For example, at OriGym we have an NAP citation on the Trustpilot website. Here, clients can not only find our business name, address and phone number, but can read through reviews from existing clients and customers.
#6 – Provide a Question & Answer Section
This feature of Google My Business was introduced back in 2017 but for some reason remains grossly misused by business owners.
There are a few important things to note about this feature, firstly the answer box holds a capacity of 440 characters. The second, and rather scarier fact, is that anyone can answer the questions left on your list, meaning that a competitor could leave a response to a client asking about your business.
We can see an example of how the Q&A system has been implemented in Ultimate Performance Personal Trainer which regularly ranks among Manchester’s Google local 3 pack, for best personal training.
You can even take this a step further and fill out questions and answers yourself. Think of this as your personal FAQ section, and to get inspiration about what clients commonly ask be sure to check out your local competitors.
Including a Q&A section can help to optimise the customer experience of your Google My Business listing. Instead of taking time out of their day to message you separately, a potential client can simply refer to this list and determine whether your service is suitable for them.
You should always have the end-users in mind when creating a personal trainer Google My Business listing. By making their experience as easy as possible, you can guarantee their satisfaction and increase the likelihood of them signing up to your service.
Now that we have covered how to optimise your Google My Business personal training listing, we’re going to shift our focus on why it’s important to use the platform.
Why Set Up A Google My Business Personal Trainer Page?
Throughout this article, we have discussed how you can use Google My Business as a personal trainer, but this section is dedicated to ensuring that you know why this application is important.
#1 – It Makes You Visible
In the age of technology, if your business doesn’t have some form of an online presence it won’t survive. Potential clients will always begin their search online, typically through a search engine like Google.
Google My Business ensures that, as soon as someone looks up your personal training business, they will find it without any hassle.
Once your business has been located by a potential client, Google My Business will inform them how they can pursue their interest further, be that through visiting your physical location, your website, or getting in touch with you.
As discussed earlier in the article, Google My Business improves your local SEO. This means that you will rank on the search engines’ first page among your local competitors, rather than on a page that’s likely to get less traffic.
Even if you have a strong virtual presence (such as social media) a personal trainer’s Google My Business account can improve your overall visibility among an already crowded field.
#2 – Keep Your Client’s Informed
Don’t keep clients guessing about important information relating to your business. In order to determine whether you’re a right fit for each other, they need to be provided with a specific list of details.
By refusing to create a Google My Business listing for your business you’re essentially leaving clients in the dark. They should be getting this information directly from you and not third-party NAP citations.
Failure to provide this information will simply lead to a loss of money and missed working opportunities. A potential client will simply look elsewhere for a trainer who can provide them with more relevant information they require.
For your personal training Google My Business listing, clients should be able to clearly see your:
- Working hours
- Relevant contact information
- Personal training website or blog
- Fixed location (if applicable)
- Your specialism/niche teaching points
If this short list of information is adhered to, client’s will be armed with everything they need to know in order to determine whether your business is suitable for them and their needs.
#3 – Boosts The Consumer’s Confidence In Your Service
A secondary piece of research conducted by Google also found that customers are twice as likely to trust a company that creates a My Business listing.
As a personal trainer using Google My Business, gaining the trust of potential clients is imperative. If someone can look at your listing and be confident in its quality, they are more likely to make an inquiry or even hire you outright.
That same Google report also states that one of the most efficient ways to boost a consumer’s confidence in a product is through the use of reviews.
For some potential clients, reviews left on your personal training Google My Business page will shed more insight into your training method than any information you provide.
Therefore, we can once again stress how important it is to collect reviews, as they can lead to even more clients signing up for your service.
Why Has My Personal Training Google My Business Account Been Suspended?
Whilst Google regularly moves businesses up and down its rankings, it also regularly suspends businesses too.
If for whatever reason you find your account has been suspended, you can actually lose all control of your Google My Business personal trainer listing.
There are two primary types of suspension on Google My Business:
- Manager account suspension
- Owner account suspension
A manager account suspension (sometimes referred to as soft suspension) means that your personal training Google My Business listing will remain visible to the public. However, you won’t be able to make any changes live during this time period.
However, an owner account suspension (hard suspension) will result in your listing being removed from Google entirely.
This section is dedicated to divulging the reasons that could lead to either of these suspensions. Be sure to read each carefully in order to prevent it from happening with your personal training listing.
#1 – Spam Edits
We’ve all been in situations where we adjust every little detail of a project to ensure that it’s perfect. However, while a commitment to accuracy is commendable, Google may sometimes interpret these edits to be too spammy.
To avoid this suspension from arising, it is recommended that you make 1-2 edits at a time, before leaving the editing process for at least 30 minutes.
Whilst this is a very time-consuming process, it’s better than the alternative of losing control of your business’ listing.
#2 – Issues With Your Businesses Workspace
This is the most commonly occurring suspension that is dealt out by Google My Business. It can trip even the most experienced of business owners up, so be sure to read Google’s guidelines carefully before inputting your information.
When using Google My Business for personal training, you should only list fixed locations such as an office space or private gym/studio that you own.
This means that if you operate on a freelance basis or from a shared space, you should avoid this process, as this is when suspensions will commonly occur.
If Google discovers that you have listed any of the following locations to be the site of your business they will immediately suspend your listing:
- The same location as an existing listing
- A PO Box
- A residential address for SAB listing
- A shared workspace or office (e.g. the gym you work at)
Be sure to be as truthful as possible when implementing your location. Whilst this suspension is commonly occurring it is easily avoidable, by providing your potential clients with accurate information.
#3 –Details Regarding Business Descriptions
There are a number of things you aren’t allowed to list within your personal training Google My Business page.
For example:
- Private information relating to staff
- Personal financial information regarding clients & staff
- Private transcripts from existing clients
- Heavy focus on discounts and promos
- Offensive or Prohibited content – Hate speech, sexually explict content, harassment, illegal content and/or products
Keep your description direct and straightforward. Tell the potential client exactly what they can expect from signing up to work with you.
#4 – Keyword Jamming
The prospect of ranking among Google’s local 3 pack for a specific keyword is an enticing prospect.
However, you should avoid keyword spamming at all costs, as this will once again prompt Google to assume your business is spam and not fit for clients to use.
An example of a personal training Google My Business which has been spammed by keywords could be something like:
“Our personal training service in London is the best personal training service in London. No personal training service in London comes close to us”
Sprinkling keywords throughout your listing is to be expected, but don’t make it the sole focus and intent of your listing.
#5 – Your Business Name
To signify just how strict Google is when it comes to suspensions, they can also suspend a business for its name alone.
To avoid falling into this trap, you should ensure that your PT business name doesn’t:
- Infringe on any existing trademarks – e.g. PureGym, SPIN CYCLE or Les Mills
- Use taglines – e.g. Jack’s Weight Training – Let’s Lift!
- Use all capital letters – Even if that’s the style of your business logo, it must be spelt in the correct case on Google My Business.
- Add any information relating to the business – e.g location & phone number
Please be aware that, when any one of these reasons is breached, you will be immediately notified by Google My Business.
However, they won’t clarify which guideline you breached and will instead only divulge what type of suspension you’ve been given.
This happens more commonly than you’d expect, but what should you do if this happens to you?
How To Fix My Suspended Google My Business Account
If you’re a personal trainer and your Google My Business account is suspended all is not lost. There are still measures that you can put in place to reassure Google that you have fixed whatever issue it flagged.
#1 – Do Your Own Research
We would love nothing more than to provide you with a miracle answer, one which would instantly resolve your suspension. However, as stated above it is somewhat initially difficult to determine what regulation you broke in the first place.
Therefore, the first step you must take is to compare Google’s existing guidelines with your personal trainer Google My Business listing.
#2 – Be Sure To Save A Link to The Guidelines
As we have stated at length throughout this article, Google and its algorithm is changing by the day. As such, the company regularly updates its guidelines and as a business owner, you must stay on top of this.
What is acceptable one day may not be the next. For your own reference be sure to keep the Guidelines page bookmarked at all times.
#3 – Cross-Reference and Amend
Read over Google’s existing guidelines and cross-reference them with the content on your personal training listing.
Once you have identified the issue which triggered the suspension in the first place, be sure to amend it immediately in favour of more suitable content.
This may be a time-consuming process, but by doing so you are proving to Google that you’re willing to make necessary changes.
#4 – Gather Documentation Which Proves Your Business Is Legitimate
In order to prove that you’re a legitimate business and not a harmful scam, you must provide Google with a list of specific documents, all of which will certify you to be who you say you are.
- Brick-and-mortar: Take a picture of signage outside and inside of your building.
- Service Area Business: If you’re a freelance personal trainer, be sure to take pictures of the signage of the vehicle you use.
- Utility Bill: If you operate out of a fixed address you can submit any utility bill which displays your company name.
These documents must then be submitted to Google along with a reinstatement request. Please wait for a proper response, and do not submit multiple requests, as this will only further the belief that your business is spam.
Additionally, do not create a new Google My Business account! This will only result in the same result and can even lead to your listing being permanently deleted.
Before You Go!
Learning how to use Google My Business as a personal trainer will only benefit your career in the long run. So, if you’re looking to attract more clients and expand your business, we strongly recommend using this platform.
At OriGym, our team of industry-leading tutors will be on hand throughout all of our specialist Level 4 personal trainer courses, to ensure you pass the first time around. By qualifying from courses such as our Sports Nutrition Course, you’ll be able to add new training prospects to your Google My Business listing.
Be sure to download our course prospectus to learn more about other courses that could further entice other potential clients.