When it comes down to successful digital marketing, a good website is the holy grail. This is especially true in the fiercely competitive world of CrossFit where every box owner, affiliate and athlete is battling for the top spot.

So you know you need a high performance website but do you already have one?

The number of enquiries you get from your website each week is a good indicator of its performance but there are plenty of other ways you can check.

sites by fitbox, has put together 5 easy ways to tell if your CrossFit website is efficient, to help you do just that.

#1 Mobile optimisation

First and foremost does your website work on all mobile devices (tablet, smartphone and iPhone)?

When we say “work”, we don’t just mean does it open we mean does it work nicely. In Australia mobile traffic makes up 62% of all web visits so if your site does not load correctly on a mobile device you are missing out on 62% of your potential business! When a website is mobile optimized it will shrink down nicely to the size of the device used to access it. Usually the menu and layout of the site will also adjust making it easier to read.

TIP- Check your site today using those three devices and see how it performs. Try to access the tabs and contact page to see how easy it is. If you get frustrated then you already have your answer!

#2 Good SEO (search engine optimisation)

Good SEO ultimately means rising to the top of the search engine rankings so more people click on your site, however it is achieved in a number of different ways. The way your site is designed, the speed at which it loads, the words you use in your content and the way you approach your digital marketing will all have an effect. It is easy to check your SEO performance using awesome free tools such as http://seositecheckup.com/. Simply enter your web url and the tool will tell you how you are performing and what you should fix.

Of course you should be aiming for 100% but it is likely that you will need some professional help to get there.

TIP- Regularly check your SEO performance and your site ranking over at Alexa and run frequent searches for industry keywords using different browsers and devices.

#3 Ease of Design

You would be amazed how many CrossFit boxes ask us for “clever and complicated designs” for their websites. Unless you are running a course to determine someone’s genius level there is no need to make your site design complicated… in fact please don’t! Sure, we can build it for you no problem but you will be missing the point of having a CrossFit website. Your website design should be clean, logical and easy to use because ultimately this is where you need to hook your new members. Some common design flaws include:

• • A complicated navigation menu
  • Too much Flash & Java animation
  • Disabling the right click feature
  • No obvious contact button
  • Too many pop ups of ads
  • Poor quality images or bright colours
  • Text heavy pages

TIP- Conduct an impartial survey to check the visitor experience of your website. Ask about the above points and reassess your overall design accordingly.

#4 Web traffic numbers

Web traffic is a term to describe the quantity of visitors to your website. Of course website traffic is linked to all the above points but you need to be on top of your visitor numbers… this is your bread and butter after all. You can use tools like Alexa that we previously mentioned to check visitor numbers or try out SimilarWeb which gives a more detailed breakdown of visitor demographics. The things about web traffic, is that it is not just about the numbers but also where they are coming from and who they are. For example, if you are running a CrossFit box in Gold Coast how will it help you to have vast visitor numbers from India?

TIP- If your website traffic is not consistently improving and you are attracting the wrong visitors then speak to sites by fitbox to get back on the right track.

#5 Poor user experience

Of course a poor user experience could be as a result of a non mobile optimised site, poor design or slow loading features. On the other hand, a poor user experience could be down to your content and approach. When visitors land upon a website via search they will have entered a phrase to get there. For example “CrossFit gym in Sydney”, “Learn CrossFit in Australia” or perhaps “How do I get fit?” If they have reached your website from these phrases then it’s good because it means that your content is in some way matching their requirements. The problem comes afterwards, however, if it doesn’t then deliver the results they were expecting. This may be through poorly written content, off-topic content or a poor lead capture system. Your website is checked by Google for its bounce rate and can be penalised if the rate is too high. A bounce rate is the time that visitors spend there before bouncing out and onto something else. A high bounce rate means that your site has not been pleasing to the visitor and they did not get what they wanted. Generally speaking

• • Around 30% or less is great.
  • 40%-50% is acceptable
  • 60% plus is a bad sign

TIP- You can check your bounce rate via the Google Analytics toolbar inside your website.

Need help with you site? Reach out to our team today.