Case study: Online gym membership scheme takes off

‘The Gym Group was launched in June this year, and it took just three months to get the company’s website to the top of search engines, the company claims.

The Gym Group chain provides a low cost contract online membership. It only requires valid UK bank details to join, and says customers can cancel without notice.

There is a set price of £14.99 per month and the gym is open twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

The company said the economical monthly fee makes expenditure on personal fitness, often deemed a ‘luxury’, far more feasible during the credit crunch.

Following the success of the launch of the first gym in Hounslow, West London, there are plans for many more across the country with another four expected to launch by Easter 2009.

White Hat Media aimed to create a user-friendly website combined with a search campaign to drive traffic and sign ups. The agency worked alongside Harlands and Secure Options for the secure customer payment process and Fitronics to devise online fitness programmes.

The SEO campaign started in June 2008 with an original goal to sign up six thousand members within six months.

The latest figures show that this number has already been far exceeded and the site is top of Google for ‘West London Gym’. Within these few months, there was nearly a three-fold increase in expected traffic to the site. By August 2008, they had to gear new membership applications as the campaign has been so successful, the company said.

Jeremy Spiller, MD, White Hat, said: “This was a great project to work on as it gave us the opportunity to demonstrate flexibility in the design using creative technology and programming, alongside effective, but uncomplicated reporting mechanisms. We understood the need to provide a clear return on investment and the numbers of members that have signed up emphasize the tangible benefits in the best way possible.”

John Treharne, CEO, The Gym Group, added: “Not only does the structure and design of The Gym Group concept give accessibility to a much wider demographic than traditional gyms due to the inexpensive monthly rate, the power of the internet lends itself so well to this user friendly method that has driven membership beyond all expectations. 

“Online marketing is without a doubt the way forward and is aligned with our low cost, no fuss approach. White Hat Media has been instrumental in the making the web work for us and we look forward to working with them on all our future sites.”