How to Start a Fitness Blog: A Simple 3-Step Process

When thinking of ways to grow your fitness business, your mind may naturally gravitate toward advertising. You can send direct mail, market via email, buy social media ads, and more. Yet, if you aren't already fitness blogging, this is another option that's well worth considering. Why? Because it offers many distinct advantages.

Benefits of Being a Successful Fitness Blogger

Being in the fitness industry generally involves working one-on-one with clients, teaching them how to live healthier lives. This could be as a personal trainer, nutritionist, yoga instructor, or in some other health-related capacity. People come to you because they see you as a fitness expert. Keeping a blog can help further highlight your knowledge and experience.

This is especially true for potential clients who aren't familiar with you and may be unsure if you're the right coach or trainer for them. If they can go to your blog and read a few posts, they may begin to see you as someone who can help them reach their goals. Instead of just telling them that you can provide the skills and tools they need to succeed, your blog post backs this up.

If you are in a specific fitness niche—like working primarily with older adults or youth—a blog can also help you provide information that appeals to that particular group. Touching on topics important to your clients shows them that you are in this for them. You care enough about their health to offer free advice above and beyond your paid-for services.

Being a fitness blogger also enables you to continue to inspire clients to reach their fitness goal between training sessions. It's like you're right there with them on their fitness journey. This strengthens the client-coach bond. You become someone they look to both inside and outside the gym.

Create a successful fitness blog and you can reach influencer status. This puts you in an even better position to help others succeed, due in part to your large following. An influencer also has a high expertise status. Not only do clients look to you for advice, but other trainers do as well.

How to Start a Fitness Blog in 3 Simple Steps

Ready to enjoy all of the benefits of having a fitness blog? Great! You're already halfway there. Now it's time to get your writings online. Here's how to start a fitness blog by taking just a few simple steps.

Step 1: Choose Your Blogging Platform

The first decision you have to make is where you want your blog to live online. You can either keep it on your fitness website or you can choose a web hosting platform. There are benefits to both approaches.

If you choose to put it on your current website, OptinMonster indicates that this can increase your indexed pages by 434%. This means that you appear higher on search engine results. More people can find your fitness business and more traffic is drawn to your website.

Another option is to use a blogging platform outside your website. The benefit of this is that your blog post is easier to find by people already using that platform. One of the most well-known is WordPress.

When you keep a WordPress blog, the bones of the blog are there for you. All you have to do is decide what you want the blog to look like, add your business information, and you're ready to start writing. There are many WordPress theme options. This enables you to create a site that matches your fitness brand.

All you do is sign up for the hosting plan you want, whether free or paid. The paid version provides a few more perks, so it may be worth the investment. Otherwise, if you're looking to cut costs, you can stay with the free version. Next, install WordPress on your computer or mobile device.

If you want to have more control over your site, you can also go with a hosting platform that works with WordPress. Bluehost is one that offers more customization, yet is said to be simple to use. But there are also several others. It just depends on how proficient you are with website design and how much you want to do on your own.

Step 2: Decide What You Want to Blog About

Once you have a place to put your blog posts, the next step is to decide what you want to write about. This is the meat of your blog. It is your content that will ultimately determine whether people will find value in your knowledge and expertise. The more value you provide, the more likely it is they will come back for more (and bring their friends).

What are some good topics for a fitness blog?

• Your workout routine. One question you likely receive often is what your workout looks like. Share your routine in your blog posts. Give a big picture view but also get into the nuts and bolts. Write a blog about how you work your upper body. Then write about your lower body exercises. Help satisfy your clients' curiosity. Sharing your routine also inspires them to make their own fitness program a priority.

• Exercise tips. During your training sessions, you provide countless tips to clients about proper form and how to get the most out of a specific exercise. You can do the same in a blog post. Provide tips for both strength training and cardio. Give your readers the tools they need to exercise safely and effectively.

• Overall wellness tips. Most people want to improve fitness as a way to also improve their wellness. They want to feel better and have better health. This makes for a good blog topic. Share the latest research about how exercise contributes to overall health and wellness. Touch on other topics like sleep, good posture, and stress management.

• Fitness equipment advice. Ideally, most clients will be working out with you. However, some will also exercise at home. This is especially true if your fitness business is entirely online. Help these clients by providing advice about which fitness equipment you prefer. These posts can also talk about what to look for when selecting a particular device.

• Basic fitness tips. Your blog doesn't have to include only in-depth topics. Even basic fitness tips are helpful to someone who is just beginning to take the journey to better health. Talk about the psychological components of fitness. Stress the importance of recovery. Give foundational tips that they can continue to build upon.

• Weight loss tips. Some people read a fitness blog in the hopes of learning how to lose weight faster or more effectively. Create a post for each tip. Explain why it is important and how to maximize that approach. You can also create a blog post that has an entire list. Link items in the list to the more in-depth posts in case they want to learn more.

• Healthy meal plan advice. Since diet is critical to a healthy lifestyle, you can also use your fitness blog to talk about foods and meal plans. Educate your readers about how to read labels. Give a few recipes that can be created quickly and easily. You might even publish weekly menu ideas.

• Fitness journey encouragement. One of the biggest challenges you face as a fitness professional is keeping clients motivated. A blog is great for this purpose! Share your personal journey or create spotlight posts of some of your clients (with their permission, of course).

Step 3: Write and Publish Your Blog Post

The final step in starting a fitness blog is actually writing and publishing your post. This can be the scariest part, especially if you don't normally write a lot.

The main thing to remember is that your blog should stick to your brand. Use the same words and phrases you use when training clients one-on-one. Don't focus so much on proper grammar, but more so on writing like you talk. You want the reader to almost hear your voice when reading your blog.

Write a rough draft just to get your thoughts down. Then go through it and edit it for clarity. The last step is to check it for any spelling and punctuation errors. You may even ask a friend or other fitness trainer to look it over.

If you don't like to write, you can always hire a fitness writer. This person can create your blog posts for you based on the direction you provide. This enables you to enjoy all of the benefits of a fitness blog without all of the stress of creating the content.

You can find a fitness writer by doing an online search. There are also a few online platforms that enable you to connect with a freelance health writer. You post your project specs, they bid on it, and you decide who you hire.

There you have it, three steps to starting a fitness blog. If you want to make your blog even more successful, social media can help.

Boost Your Blog Post Reach with Social Media

Once you post your blogs, share them on your social media accounts. This expands your reach and brings more people back to your blog.

When you post your blogs, ask your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram followers to weigh in. Encourage them to comment on or share your post. Use this as an opportunity to increase your interaction with people who are interested in your services.

Monetizing Your Fitness Blog

Build your fitness blog up enough and you may even be able to monetize it. Others in the fitness industry might be willing to pay you to place ads on your blog. This provides a passive income while supporting the products and services you love most.

You can also make money off your fitness blog with affiliate marketing. This is when you receive money by promoting a specific product or service on your site. Sometimes this money is paid every time someone clicks on a link. Other times it requires that they make a purchase.

Amazon offers an affiliate marketing program. You sign up to be an Associate, recommend their products to your readers, and earn as much as 10% in commissions. You may also partner with a local fitness professional or company, promoting their products and services too.

Interested in providing personal training services partly or fully online but don't know how to get started? The ISSA's Online Coach certification provides marketing tips, rate recommendations, and more.