WAG The perfect gym website

[ErinEclectic]

I'm a web designer / developer and one of my pet peeves is inadequate websites. I've noticed that a lot of gyms have subpar websites or are using primarily Shutterfly, DD's included. I offered to take a look at it and make some recommendations to the gym owner about some improvements that could potentially help out the gym as a whole. The owner wasn't interested, but it started me thinking and now I want to build a website that is custom created for the needs of a gym, keeping the owner, front desk person, coaches, team parents, rec parents and gymnasts all in mind.

So, I'm curious, what do you see as desirable/ undesirable for a gym website?

Some features I've considered:
- built on a CMS so it is easy for anyone to update and keep current, without needing to know anything about coding
- an ecommerce aspect that allows parents to pay online, be billed automatically, and possibly check their balance, etc at any time
- search engine optimized so that the gym will be easy to find on google searches
- a backend that parents/girls can log into that allows them to access and subscribe to alerts pertaining to their level/class as well as important forms and schedules
- an easy way for coaches/ front desk / owners / etc to easily send out information to select groups (i.e. level 4s or optionals or any team member)
- easy to access information for the public such as location, maps, contact information, rec class schedules and descriptions, FAQs, staff bios, etc
- possibly a section for higher level girls that are hoping to get scouted, where they can post their videos, images, bios, etc

I know there's a bunch of other stuff I've brainstormed, but I can't think of it right now.

 

[ladybird]

Yes, all that!!!

 

[Becauseisaid]

Meet schedule page for any hosted meets, Twitter and/or Facebook feed plus social media links, Directions map, About page, and separate page with information on the different types of classes plus after school program (if offered).

 

[raenndrops]

Team schedules... meet schedules...
On the About Page, the gym philosophy, what you offer (Rec, JO, Xcel, IGC, T&T, Acro, Rhythmic, Cheer, etc) ... and are any of them treated like the red-headed stepchild of rec and team.
IF you offer open gym on a regular basis... and WHEN and HOW MUCH and any paperwork a non-member may need to attend.

 

[ErinEclectic]

Thanks for the replies! What about any gym owners out there? What kind of setup would make it worth upgrading your gym's site?

 

[veganmami]

I always enjoy pics of the team/events the gym has offered. I understand you would need everyone to sign a release, but I can't stand when everything is outdated. And yes, everything you mentioned would be FANTASTIC!!!

 

[gymdog]

Thus is how most big gyms currently operate:

-software (iclasspro or jackrabbit) to handle all the registration records, billing
- website with links to the portal for that gym's account on those software programs

These programs already offer pretty much all and more of the features you've talked about that pertain to the registration and billing. Website design or what other information the gym chooses to make available about team is usually a separate issue. So you want to bundle with a web platform. It is a competitive market. You would likely have to have competitive pricing, or would have to convince gym owners that bundling with your platform system is ideal (it may be).

Typically, though, gyms don't put information on websites for several reasons:

-no one has time to update it or wants to
- they don't want to make information about their team public
-they use Facebook for daily updates and marketing