How to Attract Media Coverage For Your Fitness Or Yoga Studio
OK, so you’ve got your website, it’s working well and you’ve got all the on-site basics Google needs in order to know what you do and where you’re located...but you’re still not showing as high in the search results as you’d like to. What’s next? I’m excited to welcome lifestyle blogger Emma Norris to the blog today to give us some tips on how to get more publicity for your studio—and improve your SEO at the same time. Emma has worked as a Health Editor, Journalist and Content Producer at some of Australia’s top print and digital publications, like Cosmopolitan and Sporteluxe to name a few. She knows the publishing industry and knows what it takes to get featured. I hope you enjoy this first ever guest post on the Pixality blog!
—Connie
A few years back, being featured in a national or even local magazine or newspaper was considered the holy grail for fitness and yoga studio owners.
Not only were you getting your studio in front of hundreds or thousands of people, but it was free marketing (we’re talking about editorial articles here, by the way, not paid advertisements)
In the modern era, gaining media coverage for your studio is still of utmost importance. And, of course, getting published in a print publication is still something to celebrate about! But the focus has now shifted to the digital world, which brings endless opportunities to studio owners. In being published in large digital publications or even smaller blogs, there’s the potential to reach a global audience, as well as a highly targeted, local one. Plus, you can repost links to the articles you’ve been featured in on your own website and social media platform, to help build your studio’s credibility.
Not only that, but being published on other reputable websites boosts your SEO by improving your backlink profile (aka. the amount of sites that link back to you) and therefore, your domain authority — which impacts how high you show up in Google. For example, if you’re a yoga studio in Pennsylvania and you get featured in an article about the best yoga studios in Pennsylvania, well, that’s going to work wonders for your SEO.
How to get published in fitness and health publications
So, how do you go about getting media coverage? Well, it’s important to remember that the relationship between health and fitness journalists and wellness studios needs to be mutually beneficial. Obviously, studios need publications to help spread awareness of their brand and spark public interest. But at the same time, journalists need studios and other businesses to create content that’s going to interest their readers and please their editors. As a fitness studio owner, it’s important to think about how you can add value to the journalists you are approaching. Some ways you can do this is:
By hosting a media launch and inviting journalists. Remember, everyone enjoys free stuff and fitness journalists tend to love trying out new classes and studios. By allowing them to come in and actually experience your studio for themselves, they’re more likely to write about you or post about you on social media. You could also offer them the opportunity to hold a giveaway on their blog and publication in return for coverage. For example, by giving one of their readers a monthly free pass to your studio.
By offering your expertise. Health and fitness journalists are always looking for experts they can reference in their articles. So, if you’re a qualified exercise physiologist, personal trainer, nutritionist or pilates instructor, use that as a pathway for getting your studio into the publication. Let them know you’re available for expert quotes and they’ll be likely to keep you at the forefront of their mind for when they need one. Just make sure you ask them to link back to your website when they supply the quote. The website Help A Reporter is great for this, as you can join a database of professionals that journalists call upon when they need expert references.
By becoming a contributor. You can also take the above step further by becoming a contributor for health and lifestyle publications. Many titles accept articles from people who are experts in their field. Generally, they won’t pay for submissions, but it’s a fantastic way to raise awareness of your studio as well as building your personal brand.
By sending a targeted press release. This is perhaps the most ‘old school’ way of contacting journalists, but it can still work — if done correctly. In this day and age, most journalists prefer being contacted by email. But therein lies the problem — they get hundreds of emails every day. So, yours really needs to cut through the clutter and stand out. Firstly, you need to have a punchy subject line to ensure your email is going to get read in the first place — think of this as the headline of your press release. Secondly, you need to make it clear what makes your studio different to all the others, or have a specific reason for your email (like inviting them to experience a class, as mentioned above.) Thirdly, your press release needs to be targeted to their specific publication.
Note: If you do get featured in a digital media publication (yay!), just make sure that the link back to your site is a ‘do follow link,’ not a ‘no follow’ link. The former allows search engines to acknowledge your website and ensures you get the SEO juice, while the latter doesn’t. You can use Moz’s SEO toolbar or the NoDoFollow Firefox plugin to check this. If it does show up a ‘no follow’ link, you may want to politely enquire with the journalist whether they can change this.
About the Author:
Emma Norris is a health and lifestyle copywriter, journalist and blogger.