The Crucial Role of FAQ Sections for Gym Websites: A Study of Access to Information

A Global Issue: Gym Operators Failing to Create an Informative Experience for Prospective Members.

In September 2024, we set off on the same hunt for information that prospective gym members undertake every day - information about your facility, cancellation policies, disability considerations and so much more - all the things they want to determine quickly as part of their decision to evaluate your club, before they do so in person.

Consumers typically expect to find this kind of information in an FAQ, so that's what wanted to see.

Naturally for us, this meant doing research on a much larger scale than your average gym prospect - encompassing a search across 796 web pages and 235 brands, to test the ease of information discovery a prospect might experience. We implemented this across the United Kingdom, North America, and Australia.

We checked both core brand websites and location-specific sub pages (and individual websites) across Franchises, Independent Health Clubs, Multi Site Gyms, and Public Leisure operations. Here we dive into what we learned and offer insight into why having FAQs is a top-of-funnel optimization opportunity that fitness operators can't afford to ignore.

What is a gym FAQ?

First up, for clarity, a gym FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is a dedicated section on a website, that addresses common questions gym members or potential members may have.

It covers topics such as membership options, class schedules, facility amenities, pricing, cancellation policies, and more. The FAQ helps provide clear, concise answers to routine inquiries, making it easier for users to find information quickly without needing to contact staff directly. This improves user experience and saves time for both gym-goers and staff.

This kind of readily accessible information is precisely what's required to create well-informed prospects, ready to book a trial or tour.

A Quick Snapshot

Unfortunately, when it comes to availability of information the industry is falling short. Our study found that on average, two thirds of gym websites lack this essential resource for prospective members.

Even in the very best performing segment and country combination, North America large chains/franchises, almost 19% were without and therefore still leaving room for improvement; while the poorest performing combination, namely Public Leisure in Australia, produced 0 results in the search for FAQs.

For those operators who performed well in the study, it is reassuring to see how they understand the value of FAQ sections on gym websites when it comes to informing would-be members, ultimately creating informed prospects who are more likely to convert. While room for improvement remains, large chains/franchises and multi-site independents show a clear lead in all countries examined when it comes to both prevalence and quality of FAQ use.

Having conducted Fitness Industry 'Time to Reply' studies in the UK, North America, and Australia we've already learned that operators are missing a massive opportunity to maximize their lead generation efforts, by not optimizing how gym leads are captured and engaged.

Given what we revealed in those studies and what that said about the current state of 'top-of-funnel' member acquisition strategies, we wanted to properly measure the ability of prospective members to self-serve the answering of essential questions in the pre-trial or pre-tour stage of the prospect journey.

We set out to answer the following questions:

1. How many organizations typically display FAQs on their websites?

2. Of those that do, how many are a true catch-all for prospective member queries?

3. How many organizations provide FAQs at individual location level?

FAQ Study Highlights

We'll cut to the chase - what we reveal shines a light on another element in member acquisition strategies that is being sadly overlooked by operators.

Before we get into the specifics per segment, let's take a look at the overall results.

United Kingdom

Across the mix of segments, only 32% of facilities' websites included an FAQ section, meaning a full two thirds of prospective members would be unable to find answers to their everyday questions about membership or club rules. One segment in particular brought the average down considerably - look to the closer examination of the UK below to see which.

Furthermore, of those who did include FAQs on their site, 18% were deemed 'poor' in our study, answering fewer than 10 questions and lacking in sufficient variety or detail to be deemed useful.

North America

North America faired better - the top performed in this study - but still came in under half with 48.89% of sites including FAQs. The highest performing nation in the study not providing FAQs in half of cases gives us a strong indication of the size of the opportunity here for operators.

However, it should be said that that when we break it down by segment one cohort is close to this average, while the other two came back with different results from each end of the spectrum - more detail on that follows below.

Where FAQs were supplied in the FAQ the quality was amongst the highest in the study with a negligible number considered 'poor' in number of questions and detail provided.

Australia

Australia came back with the smallest percent of FAQs on site at 27.59% - leaving over 72% of prospective gym members in Australia unable to answer their own questions no matter how hard they look. While this performance was more evenly spread than in North America, we've already mentioned above that time spent on Public Leisure sites in Australia produced no results in the search for FAQs.

Australia also saw the greatest number of FAQ sections graded as poor with 25% of those sections we did find not providing a useful amount of detail, in fact 2 such sections contained only 4 questions.

Regional Breakdown

We looked at the following segments in each of the three geographical locations.

United Kingdom

% of Each Segment with FAQ Section

% of Each Segment with Location-Specific FAQ Sections

Summary of United Kingdom Performance

• 66.67% of Franchise/Corporate Chains had an FAQ section on their website

  • 0% had specific FAQs on their location pages

• 55.56% of Public Leisure Authorities had an FAQ section on their website

  • 3.92% had specific FAQs on their location pages

• 16.42% of Independent Health Clubs/Gyms had an FAQ section on their website

• 61.90% of Multi-Site Independents had an FAQ section on their website

  • 3.13% had specific FAQs on their location pages

Franchise/Corporate Chains performed best in the UK with two thirds displaying FAQ sections on their websites, and it's also worth noting none of these were deemed to be 'poor'. While this is the best performance for the location, we cannot ignore the fact that one third of of this segment are not serving up the information needed to those who would seek to educate themselves about their clubs in their search for a gym, and are therefore much less likely to choose these facilities.

With none of them providing FAQs on the location-specific page for each club, there is also an opportunity missed to personalize the information further by considering the questions unique to each venue.

Public Leisure Authorities in the UK include FAQs on their website in 55.56% of those we checked, again with none measuring as 'poor' suggesting that where they are offered they are of reasonable quality. As with Franchise/Corporate Chains this significantly outperforms the overall UK average of 32%, but does leave almost 45% of information-seekers empty handed.

Interestingly, several specific venues (3.92%) had their own dedicated FAQ. While the level of detail included in these was inconsistent, their very existence suggests some appreciation of the value they can add.

Independent Health Clubs/Gyms performed least well across all UK segments, negatively affecting the overall UK average with only 16.42% having FAQs on site. This is one of the lowest results recorded in the whole study, suggesting independent clubs are not placing the same value on the importance of informed prospects as the rest of the UK segments, and doing themselves a huge disservice in the process.

What's worse, is that of those that did provide FAQs, 36% were flagged as poor - the second highest across the whole study, with very sparse information and answering only 6-7 questions in each case.

Multi-Site Independents had the second highest score for the UK, with 61.90% of sites including FAQs, though 15.38% were considered poor as they lacked in detail with very short answers given to a small number of questions.

As with Public Leisure though, there were a handful of clubs (3.13%) with their own dedicated FAQ pages for those who would seek to know more about a specific venue. This granular level of detail feels strangely at odds with the poor performance of this cohort overall, but perhaps demonstrates the existence of some exceptions who could show the rest of this segment what good looks like.

The United Kingdom then is fairly consistent across segments, with the exception of Multi-Site Independents. While they could be blamed for their effect on the UK average, their inclusion of site-specific FAQs is shared only by public leisure. Realistically, even the best performance here (from Franchises/Large Chains) still leaves one third of prospects searching for answers, uninformed, and ultimately less likely to ever reach their doorstep for a trial or tour.

North America

% of Each Segment with FAQ Section

% of Each Segment with Location-Specific FAQ Sections

Summary of North America Performance

• 81.23% of Franchise/Corporate Chains had an FAQ section on their website

  • 10.00%% had specific FAQs on their location pages

• 14.29% of Independent Health Clubs/Gyms had an FAQ section on their website

• 46.67% of Multi-Site Independents had an FAQ section on their website

  • 0% had specific FAQs on their location pages

Just as in the UK, Franchise/Corporate Chains performed best in North America. In fact with 81.23% displaying FAQ sections on their websites, this was the highest performing segment in the whole study, combined with only 7.69% of these being flagged as 'poor'. There's no arguing that this is the strongest result we recorded, but it's equally important to highlight that the 19% failing to display FAQs still suggests meaningful room for improvement.

With 10% of a sizeable sample providing FAQs on the location-specific page for each club, Franchise/Corporate Chains seem to offer further validation of the value of this better-personalized level of detail, though that obviously leaves 90% failing to deliver the same high level of service to potential members.

Again as with the UK, Independent Health Clubs/Gyms performed least well across all North American segments, with the second lowest result of the study at only 14.29% having FAQs on site. Independent clubs in North America are demonstrably behind the curve when it comes to informing their prospects, and in such a competitive market are likely to be paying the price when it comes to their trial and tour numbers vs Franchise/Corporate Chains who are making a greater effort to support self-service at the top of the funnel. Consider the effort and ad spend it can take to get them there, only to fail to answer any of their questions.

With none flagged as poor though, it seems that those Independent Health Clubs/Gyms who do make the effort with their information are going all the way to make it worthwhile.

Multi-Site Independents then were virtually right on the North American Average with 46.67% including FAQs on their site. A markedly better result than the Independent Health Clubs/Gyms we just looked at, but still serving information to fewer than half of the prospective members who visit their site. With none flagged as poor for this segment either, North America stands out in terms of providing FAQs well, or not at all.

Unlike Franchise/Corporate Chains, we found no examples of Multi-Site Independents with location-specific FAQs. This is unsurprising when over half have no FAQs at all, but perhaps a little disappointing in that there seems to be no exceptions prepared to stand out and deliver something truly exceptional to those who would consider them as their new gym.

The North American segments are rather more extreme in their differences, with some of the best and worst examples from high scoring Franchises/Large Chains to low-performing Independent Health Clubs/Gyms. Quality definitely stands out overall for this location, with some stellar examples answering over 104 questions a new member might ask before committing to a tour or trial, but there remains a spectrum of opportunity here from a (relatively) low 19% to a staggering 85% not providing FAQs.

Australia

% of Each Segment with FAQ Sections

% of Each Segment with Location-Specific FAQ Sections

Summary of Australia Performance

• 40.92% of Franchise/Corporate Chains had an FAQ section on their website

  • 4.55% had specific FAQs on their location pages

• 0.00% of Public Leisure Authorities had an FAQ section on their website

  • 15.38% had specific FAQs on their location pages

• 24.14% of Independent Health Clubs/Gyms had an FAQ section on their website

• 38.10% of Multi-Site Independents had an FAQ section on their website

  • 0.00% had specific FAQs on their location pages

Yet again Franchise/Corporate Chains performed best in Australia, but in line with the country's weakest overall performance, it still didn't come close to the UK or North America, with only 40.92% of Australia's sites in this segment displaying FAQ sections. While only one of these was considered to be 'poor,' it seems Antipodean Franchise/Corporate Chains are behind the curve here if almost 60% are failing to equip potential members with the information to inform themselves.

4.55% featured FAQs on the location-specific page for each club, and while there's obviously a great deal of room to improve this, it suggest some understanding in the segment of the value of FAQs and their importance in the early stages of the prospect journey.

Public Leisure Authorities in Australia stand out for all the wrong reasons, delivering the worst result of the study with 0% include FAQs on their website.

Conversely, and fascinatingly though they have the highest number of FAQs on specific venue pages at 15.38%. It would be comforting to think there may be some correlation here, perhaps there exists a need across these authorities to deliver greater specificity in their FAQs. However, while 15.38% is comparatively high for specific locations, it fairs poorly when compared to overall scores and simply would not do enough to mitigate the complete lack of FAQs at a higher level.

With 24.14% of Independent Health Clubs/Gyms including FAQs on their site the segment unfortunately leaves 75% of potential members in the dark, and where it is available 42.86% of those FAQ sections were not up to scratch, in some cases covering only 4 questions.

Multi-Site Independents came a close second to Franchise/Corporate Chains with 38.10% of sites including FAQs, but with 25.00% flagged as poor, this widens the gap between the two segments.

With none including FAQs on location-specific club pages, their informational footprint becomes smaller again than Franchise/Corporate Chains and suggests they are less progressive in their approach, or at least less aware of the value and importance of fully informed prospects.

Australia's performance was behind the other locations overall, and something of a mixed bag. With such a poor result from Public Leisure, they are likely to face stiff competition from Franchise/Corporate Chains and Multi-Site Independents, who are putting more work into the availability of information for potential members. Independents fall somewhere between, but suffer for worse quality. Overall Australian operators in all segments are underutilising FAQs and we have to assume failing to recognise their importance when it comes to driving trial and tour traffic to their doorsteps.

Adequacy of FAQ Sections

In the sections above, we’ve highlighted examples of ineffective FAQs and outlined the methodology used to identify them. However, it’s important to understand the full spectrum of approaches to FAQs, both good and bad. While we can’t disclose the exact details due to confidentiality, we can explore the most effective and least effective practices encountered along the way.

United Kingdom

• Those considered poor had no more than 9 questions in their FAQs, or as few as 6. Even in those with the most, detail was very sparse.

• Some middle ground exists with FAQ sections of 10-19 questions, but even here where variety of topics was good, detail was lacking.

• Those we considered to be of the best quality had a minimum of 20 questions, but in most cases had a great deal more, were organised into varied and helpful sections, and delivered detailed answers. Some ran to over 80 questions, allaying the doubts and concerns of even the most anxious prospect.

North America

• Only one brand had a 'poor' FAQ page with a count of 8 questions. While it was far below the rest of the North American standard, it would rank highest among the poor responses across the whole study.

• There was a tiny middle ground of one FAQ section with 15 questions, as varied as could reasonably be expected for this number, but light on detail in the answers.

• The best quality of the American responses were the best of the study, with many featuring 50+ questions, and one 100+. Almost half were broken down into 7-10 sections to help navigate to the right answer, and detail and variety were strong across almost all.

Australia

• Australia's weakest FAQs consisted of 7 FAQs each, but even then considerable space was given to the likes of 'Careers' and 'Orders' related questions, meaning pertinent FAQs for members were more like 4-5 in total.

• The middle ground here consisted of typically 11-13 questions and while variety was good and the questions felt 'real,' detail was lacking in most answers.

• The best of the Australian FAQ sections were typically around 25 questions long, leaving the most room for improvement. 42 was the highest count.

Comparative Analysis

Gym Type Differences

Correlation across territories strongly suggests that Franchise/Corporate Chains best understand the value of FAQs and their impact on prospective members, with the highest percentage of sites including FAQ sections and some evidence of applying resource to making this information available at a club-specific level. That the quality was also high here seems to back up this assertion. Even so, with 19%-59% still failing to provide FAQs, there remains much work to be done.

Similarly, Independent Gyms/Health Clubs performed poorly universally, both in terms of the percentage of sites incorporating FAQ sections, and the overall lower quality of those that did. As a segment Independent Gyms/Health Clubs appear to be undervaluing the role of FAQs and they have a massive opportunity to harness them and better inform those interested in their clubs.

Multi-Site Independents came second across all regions in terms of use and quality of FAQ pages, but may not have caught up with Franchise/Corporate Chains when it comes to the value unique FAQ information at club level. The opportunity here is also sizeable.

Public Leisure does not provide the same sense of correlation across territories, with the UK's 55% of authorities offering FAQs in no way mirrored by Australia's total lack of them. What they do have in common though is some acknowledgement of the value of venue specific FAQs, and it might well be that this is a public leisure trait.

Impact of Inadequate or Missing Gym FAQs

Inadequate or missing FAQ sections can have a detrimental effect on both the customer experience and the trust potential members place in a gym. When information isn’t readily available, prospects are left searching through multiple pages or contacting staff for basic inquiries, which leads to frustration and delays as we know from our previous studies in the UK, North America, and Australia.

This inconvenience may cause gym prospects to lose interest or, worse, turn to a competitor that offers a more seamless online experience. A missing FAQ section also signals a lack of preparation or transparency, which can erode trust. If essential questions - such as those regarding pricing, membership cancellation, or gym policies - aren’t easily accessible, potential members might perceive the gym as unreliable or disorganized.

In contrast, an FAQ section fosters confidence, and its absence can lead to skepticism about the business’s professionalism. In a fast-paced, information-driven world, not having an adequate FAQ page can result in lost opportunities, as prospective members seek clarity and efficiency from the first point of contact.

Best Practices for Gym FAQ Sections

The Way Forward - Meet Keepme's AI Sales Agents

There are many reasons to have an FAQ on your website. However, the technology exists today to go one step further in the customer experience arena by using this resource to train AI sales agents to handle inquiries across various platforms - not just your website.

Your FAQ page essentially becomes a guidebook for your AI, providing it with the information needed to assist potential members around the clock. This ensures no leads slip through the cracks, ultimately improving conversion rates.

Integrating an AI-powered virtual assistant like Keepme Agent into your communication strategy guarantees that prospects get fast, accurate answers across various channels, including your website, social media, and messaging apps. This reduces the strain on staff, allowing them to focus on more personal interactions like in-person tours and member engagement.

AI trained with your FAQs can also:

• Respond instantly to common questions: Whether it’s membership prices, class details, or policy information, AI delivers immediate answers, helping to retain interested prospects and maintaining a full pipeline of leads. It uses natural language processing to provide a seamless, conversational experience.

• Schedule tours and follow-ups: AI can guide prospects to book tours or trials, easily transitioning them from online queries to in-person visits, ensuring your schedule is filled with high-quality leads and delivering all the way to your doorstep.

• Ensure consistent messaging: FAQ-trained AI delivers uniform responses across all platforms, providing an accurate and smooth experience regardless of where or when the inquiry is made.

With Keepme AI Sales Agent, you can meet the high expectations of today’s consumers, providing instant, efficient, and high-quality service at all times. Transform your fitness business and never miss an opportunity to engage with potential members.

The Study Methodology

Definitions:

• 'FAQs' were sections of content on any of the websites studied labelled as 'FAQ' or 'Frequently Asked Questions,' containing a list of questions and answers about the given fitness operator.

• FAQs deemed to be 'Poor' in our analysis were those containing 1-9 questions and answers.