11 Elements of a High-Converting Martial Arts School Website

One of the most common questions we receive regarding marketing and growing a martial arts school is "Do I really need a website?"

The answer is "Yes." as of March 2024.

Here's the thing: not every business needs a website to be successful. However, in today's world where all your prospects and referrals will often check you out online, your website is often the first impression you present to prospects who are interested in your martial arts classes.

The better question to ask is whether you need a fancy website. And the answer is no, and it depends on what you can comfortably afford to get started.

You see, a website can range anywhere between free to $50,000+, depending on your needs and requirements. For most martial arts schools, it typically ranges from $800 to $5,000 for a service that is done for you.

But if you're just starting off, spending $5,000 on a website is unnecessary because, at the end of the day, your website has only two purposes:

Present your martial arts school in a way that attracts the right members.
Convert them into members when they do visit your website.

Based on data we've collected for hundreds of martial arts schools around the world, we found that there are 11 elements of a high-converting martial arts school website.

1 Loading Speed

One of the most significant factors for website conversion is the design or the color of the button. It's not even something you or your prospect can see.

But they can feel it. It's how fast your website loads on both a desktop computer and your mobile phone.

Imagine if you wanted to buy a new book, water bottle, or t-shirt from Amazon and it took more than 10 to 15 seconds for the page to load. How would you feel?

Frustrated...

Yes, if your website loads very slowly, then most of your prospects would simply leave and go to your competitor. One of the top ranking factors to get on top of Google's search results is page load speed.

Google considers a website loading under 3 seconds to be average, and under 2 seconds to be fast. If your website loads too slowly, Google will likely consider your website to be not user-friendly and will not rank you as high on the search results.

Fewer people finding you on Google means more opportunities you're giving away to your competitors.

2 Responsive and Mobile Optimize

Responsive design is a term used in website development to describe a website that is designed to adapt to a wide range of devices, from desktop computers to mobile phones.

According to thewebmaster.com as of 2023, 60% of all online searches are done on mobile devices, and the other 40% are on laptops or desktops.

This means that if you want to capture and convert 100% of all potential prospects who visit your website, then your website should look and work on desktops, laptops, tablets (iPad), and mobile phones (Android or iPhones). Not only does a responsive website convert more leads from your website visitors, but it also tends to perform better in SEO (search engine ranking).

For example, Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in their search results compared to websites that are not responsive.

3 Above the Scroll

Above the fold" is a term that originates from the newspaper industry. During the early days of print newspapers, where newspapers were typically displayed folded in half, only the top half or above the fold was visible to potential buyers.

Publishers realized that the headlines and stories featured in this visible section had a significant impact on sales because they were the first things potential buyers saw.

This concept also applies to your website. Instead, we call it "above the scroll," referring to the section of the page that your potential prospect doesn't have to scroll to see once your website loads. Make sure you spend a good amount of time optimizing this section by incorporating these four elements:

A clear headline that explains to potential prospects exactly what your martial arts school does and what makes you unique.
At least one call-to-action button or form.
A phone number.
An optional description if you want to provide more information about your school and classes.

4 Add CTA and Offers

One of the easy things to add to your website is CTAs (Calls to Action), because of any type of form or button that asks the potential prospect on your website to take action.

This can be but is not limited to, Book a Trial Class, Book a Free Trial, Claiming Offer, and Get Started. Something that tells the potential prospect how they can take the next step to enroll in your school.

And if you even go one step above you can even incorporate some kind of irresistible entry offer. A unique, low-risk, and high-value offer your potential prospect can claim to try your classes.

Free trial class is good but 99% of all martial arts schools use it, can you do something better? Here are some examples of great offers.

5 Free Class Pass
4 Weeks for $39.00
30 Days Free Classes.

You don't have to use these, here at Monstro we use a "Starter Kit" as our call to action and it works well.

(Note: You do not need a great offer to generate leads from your website, but an irresistible offer can drastically increase your conversion rate.)

5 Use Personal Images

Based on our testing, a martial arts website that utilizes excellent personal images such as team photos or photos of instructors working with kids tends to outperform those using stock images

Personally, pictures featuring happy or active students convey to potential prospects that other members at your school love it, and they too will likely enjoy it if they come for a trial class.

Here are a few examples of personal images.

6 Clear Path Forward

We, as humans, often assume that everyone would view and interact with our website in the same way we would or as we do with other people's websites.

However, people are different and perceive the world differently, leading them to interact with your website in various ways. What may seem obvious to you may not be so for your website visitors. That's why we always aim to simplify and streamline the process for visitors to take the next step by providing a clear path forward.

We design all our martial arts websites with a section that precisely outlines the steps a potential prospect needs to take to sign up for our client's martial arts class, leaving no room for ambiguity in the visitor's mind. Interested in trying our class? Here's what to do next.

One of the first things my wife tells me when she looks for any kind of after-school activities for my kids is that she looks at the reviews from other parents.

While most parents will value your reviews on Google, it is ideal to add a bunch of reviews to your website to increase your website conversion.

Most martial arts websites either don't have testimonials or only a few without any images. With our martial arts websites, we try to add as many testimonials on the website for our martial arts school as we can.

8 Pricing Page

96% of all martial arts school websites don't have a pricing page. This is because most martial arts schools don't want to list their prices on the website, as people will often opt for the cheapest class without even booking a trial class to find out what makes your school different and worth the price.

Alternatively, they may have a pricing page and allow prospects to enroll directly from their website and pay.

What most martial arts owners don't realize is that they can set up a pricing page but instead of displaying the price, they can add a form for potential prospects to request a price list.

And because the pricing page is one of the most clicked-on pages based on our analytics, you'll get the benefit of being able to capture some of the prospects that are seeking your price by getting them to fill out the form while still not revealing your pricing on the website.

A chat widget is a small icon that you can incorporate at the bottom of your website, which users can click on to chat with you or your staff and ask questions about your school and martial arts classes.

This can be a live chat widget, although we don't recommend it unless you have someone who can monitor the live chat 24/7 or have an AI that will respond for you.

Another downside to having a live chat widget is that the most common question you will receive is "How much are your classes?" If you answer them and they don't like your prices, they may leave, and you have no way of following up with them.

Our chat widget captures the user's name, phone number, and (optional) email first, and then sends them a text message to continue the conversation. This way, even if you don't have someone available to monitor your chats 24/7, you can follow up with the prospect via text message at any time. Additionally, Monstro provides you with an AI that will initiate a conversation with your prospect via our chat widget.

10 Click to Call Phone Number

Some people prefer to submit a form, while others prefer to call. However, most martial arts schools don't have a visible phone number on their website; it's either hidden somewhere on the contact page or in the footer.

We incorporate a Click-to-Call phone number right at the top of the menu so that those who prefer calling over submitting a form can easily click the number and reach our clients.

11 Calendar & Schedule (Optional)

"For a martial arts school, including a schedule or calendar can potentially improve your conversion rate, but not significantly. This is why it's considered optional.

Apart from price, the second most common question your prospects will ask is about your schedule. Allowing your website visitors to view your schedule online or enabling them to book directly on a calendar can potentially motivate those who are ready to try your class to take action.

How to put it together

Designing and putting together a high-converting martial arts website is not easy. You'll need a graphic designer, a web developer, and a CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) expert.

And it doesn't end there. If you want to drive traffic and potential prospects to your website every month, you'll also need to know how to optimize your website for SEO (search engine optimization) so you can appear at the top of Google. All of this can take months and thousands of dollars to get right.

While you can pay someone $800 on Fiverr to put together just any website, if your website doesn't generate leads and students monthly, then you're just wasting that money.

If you're looking to elevate your online presence and implement a high-converting martial arts school website, for a limited time, Monstro will install our tested and proven martial arts website for you for free with any of our Monstro plans.

Simply book a free demo call and see how our software and system can help you grow your martial arts school below.