Many new health and fitness business owners forget a vital element of their market research report when writing a business plan for a new fitness center, health club, day spa, or any other health and fitness-related business. That element is SEO.

Two Common Business and Marketing Plan Mistakes:

Mistake #1 - Not Including SEO in the Business Plan

So you are going to build a new website and bring in customers from the Internet. Great - But how are they going to find your website? Search engines are undoubtedly going to be your number-one source of traffic, but only if the searcher can find our website on major search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN. And without hiring a search engine optimization (SEO) specialist to work with the web designer, it is doubtful that your site will show up on the first page of a major search engine for anything other than extremely specific terms, such as your business name. And if you are entering into a franchise agreement with a major health supplement store or fitness center, your website will probably not even sow up for that.

Mistake #2 - Not Factoring in The Google Sandbox

Even those marketing savvy business owners who know enough to include a budget for search engine optimization in their business plan often neglect to factor in one very crucial Element - The Google Sandbox. This phenomenon seems to be unique to Google’s search engine algorithm. It is a highly debated topic and goes by other names, but the undeniable fact is that Google doesn’t allow new websites to rank for competitive terms as quickly as other search engines, all things being equal.

First Page Fitness has read Google’s algorithm patent applications and tested many new websites against this time-sensitive ranking factor, and it is our professional finding that it takes about six months to one year for significantly competitive terms to begin showing up on the first page of Google. Of course, you don’t have to worry about this with an aged website, but if you have just purchased your domain and are planning to build a new site, your marketing plan should include this element so you and your investors will be prepared for slow beginnings on Google.

The good news is that MSN can produce results in as little as one week, and Yahoo is fairly receptive to SEO within a month or two. This will bring in a steady flow of organic (natural, free search results) traffic while you wait for the veritable fire hydrant called Google to be uncapped. In the meantime, you should factor into your marketing budget a few hundred dollars each month for at least six months for advertising on Google through their Ad Words PPC program.

Remember, the purpose of a marketing plan or business plan is to anticipate what your business will face in the near future, and to draw up a clear plan for overcoming any obstacles. Ranking highly on search engines is a major obstacle, but by factoring SEO-related issues into your business plan, it will at least be one that you have planned for in advance.