SEO for Yoga Studios: Tips that work in 2024

Imagine this:  A student in your area is excited and is ready to hit a yoga mat. He grabs his phone and searches for “yoga classes near me,” and… nothing. 

Your amazing yoga studio, perfectly suited to his needs, doesn’t even appear on the first page of Google (or maybe not on the second and 3rd too!).

This unfortunate situation is all common for yoga instructors who haven’t implemented SEO for their yoga studios. But fear not, dear yogis! This guide will help you with the important SEO knowledge for you to get started with SEO.

In this guide, we will explain SEO into easy-to-understand steps specifically for yoga instructors, even those with no prior SEO knowledge. 

By the end, you’ll have a clear step by step process to attract more students and establish yourself as a local yoga authority.

Why Implement SEO for Your Yoga Studio?

Think of SEO as your “virtual yoga studio” to reach new students. Here’s how it can help your yoga studio – 

• Attract New Students (Consistent Leads and Active Candidates) : Imagine a constant flow of potential students who are actively searching for yoga classes near them who land right on your website. SEO can make it possible for you.
• Become a Local Authority: High SEO ranking of your website and few good reviews can establish you as a trusted yoga instructor in your area. Students will think of you as a knowledgeable and reliable yoga instructor.
• Increased Revenue: More website traffic converts to more potential students, ultimately leading to increased class enrollment and higher revenue.

Now that you’ve seen how valuable SEO can be, let’s study the strategies that will get your website noticed.

Keyword Research: Know what your potential students search for

Keywords are the words people search on Google. When it comes to SEO, your goal is to identify the yoga related SEO keywords your students are using to find yoga classes near you and strategically add them into your website.

Don’t worry if you’re not ready to research those tools just yet. Here’s a simpler approach:

• Brainstorm: Put yourself in the shoes of your student. If he is looking for yoga classes in your area what words would he type into a search engine? Make a list.
• Specificity is Key: While terms like “yoga” might seem ideal, they’re highly competitive. Instead, focus on long-tail yoga SEO keywords that are more specific, like “hatha yoga classes for beginners in “your city”.

This way, you target a more targeted audience and will have to face less competition.

Pro Tip: There are also free online keyword suggestion tools that can give you additional ideas based on your seed keywords. I.e. Google Keyword Planner

On-Page SEO for Yoga Studio: Optimising What’s in Your Website

On-page SEO focuses on optimizing the elements in your website to improve your page ranking in the search results.

• Keyword Integration: Strategically sprinkle your target keywords throughout your website content, but naturally! Don’t force it. Here’s where you can add them:
• Titles and Headings: Create clear and simple to understand titles and headings with your keywords in them. These are the first point of contact for your visitors, grabbing both visitors’ attention on Search Engines.
• Body Text: Don’t stuff keywords, but mix them naturally into your website copy. Write informative and engaging content that showcases your expertise, teaching style, and the benefits of your yoga classes.
• Image Alt Tags: Don’t forget about the images! When it comes to yoga, attractive images can play an important role to attract the attention of your visitors. Add alt tags (alternative text descriptions) to your images that include relevant keywords. This helps search engines understand the intent/meaning of your images and improves accessibility for a large variety of your potential students.
• Meta Description: This is a short summary of your page that appears in search results. Optimize them with relevant yoga SEO keywords and call to action to attract users to click on your website.

Content is King (and Queen): High value content is the backbone of good SEO. Regularly share content related to yoga, your classes, and the needs of your target audience. This will establish you as a thought leader and will keep your visitors coming back for more.

Website Structure and Navigation: Imagine your website as a yoga studio. It should be easy for visitors to understand and navigate through when anyone is looking for some specific things on your website. Here are some tips you can follow:

• Well Thought Site Hierarchy: Organize your website in such a way that you have a main menu with easily identifiable categories for your class timings, instructor information, and blog posts.
  • Internal Linking: Link the internal pages of your website strategically. This helps Google understand the structure of your site and improve user experience by allowing visitors to explore related content.

Off-Page SEO: Building Authority By Getting Links from other websites

On-page SEO focuses on optimizing your website. Off-page SEO, on the other hand, focuses on building your website’s authority through external backlinks.

• Backlink Power: Backlinks are links from other websites pointing back to yours. Imagine them as a trust factor in the online world. The more high-quality backlinks you have from yoga-related websites or local business directories, the higher your website’s authority and ranking in Google Search Results.

Building Backlinks for your Yoga Website:

While earning backlinks can take significant time and effort, here are some strategies you can try out:

• Contribute articles as a Guest Writer: Reach out to yoga studios, yoga bloggers, or local publications and offer to write an article for their yoga website for absolutely FREE. Include a link back to your website in your author bio or a relevant text in the website. 
• List your business on Local Directories: Submit your yoga studio’s information to local business directories, yoga studio directories, and relevant online communities. This will improve your website’s local authority. 
• Carry out events either online or offline in your niche and local area: Build relationships with other yoga instructors and studios in your area, collaborate on events or workshops. This will create a chance of you getting featured in magazines and other websites, eventually leading to the backlink opportunities.

Local SEO for your Yoga Studio:

Local SEO can be a game changer while attracting nearby students.  

Optimize for Google Business Profile: Google Business Profile (previously Google My Business) is a free tool that allows businesses to add and manage their business online on Google Search and Maps. 

Claim your profile, fill the required information, including your address, phone number, website link, and high-quality photos of your studio and classes.

Keep posting regularly on important updates and news of your yoga studio. 

• Encourage Student Reviews: Positive student reviews on Google Business Profile and other platforms like Yelp can significantly boost your SEO performance and build trust in potential students whenever they are researching good yoga classes near them. Encourage satisfied students to leave reviews after completing your classes.