Four kinds of gym, four different gaps: a scouting report on 165 gym websites
We read 165 independent gym and studio websites the way a would-be member does. CrossFit boxes publish their timetable, boxing gyms hide the price, studios name their teachers and almost nobody says where to park. One scouting report per kind of gym, with the gap to pitch.
- Only 20% of 165 independent gym and fitness studio websites say where to park or whether there is childcare (Clikiti Research, October 2026).
- The gaps follow the kind of gym: 89% of CrossFit and functional gyms publish a class schedule against 23% of independent gyms, and 36% of boxing and martial arts gyms show a price against 81% of CrossFit gyms.
- Scout the kind of gym before you open the site: each one has a predictable gap, and that gap is the first fix to offer.
A person thinking about joining a gym reads its website with a short list of questions: what it costs, whether they can try a class, when the classes are, who coaches, how to get out of the contract, when the doors open and where to park. Every gym in town gets the same questions. What changes is which ones its website answers.
We read 165 of those websites for The State of Independent Gym Websites 2026: independent gyms, CrossFit and functional fitness gyms, boxing and martial arts gyms, and boutique yoga, pilates, cycling and barre studios, all independently owned. Across all four kinds, the least answered question is the most practical one: only 20% of the sites say where to park or whether there is childcare.
of the 165 websites we scanned answer “Where do I park, and can I bring my kids?” (parking or childcare stated).
That number is the same for everyone. The rest of the report is not. Each kind of gym has a strong side and a gap you can see coming before you open the site, so this post reads the data as four scouting reports.
What did we check?#
Nine questions a would-be member asks, read from the home page and up to twelve pages it links to, as a server delivers them. Each question passes on fixed rules: a price needs a dollar amount tied to a membership, a class pack or a drop-in; a schedule needs an embedded booking calendar or a timetable with days and times; coaches need a named person beside a certification or a rank. Then speed, contrast and image descriptions from Google Lighthouse on a phone.
Share of sites that answer each question
165 websites · Independent gyms and studios · Q4 2026
| Kind of gym | Sites | Price shown | Schedule | Opening hours | Parking or childcare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent gyms | 39 | 72% | 23% | 69% | 23% |
| CrossFit and functional | 36 | 81% | 89% | 36% | 19% |
| Boxing and martial arts | 47 | 36% | 45% | 19% | 9% |
| Boutique studios | 43 | 72% | 42% | 21% | 30% |
Independent gyms: the doors are open, the classes are a secret#
Strong side: opening hours. 69% of independent gyms say when they are open, the highest of the four, and 72% show a price.
The gap: everything a first-timer needs after the price. Only 23% publish a class schedule and only 28% show a way in for beginners. Coaches are named with a certification on 21%. A gym that runs group classes and personal training looks, from its site, like a room with a door code.
What to pitch: a classes and coaches page. The timetable can come straight from the booking software most gyms already pay for.
CrossFit and functional gyms: the most complete sites, until you need to park#
Strong side: almost everything a member asks before the first class. 89% publish a class schedule, 83% offer a free class or an intro, 81% show a price and 72% describe the beginner course. They also lead on structured data: 58% mark the business up as a gym for search engines, against 21% across the study.
The gap: the practical page. Only 19% say where to park or whether there is childcare, and only 36% state opening hours, even though a CrossFit box with a timetable has hours by definition. Coaches are named with a certification on 25%, low for gyms whose coaches hold a CrossFit Level 1 or Level 2 almost by default.
What to pitch: a first-visit page that answers parking, hours and what to bring, and a coaches page that puts the certificates the box already has on the site.
Boxing and martial arts gyms: no price, no hours, no parking#
Strong side: the way in. 55% describe a beginner path (fundamentals, a foundations class, "no experience needed") and 66% offer a free class or a trial.
The gap: the money and the logistics. Only 36% of boxing and martial arts gyms show a price, against 81% of CrossFit gyms. Only 19% state opening hours and 9% say anything about parking or childcare. These sites invite a stranger to a free class and then make them call to find out what it costs afterwards.
What to pitch: a memberships page with the adult and family prices, the class times and one line about parking. It is a content job: no rebuild, just the numbers the front desk already quotes on the phone.
Boutique studios: named teachers, no hours, and the slowest pages to fix#
Strong side: the people and the practicalities. Studios lead on coaches, with 37% naming a teacher beside a certification (an E-RYT 500, a Pilates certification), and on parking and childcare at 30%.
The gap: trying the studio. Only 53% offer an intro offer, a drop-in or a first class, the lowest of the four, and only 21% state opening hours. Studios also have the least structured data of any group: 98% fail the gym and sports business markup check. They do best on speed, but even here 88% of sites take longer than 2.5 seconds to show their main content on a phone.
What to pitch: an intro offer named on the home page with its price, and the studio's hours and address marked up for search.
What do all four have in common?#
The technical findings are shared. 94% of the 165 sites take longer than 2.5 seconds to load on a phone, and 76% have text below the WCAG contrast minimum. These are fixes you can bundle with whichever gap the kind of gym has.
Each kind of gym has a predictable gap, and that gap is the first fix to offer.
How do you pitch it?
- Scout the kind of gym first. Boxing gym: look for the price. Independent gym: look for the timetable. CrossFit box: look for parking and hours. Studio: look for the intro offer.
- Check it on a phone, from the car park. Open the site where a new member would, and note what you had to search for.
- Lead with the one gap, not a redesign. "Your site never says what a month costs" is a sentence an owner can check in ten seconds.
- Bundle the shared fixes. Speed and contrast fail on most sites in every group, so they ride along with any job.
Parents and drivers want to know two practical things before the first class, and your site answers neither.
Where next?#
The practical questions are the ones every gym forgets, and they are also the easiest to add. For the conversation after the scouting, our playbook Take the class first walks through pitching a gym owner in person. For the same kind of split in another trade, see how repair, tire, body and used-car sites differ in the automotive study.
Keep reading
More on gyms and studios and the same problems in other industries
Take the class first: a field-visit playbook for pitching an independent gym
Line by line: ten patient questions on optometry websites, from 86% down to 7%
72% of salon websites take bookings online. 42% say what happens if you cancel.
How to cite
Clikiti Research (2026, October 15). Four kinds of gym, four different gaps: a scouting report on 165 gym websites. Clikiti. https://clikiti.com/research/posts/gym-websites-scouting-report-four-kinds
Data and license
Every number comes from The State of Independent Gym Websites 2026 (n = 165). Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Credit Clikiti with a link. Plain Markdown
About the images
People in the photographs on this page are AI-generated. No real person, school, firm or practice is shown. Last updated Oct 15, 2026.
One stat. One pitch. Every Tuesday.
A finding from our scans, what it means for the agencies selling to that industry, and the line to open a pitch with. Free.