Case study: ACES Gym, Leamington Spa
How a Customer Journey-Focused Website Increased Weekly Bookings by 59%
ACES Gym is a combat sports, strength and fitness gym. Within two months of its new website, weekly bookings went from 64 to 102, with no paid ads and no additional marketing.
results at a glance
average weekly bookings, 64 to 102
average new memberships per week, 3 to 5
additional bookings every week
new paid advertising or additional marketing
Figures are weekly averages measured two months after launch, compared with the weekly averages before the new website.
the challenge
aces didn't need more website. it needed a better journey.
ACES wasn't starting from zero. The gym was already generating around 64 bookings and about three new memberships a week. People wanted what ACES offered.
The old site held plenty of information, but the route through it was less deliberate. A website can contain all the right information and still make it unnecessarily difficult to buy.
01
information existed, direction did not.
Membership, training, contact details and calls to action were all there, but not structured around the decisions a prospective member makes.
02
we started with the customer.
Not what should it look like, but what does someone need to know before they are comfortable booking a class or joining?
03
a hierarchy of decisions.
Discovery, understanding, consideration, action. Each step answers a question and makes the next one easy.
old vs new
same gym. clearer route.
Compare the old and new ACES website. Use the arrows, thumbnails, or focus a gallery and press the left and right arrow keys.
before: the old website
Old website: homepage
after: the new website
New website: homepage
the strategy
six decisions. one journey.
Design gets someone to look. Customer journey design helps them move.
01
clearer calls to action.
Become a Member. View Classes. Book a Class. Actions appear at relevant stages of the journey instead of one contact button buried in the navigation.
02
CTA placement shaped by real behaviour.
Once people used the new site, engagement was reviewed and CTA placement adapted to where visitors actually needed the next step.
03
page structure built around buying decisions.
Membership options and starting prices are surfaced, packages can be compared, and users connect straight to booking. Classes show a weekly timetable filterable by day.
04
UX and UI kept deliberately simple.
No bells and whistles for their own sake. Every element has a reason to be there, which matters most on mobile where complexity becomes friction.
05
content that answers real questions.
Training, classes, suitability, facilities, pricing, location, opening hours and how to join are all answered directly.
06
SEO built into the foundations.
Clear page purposes, logical structure and relevant messaging establish ACES as a combat sports, strength and fitness gym in Leamington Spa.
before and after
the numbers.
| Metric | Before | After 2 months | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average weekly bookings | 64 | 102 | +59.4% |
| Average new memberships per week | 3 | 5 | +66.7% |
| Additional bookings per week | n/a | 38 | n/a |
| Additional memberships per week | n/a | 2 | n/a |
| Paid advertising | None | None | n/a |
| Additional marketing activity | None | None | n/a |
run-rate illustration
1,976 bookings
Approximately 1,976 additional bookings over 12 months, if the uplift of 38 a week were maintained.
run-rate illustration
104 memberships
A potential additional 104 new memberships a year at the same run rate of 2 extra a week.
These annualised figures are not forecasts or guarantees. They show the commercial significance of improving a small part of the customer journey.
what we delivered
the scope.
A website rebuilt around the journey from interest to booking, covering structure, content, calls to action and search foundations.
Customer journey planning
Decision-led page hierarchy
Calls to action across the journey
CTA placement review from real use
Homepage structure
Classes page with weekly timetable and day filter
Membership options and starting prices
Link to the membership booking system
Training discipline pages
Question-led website copy
Simple, mobile-friendly UX and UI
SEO-ready architecture and content
the key lesson
fix the leaks before turning up the tap.
We didn't run paid ads or add another campaign. We improved what happened to the demand ACES was already generating. The business didn't necessarily need more attention first. It needed to make better use of the attention it already had.
Think of pouring water into a leaking bucket. If too many people drop out because the journey is confusing, more advertising just pays to send more people into the same inefficient system.
improve the journey first.
Make the proposition clearer and remove unnecessary friction.
put information where it is needed.
Answer the question a visitor has at the moment they have it.
make the next action obvious.
A visitor should never have to work out how to become a customer.
then build marketing on top.
Extra marketing performs better on a site equipped to convert it.
faq
common questions.
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