The one thing the site sells
A studio website has one product for strangers: the intro offer. Everything else, the timetable, the instructors, the pricing page, exists to make a stranger comfortable enough to buy it. So the offer should be the first thing on every page and the purchase should take under a minute. Most studio sites bury it and then send the buyer through account creation. Here is the setup that does not.
Design the offer
Simple, generous, time-boxed, and restricted to new clients:
- "First class free" converts most; some studios find free attracts no-shows and prefer a small price.
- "3 classes for £X, valid 2 weeks" gives the habit a chance to form.
- "2 weeks unlimited for £X" suits studios with many class types.
One offer, not three. Say what it includes, how long it is valid, and that no experience is needed. Set it up in the platform as a pricing option limited to first-time clients.
Place it everywhere
- Header, every page: a button reading the offer itself ("First class free"), not "Sign up".
- Hero, home page: the offer as the headline action.
- Class-type pages: after the description, "Try it: [offer]".
- Instructor pages: "Take a class with [name]: [offer]".
- Pricing page: first item, visually distinct.
- First-class page: at the top and the bottom.
- Timetable page: beside the widget, "New here? Start with [offer]".
- A sticky bottom bar on phones with the offer and the timetable.
Deep-link to the shortest checkout
The button links directly to the intro pricing option's checkout in your platform, not to the platform's home page or a general store. Each platform has a way:
- Mindbody: a direct link to the pricing option purchase, or the branded web checkout with the option pre-selected.
- Glofox: the intro offer's purchase link from the lead capture or membership settings.
- Momence: the pricing option's checkout link; guest checkout available.
- TeamUp: the membership or pack registration link.
Store the link or ID as a field on the site's settings so it can be changed when the offer changes.
Remove the account wall
The platform will want the buyer to become a client. Configure the flow so that happens with the minimum: name, email, mobile, card. No password until later (many platforms let the first login be set from the confirmation email). No email verification before payment. No "choose a class" before payment if it adds screens; let them book from the confirmation.
Count screens and taps from your site to the confirmation. Under six screens, under a minute. If your platform cannot get there, the hosted checkout page may be shorter than the embedded widget; test both.
Say what happens next
On the button or beside it: "Buy now, pick your class after." On the confirmation page and email: how to book the first class (link to the timetable filtered to beginner-friendly classes), what to bring, arrival time, the first-class page. The purchase is the start; the reassurance continues.
Follow up
- Same day: the platform's confirmation with the first-class link.
- If no class booked in three days: a text: "Your intro is waiting; here's this week's beginner classes."
- Day before the class: "See you tomorrow at 6pm; come to the desk and say it's your first time."
- After the first class: "How was it? Two classes left; book here."
- Near expiry: "Your intro ends Sunday; here's the membership that suits once-a-weekers."
Most platforms automate all of these. Configure them with the site.
The bio link goes to the intro offer or to a landing page whose first button is the offer, tagged with UTM parameters. Stories about classes carry a link sticker to the offer. Instagram's Book action button, where your platform supports it.
Measure purchases and redemptions
Events for intro clicks and purchases by page and source. From the platform: intros sold, intros redeemed (first class attended), and intros converted to memberships. Three numbers, monthly. The click-to-purchase rate tells you about the checkout; purchase-to-redemption tells you about the follow-up and the first-class page; redemption-to-membership tells you about the class and the offer's end.
What changes
Studios that move the intro to the header, deep-link it to a short checkout and remove the account wall typically see intro purchases rise substantially on the same traffic within the first month. Adding the follow-ups lifts redemption. The offer was always the product; the site was hiding it.
Where this sits
The intro path, from a button on every page through the shortest checkout the platform allows to the automated follow-ups, is the first thing designed on every studio website we build and the first thing tested in a diagnosis. If a stranger cannot buy the intro in a minute on a phone, nothing else on the site matters yet.