15 Conversion Rate Optimization Tips for a Tennis Club Website

So you invested a good deal of money and time in a website design or redesign. Might even run some PPC campaigns to drive more traffic to your site. And yet signups for your tennis programs are dismal.

You need to look at your conversion metrics and perform something called CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization).

What is CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)?

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is improving a website’s performance to increase the percentage of visitors who take a desired action.

Examples of such desired actions: booking a tennis lesson, signing up for a membership, registering for a tournament, subscribing to a newsletter, and contacting the club for more information.

Key CRO Metrics

To measure the effectiveness of CRO, track these key metrics:

Conversion Rate = (Conversions / Total Visitors) × 100
Bounce Rate – The percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page.
Average Session Duration – The average time users spend on the site.
Click-Through Rate (CTR) – The percentage of users who click on a CTA or offer.
Cart/Booking Abandonment Rate – The percentage of users who start but don’t complete a booking or sign up.

Why CRO Matters for Tennis Clubs & Academies

Increases revenue without increasing traffic – More conversions from the same number of visitors. Say you get 1,000 visitors/month on your website and 10 are converted. By using CRO techniques, you can increase the number of conversions, even if your traffic is not yet improving.
Reduces ad spend waste – If you’re running paid ads, CRO ensures you’re maximizing returns. While “free” search engine traffic doesn’t put a dent in your budget, if you don’t properly convert, when you spend thousands of dollars or PPC and cannot get bookings, it’s another story.
Builds trust and credibility – Optimized pages with testimonials, trust badges, and clear CTAs improve confidence. This means signups and more money in the bank.

Now that we are on the same page regarding what CRO is and why it’s beneficial for your tennis website, let’s see some actionable advice:

15 Tennis Club Website Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Strategies

1. Strong, Action-Oriented CTAs

Use high-contrast CTA buttons with compelling action phrases like “Claim Your Free Lesson”, “Book a Court in 60 Seconds”, or “Join Our Tennis Family Today”. HubSpot reports that personalized CTAs convert 202% better than generic ones.

Bonus Tips:

Use your main onboarding option as the header Call to Action.

During my SEO audits, I usually ask my clients, ‘How do you onboard?’.

In our case for instance, the main option would be for potential clients to book a call and see how I can help their tennis website. Of course, they can easily order consultations or audits, but most of them, before ordering a website, would probably want to see my process.

Whatever your desired action, that’s what needs to be set in the header. Maybe you want them to book an evaluation meeting. Maybe join the club directly.

You can change the CTAs based on the events, seasons, etc.

Have a CTA hierarchy in place

TopJuniorTennis.com, for instance, has 2 main onboarding options:

tennis coaches can apply and create an account to be featured on the website. Similar to PlayYourCourt, but without the fees;
people who want to learn tennis or book classes for their kids.

Since we’d like to build an extensive database of tennis coaches and clubs, the main CTA is “Apply to Coach“, as it allows more people to enter our system. The secondary CTA is “Book Lessons”, so tennis fans get coaching.

Both buttons are visible, but the brighter one carries a heavier “load”, as it’s the one I’d like people to see first.

2. Improve Site Speed (Reduce Bounce Rate by 32%)

Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page without taking action. A high bounce rate indicates poor user experience, slow load times, irrelevant content, or unclear calls to action.

A quick way to improve your website speed (a direct ranking factor, meaning Google CARES about it in its ranking algorithm): optimize images, enable caching, use a CDN, and minimize redirects. This can be easily done with a speed/cache plugin, which we install and update in our website maintenance plans.

It’s also important to have high-quality web hosting (since any downtime will directly affect your rankings and conversions) – this is why we offer US-based web hosting with 99.9% guaranteed uptime for only $20/month.

PS: you won’t be able to get the speed to 100/100, but aim to get at least 90/100, especially on mobile.

More data: A Google study found that 53% of users abandon sites that take over 3 seconds to load. A 1-second delay reduces conversions by 7%.

3. Optimize for Mobile Users

Ensure mobile-responsive design, fast-loading pages, and tap-friendly booking forms. It sounds weird to write this, as we’ve had responsive web design since 2011 (at least that’s when I first started offering it my clients), but there are still many tennis websites that look horrid on smartphones.

Data Insight: Mobile accounts for over 70% of local sports-related searches, and Google prioritizes mobile-friendly sites in rankings.

4. Seamless Online Booking System

Use a frictionless online booking system with calendar sync, payment integration, and confirmation emails. In other words, make it easy to take their money!

Once clients decide to buy your services/products, they want a fast and easy checkout. That’s why we have most of our services in the “shop” area so that it’s easier to purchase and checkout.

Data Insight: Implementing a one-click booking system can reduce drop-offs by up to 20%.

Display testimonials from parents, success stories of students, and Google/Facebook reviews. If you can get video testimonials, even better.

Spread them throughout the website and assign them to specialized pages: post testimonials for your summer camp on the summer camp page, reviews of your ROGY programs on the appropriate pages and so on.

Another trick: have a testimonials page that gathers ALL reviews. Yes, a HUGE list of positive reviews, that overwhelm in a good sense. You can see my testimonials block on the homepage, chances are, even if you are not yet ready to commit, you’ll probably want to know more about this Ramona.

Data Insight: BrightLocal states that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

6. High-Quality Hero Section

Here is the hero (the part under the menu and logo bar) from our sister agency SEO Audit Pros.

Main keyword in a H1 section (SEO audit agency) – we’re SEOs, aren’t we?
Biggest pain of my target audience: their websites are not performing;
Quick explanation of why they need us and mention of my expertise (over 20 years).
CTA – I want them to order the audit right-away, so here you have it.

Stay away from carousels and sliders as much as possible, have one main section that needs promoting and be VERY clear with your copy about your potential client’s needs and your USP (Unique Selling Proposition).

7. Membership Benefits Section

Clearly highlight what members gain (exclusive events, coaching discounts, court access, tournaments). Make sure the benefits are real and a good money saving option. For instance, one of the academies we used to train at would ask for $8,000/year in membership and offer some free court time and reduced rates for clinics and private classes.

On closer examination, the savings were not as good as to make it worth locking 8 grand in a membership (which would cover at least 4-5 months of high-performance classes).

Another club offers $200/year memberships, which, in under 2 months, already pay off easily when you order tennis clinics and private classes.

Pro Tip: Use icons for easy skimming and add a comparison table to differentiate membership tiers.

8. Use Scarcity & Limited-Time Offers

It’s such an old trick in the marketing book, but it’s always effective.

Display “Only 3 Spots Left”, “Early Bird Discount Ends Soon”, or “Join Now and Get a Free Private Lesson”.

Data Insight: Urgency messaging can increase conversions by up to 332% (ConversionXL).

9. Live Chat & Chatbots

Install live chat or AI-powered chatbots to answer questions about programs, pricing, and availability. We use Hubspot as our main CRM, but you can easily add the Facebook Messenger chatbot or other options.

Data Insight: Businesses that use live chat see 40% more conversions (Intercom).

10. Local SEO Optimization

Optimize for “tennis coach + city”, “tennis academy near me”, and use Google Business Profile with consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone).

Local SEO is a very effective way to generate countless leads for your tennis club. And the investment is minimal (compared to PPC). In our case, for $2,000/month you get an SEO consultant to work for your website and Google Business Profile.

Data Insight: 46% of Google searches are local, and 78% of mobile local searches lead to an in-person visit within a day.

11. Streamline Contact & Inquiry Forms

Keep forms short (name, email, phone, preferred service). Make it easy for people to contact you, and remove any friction. Remember that confused customers will bounce off.

Data Insight: Reducing form fields from 6 to 3 can increase conversions by 74%.

12. Tennis Blog & Resource Hub

Publish content like:

“5 Mistakes Every Beginner Makes on the Court”
“Best Rackets for Junior Players”
“Why Private Lessons Improve Your Game 2X Faster”

As part of our local SEO services, we handle the entire process: find high-converting, high-volume keywords to tackle, perform competitor analysis, create SEO content briefs and write the articles.

Since you don’t have time to waste with that, we also upload the content on your website, submit for indexation and track ranking and lead gen results.

Data Insight: Businesses with blogs generate 67% more leads than those without.

13. Leverage Video Content

Create short-form videos showcasing lessons, testimonials, club atmosphere, and Q&A with coaches. Think Macci, Mouratoglou, etc. They are killing it on Instagram with videos. Technique and strategy tips, funny stuff, club-related videos. There are so many options!

Pro Tip: Use YouTube SEO to rank for local tennis-related searches.

14. Display Trust Badges & Certifications

Showcase USPTA/USPTR certification logos, club affiliations (USTA), and sponsorships.

Data Insight: Adding trust signals increases conversions by 42% (Baymard Institute).

15. Retargeting & Lead Capture

Use exit-intent popups to offer free trials or discounted lessons in exchange for an email. Retarget website visitors with Facebook/Instagram ads for tennis lessons or club memberships.

Data Insight: Retargeting campaigns recover 26% of lost website visitors.

Bonus: Advanced CRO Strategies

A/B Testing CTAs: Test “Sign Up for a Free Lesson” vs. “Get a Free Lesson Today” to see which converts better.
Heatmap Analysis: Use Hotjar or Crazy Egg to track visitor behavior and optimize page layouts.
SMS Follow-Ups: Convert leads faster with personalized SMS follow-ups after an inquiry.