Case Study - How a Belfast PT Went from Zero Search Visibility to 3 New Clients in Month One

Client Context

Declan McCullough is an independent personal trainer based in South Belfast, operating out of a private gym on the Ormeau Road. With 10 years in the industry and around 10 clients of his own, he's built his reputation through results - but until recently, his pipeline depended entirely on who his existing clients happened to know.

The Problem

Declan had a referral problem - not that referrals were bad, but that they were all he had.

His best-fit clients - primarily older women looking for a private, non-intimidating training environment - weren't finding him on Instagram. When he asked his referral clients how they'd normally search for a PT, the answer was consistent: Google. But when he searched himself, he wasn't there.

Instagram is visibility marketing. It keeps you top of mind for people who already follow you, but it doesn't help when someone searches "personal trainer Belfast" and you don't show up. Declan was invisible to the exact people most likely to buy.

He also had a clarity problem. His offering - personal training in a private gym, ideal for people who find commercial gyms intimidating - was genuinely distinctive. But he'd never articulated it anywhere. Potential clients couldn't understand what made him different because he'd never written it down.

Why Previous Solutions Failed

Declan had done what most PTs do: post on Instagram consistently and hope the algorithm rewards you.

It doesn't work for local services. Instagram is saturated with fitness content, poorly indexed by search engines, and designed for entertainment, not discovery. You can post daily for years and still be invisible to someone searching "personal trainer near me."

He hadn't tried SEO, Google My Business optimisation, or any search-focused approach - partly because he didn't know where to start, partly because he assumed his audience wasn't searching. They were.

Our Approach

We started with his existing clients.

Declan asked them: how would you normally find a service like this? The answer was search. That told us where to focus.

We identified the search terms his ideal clients would actually use - "personal trainer Belfast," "personal trainer Ormeau Road," "female coaching Belfast," "beginner coaching Belfast," and variations like "toning up Belfast." Then we built a page designed to rank for those terms and convert the people who found it.

The key decision was simplicity. One page, optimised properly, with clear messaging about what makes Declan different. No complex funnel, no content marketing strategy - just be visible where his clients are already looking.

The Solution

A single landing page built around search intent.

The page targets local search terms, clearly communicates Declan's offering - personal training in a private gym for people who want a more comfortable environment - and makes it easy to get in touch.

The private gym angle, which Declan hadn't been communicating despite clients valuing it highly, became a central part of the messaging. For the first time, potential clients could understand what he offered before reaching out.

The Results

Cold enquiries from ideal clients - no longer limited to referral network.