For all that the development of technologies such as search engines gives us, such as the ability to just instantly search for the best way of doing anything really, the sheer number of results available makes for somewhat of an information overload. This information overload works both ways though and doesn’t just apply to those of us searching for the information. Fitness information in particular has become somewhat of a commodity with a lot of what we search for online not really providing concrete info we can actually use, but rather leading up to some sort of sales offer.

The content behind the top-ranking search results will seldom offer the kind of insight you can use as is to reach your fitness goals, but will rather try to have you buy some sort of e-book, guide or programme, which in turn turns out not to be too helpful. On the other side of the fence, content producers also suffer from a bit of an information overload, as they base their content planning around what users search for. Their problem is that users tend to search in somewhat of a counter-productive manner, particularly in the way in which they phrase their search terms. I’m pretty sure more content producers could actually come up with much more informative content, like bloggers who have some good products to recommend, some effective exercise regimes and advice which actually works, but most of what these content producers publish is in line with the search queries Google indicates the users to input.

The Content Producer’s Conundrum

As a well-meaning content producer with some valuable insight into losing weight for instance, writing about something like ZMA as a good supplemental source of fuel for effectively completing the best exercises for weight loss will probably go undiscovered by users who phrase their searches like “how to lose weight fast,” which notches up 40,500 average monthly searches in the UK.

It’s not all bad though because some of the search terms which content producers can really work well with suggest that users are informed about what it takes to realise their health and fitness goals, beyond those looking to lose weight fast of course. These include:

• Best way to lose weight – 14,800 average monthly searches (177,600 per year)
• How to get a six pack – 12,100 average monthly searches (145,200 per year)
• How to gain weight – 6,600 average monthly searches (79,200 per year)
• How to build muscle – 4,400 average monthly searches (52,800 per year)
• Best foods for weight loss – 2,900 average monthly searches (34,800 per year)
• How much protein do I need – 2,400 average monthly searches (28,800 per year)

Successfully navigating through all the fitness info overload ultimately comes down to a matter of specifying your search, with these search terms making for a great starting point. This is only the beginning however because everybody has different fitness needs in addition to each person’s body being different and requiring different amounts and types of stimulation via exercise to have their body respond the way they’d like it to, we also have different nutritional needs.