Gazze Academy 22 to 109 students. Back from COVID. Still counting.
A martial arts marketing case study with Paulo Gazze, who runs Gazze Academy in Huntington Beach, CA.
Meet the owner, Paulo.
Paulo Gazze Jr. founded Gazze Academy in Huntington Beach in 2003 and is still its head jiu-jitsu instructor. He's a US Open and Best of the West champion whose jiu-jitsu lineage runs through Rickson Gracie and Marcelo Behring, and he has coached UFC fighters.
Today the academy teaches Kids BJJ for ages 5 to 12, adult Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and adult Muay Thai with Seuua "Aaron" Dao, who trained in Thailand.
Paulo GazzeThe problem.
Gazze Academy had 200 active students before COVID hit, and dropped all the way down to just 22. They needed more than a website refresh. They needed a complete digital foundation that could support a real comeback.
-
200 students before COVID
An established academy in Huntington Beach, teaching since 2003.
-
Down to just 22
All the way down after COVID hit.
-
More than a refresh
They needed a complete digital foundation that could support a real comeback.
Paulo had the credentials most gyms would build a whole brand on. What the academy didn't have was a website and a local search presence that told Huntington Beach about them, and turned a visitor into a booked trial.
The turning point.
They needed more than a website refresh. They needed a complete digital foundation that could support a real comeback. Today, Gazze Academy is back up to over 109 students and counting.
We rebuilt the academy's online front door around what makes Gazze different: a Rickson Gracie-lineage black belt teaching in Huntington Beach since 2003, a Muay Thai program, and a free trial on every page.
The results.
Gazze Academy came back from a low of 22 students to over 109, and it's still counting. Before COVID the academy had 200 active students, and that's the number it's rebuilding toward.
Leads came in from two directions. In one stretch, Paulo's team reported 21 leads from ads and 9 from the website, with 4 sign-ups already done. Paulo's own messages read like a roll call: one new member signed before a 9 am class, two more signed at 9 pm the night before.
How we got there.
- Built to book trialsA clean, conversion-focused martial arts school website built to turn traffic into trial bookings.Website design
- Mobile-first and fastA mobile-first layout, fast load times and strategic calls-to-action.
- A page for each programKids BJJ, adult jiu-jitsu and adult Muay Thai each get their own page, written for the person who will train or sign up their child.
- Social proof throughoutIntegrated social proof throughout the site.
- Local SEOEvery page was built with SEO optimization in mind to help Gazze Academy rank locally.Local SEO
The website we built.
Veuze Media designed a clean, conversion-focused martial arts school website built to turn traffic into trial bookings. Our martial arts web design services included a mobile-first layout, fast load times, strategic calls-to-action, and integrated social proof throughout the site. Every page was built with SEO optimization in mind to help Gazze Academy rank locally and attract new families searching for martial arts programs in their area.
Straight from Paulo's phone.
What Paulo sent us while it was happening. Real screenshots, names left in.
Final thoughts
More than a website refresh. A real comeback.
Gazze Academy's story is a comeback, and it isn't finished. From 200 students to 22 and back past 109, on the strength of a coach the community already trusted and a website that finally showed it.
If COVID took most of your roster and word of mouth hasn't brought it back, the fix may not be more posts. It may be a website and a local search presence built to turn the people looking for you into trials.
More schools like this.
Your school, next chapter.
Paulo started with 22 students. Your first month is on us: no contract, no deposit, nothing up front.