As the world’s biggest online bicycle marketplace, we are privileged to have a unique insight into what’s happening in the business of bikes.
This means we can see the best sellers at work, as well as those with huge potential to increase their sales. The difference between the two quickly boils down to one question – how well do you promote your bike products online?
The retailers who approach this question innovatively are the same retailers who make more sales. We share the top tips on how they do it:
1/ Product listings with multiple and quality images
Images are crucial in the online world for the simple reason that the product is not in front of the shopper. They can’t touch and feel, and they certainly can’t ride, so they need to be able to examine this baby from every possible angle. It’s a wise move to upload as many of the manufacturer’s official brand photos as possible, but that should be the starting point. Go the extra mile and sell the lifestyle as well as the product. Get the product out into your native environment and take your own shots. Put it into an eye-catching background that promotes the dream. Make sure you feature every component and every angle. Remember a few housekeeping tips: 1/ Compress all images so that you don’t negatively impact your site’s load time and affect its SEO. Use Tinyjpg or Tinypng. 2/ Name your image files as per good image-optimising SEO guidelines. Every little bit counts towards getting you organic traffic! 3/ Fill in metadata fields such as alt text. This is not a waste of your time. Just like a pro cyclist on World Tour, it’s all about marginal gains.2/ Product listings with video
The only thing better than a product listing with awesome images is, you guessed it, a product listing with awesome videos! Video content remains king when it comes to SEO (that nifty work that cuts through the search traffic and brings visitors to you instead of a competitor). Sure, you can rely on video from the manufacturer, but it’s not going to set you apart from everyone else using that footage, is it? What will cut through the news – and potentially even rocket you to online fame if you’re unique and creative – is your own content. Not a multi-media production unit? Nor are most of the viral social media superstars out there. The stuff you can do with your smartphone is mind-bending. Get that bike dirty. Unleash it into its natural habitat and video the whole thing. Wear a helmet cam, too, and get the experience right from the user’s seat. Capture the footage as the rider finishes, adrenaline-charged and professing their love. Remember a few housekeeping tips: 1/ Read these great tips on how to optimise your video content. 2/ Be careful to use royalty-free music.3/ Product listings with thorough and clear descriptions
Again, it’s easy to fall back on the default and use the manufacturer’s product description. However, once more, you’ll only end up with a listing that reads exactly like the others, giving the shopper no stand-out reason to come to you. So the answer comes down to carving your own way. You don’t have to be a wordsmith – speak from the heart. Sure, use the official description but take it to the next level and share why you love it, what kind of riding you will do with this bike, where you will take it, why your mates will be jealous. The trick here is to cater to every kind of consumer. Provide short and sharp bullet points for the shopper who wants a quick overview. Provide the full-blown nerdy detail for the spec-head whose excitement levels rise in direct proportion to the level of tech mentioned. No surprises when we say; do it all again, but this time on video. Yep, that’s right – include the written word and a version on video for those who learn by watching instead of reading. If you tick those three boxes, you stand every chance of creating product listings that are head and shoulders more exciting, informative and attention-grabbing than the majority of online content out there. But wait, there’s more! Now that you’ve got your product listings in tip-top shape, it’s time to promote them!![tom-austin-XbZy0-JHINA-unsplash_1920x1080](https://b2b.bikeexchange.de/hs-fs/hubfs/B2B%20Blog/Hero%20Image%201920x1080/tom-austin-XbZy0-JHINA-unsplash_1920x1080.jpg?width=1920&name=tom-austin-XbZy0-JHINA-unsplash_1920x1080.jpg)