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Hitwise Intelligence - Heather Hopkins - North America

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Motorcycles for Sale - Riding out the Recession

April 02, 2009

It appears that those interested in unloading a motorcycle may be in luck. US Internet searches for "motorcycles for sale" have more than doubled in the past year. As the following chart illustrates, there is a predictable seasonal increase in searches for "motorcycles for sale". This year, searches are higher than ever, with more than double the volume of searches for "motorcycles for sale" last week than the same week last year.
Motorcycles for Sale.png

Hitwise search data reveals that the increase is limited to generic searches. We have not seen a similar increase in branded searches with the keyword "motorcycles" such as "honda motorcycles" or "yamaha motorcycles. In fact, searches for the top motorcycle manufacturers have decreased. Looking at search term variations for "motorcycles", we found that last week, the generic "motorcycles for sale" query topped the list for the first time

Typically, brands such as Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki top the list. This marks the first week since 2006 that the generic term "motorcycles for sale" tops the list.

One possible reason for this increase is that consumers are researching purchases more thoroughly thus increasing searches. Hitwise data suggests this is the case but also indicates that consumers are opting for second hand bikes.

We recently published a report on the classifieds industry and looking at other Classifieds verticals we see a similar pattern, with consumers actively researching purchase decisions and investing time in comparing prices and offers. The report (which you can request here) also shows opportunities in search marketing for customer acquisition. The report illustrates that Classifieds providers tend to rely on organic search traffic more heavily than average for the retail category. The same is true for "motorcycles for sale". 92% of clicks for searches for "motorcycles for sale" were on organic listings. CycleTrader.com received 50% of traffic from searches for "motorcycles for sale", 100% of which was organic.

In the meantime, if you have an old motorcycle that you need to unload, now is the time!

Posted by Heather Hopkins at 08:18 AM | (0) | (0)
In Categories Automotive