Bike trade sales tips #7: What makes a great ‘about us’ page on a bike shop website?

Before they step through your door, there’s a large chance that customers have checked your shop out before leaving their house. So, is your “about us” page up to scratch? John Styles examines the areas where shops can refine their web page to try and make a difference…

In previous articles we focused on greeting new customers and relationship building, through body language, questioning and conversations. But what if your new customer who walks through the door already feels like they know you? Is already convinced that they have come to the right place, for the right thing? That’s where a strong “About us” page can help.

According to many sources, when looking for a local store to visit, the “About Us” Page is the second most visited page after the homepage. So, consumers clearly value it for making their decisions.

People buy from people. And they visit more or spend more when they like what they see. So much so, that some unscrupulous website owners have created fake back stories with fictitious store owners. Spoiler – these people below are not real, according to the BBC, it’s an AI fake: You can read about that here (BBC – ‘Scammers using AI to lure shoppers to fake businesses’)

This got me thinking about all of the genuine store owners, managers and staff I’ve met in our trade along the years. I know them to be hard-working, knowledgeable, dedicated people who know their product. But how well do they sell their backstory?

So, I ran an online tool to visit and ‘scrape’ the “About Us” text from a sample of 100 UK bike stores. Then I used an AI workflow to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the content of those pages (which takes longer than you might think!). Here’s what we found. Firstly (quantitatively), what elements make a good “About Us” page and how many stores include them?

ABOUT US PAGES – KEY ELEMENTS THAT MAKE A GOOD PAGE

The results surprised me, firstly that around ¼ of stores don’t have an “About Us” page at all (that being said, many stores without a page included welcoming details on other pages, they were just scattered or not-so easy to find as a single “About Us” page). Another surprise was that only around half included staff names and just 7% included pictures. Although stores are very consistent about mentioning location, services and the general ‘type’ of store/people they are, specifics (which can build trust/relationships) were lacking in many pages.

So, while some disingenuous sellers are overselling their backstory – to the extent of creating fake people – this data seems to suggest many very genuine stores who have real skills and experience are under-selling their story.

ABOUT US PAGES – HOW WELL DO UK BIKE STORES TELL THEIR STORY?

Secondly (qualitatively), I prompted the AI tool to look at how well each store told their story. For example, is the history vague or does it mention exactly where, when and who founded store including a date? Or, how well the store describes its specialism, such as bike-fitting.

Here the AI was assessing the quality of the narrative as well as the number of elements included in it – so it gave a combined overall score for each store. And the result? Only 5% of the stores included all the elements and told their story exceptionally well (Platinum). Over half of stores told their story quite well (Silver and Gold). While approximately 1/3rd of stores didn’t have a page or had a very small amount of text which lacked many elements on their page.

WHY “ABOUT US” PAGES REALLY MATTER TO SHOPPERS

Now I guess it’s fairly obvious that having a good “About Us” section may encourage more consumers to visit your store and set their expectations around your services. But there’s another subtle benefit which we can find in another of Paco Underhills books, this time “What Women Want – the science of female shopping”. This is another huge resource for improving your store and here I’ll just talk about one tiny section.

Paco boiled down the essence of a welcoming and ‘female focused’ shopping environment to four things:

1. Safe – an environment that is accessible, accountable, public, secure
2. Clean – a light, bright and open space
3. Control – clear navigation and routing so you can make your way without hesitation
4. Consideration – staff who are attentive, knowledgeable but not overwhelming

(And by the way, he also found male shoppers wanted these things too, they were just less vocal about needing them and more tolerant of shopping in environments without them).

So an “About Us” page that talks about qualifications, experience and, most of all, lists staff names, cycling interests and skills, and ideally provides a genuine photos, gives a very re-assuring backstory before someone even visits. If a consumer is reviewing two local stores, they might choose the one with the backstory over the one without it. Why? Because wearing your credentials on your sleeve provides trust through visibility and accountability.

UPDATING YOUR “ABOUT US” TEXT USING AN AI?

So, next time you’re updating your website, maybe take a look at your “About Us” page and ask yourself does it accurately, fairly represent the people and the services that your store truly provides? And if you are under selling your services, maybe this needs an update.

It wouldn’t take you long to write it, especially if you use the checklist above to create a prompt for an AI tool. Just be careful to use the ‘AIM’ framework and check it afterwards. Because, as we all know, as well as being a useful business tool, AI can also very quickly just make stuff up. And you wouldn’t want a fake back story that’s full of typos! (like this one below!)

John Styles is a veteran of the cycling industry, having worked with leading distributors and brands across the sector. With a well-rounded perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing the sector, backed by a Bachelors Degree in Economics, John Styles is an expert consultant for the bike trade. Get in contact via [email protected] 

Read more from the Simple Sales Tips for Bike Shops series on cyclingindustry.news.