Bristol Cycling City

One of our most high-profile web projects saw us launch www.betterbybike.info to promote the Greater Bristol Cycling City project.

The site’s objectives have been to engage the people of Greater Bristol with the cause, in an open government initiative, using social and digital media.

The Proctors response
The site offers practical advice to get people cycling; targeting business, schools and individuals it is designed to inspire people to get involved through a broad range of content, forums, local links and polls. It also enables the public to engage with the site through social networking channels including Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter.

Users are encouraged to submit their own pictures, videos and stories to ensure betterbybike becomes a cycling hub for the South West region.

A full set of networking tools, such as Digg and Delicious, are built into the design to help users share the site.

The results
The betterbybike.info team was delighted with our solution, particularly the innovative interactive elements. And since the site launched on October 26, the community has been steadily growing.

On Twitter, Betterbybike has 81 followers; on facebook, 82 fans. Its YouTube channel has enjoyed 147 views on channel and 921 upload views, and already almost 300 individuals have signed up to the site.

We have also compared performance between cyclewest.co.uk (12 months) and betterbybike.info (4 months). Results and percentage increases are based on monthly averages:

Number of visits
On average we have increased the number of visits to the site by 2110 – an increase of 200%

Number of unique visits
On average an increase of 987 a month – an increase of 115%

Average page views
Increased to 2 pages – increase of 70%

Time spent visiting the site
Increased from 1.57 minutes to 4.37 minutes – an increase of 278%

Bounce rate
Decreased by 15.11%

Repeat visits
Increased from 18% to 42% – an increase of 233%

And perhaps most satisfyingly, Ben Hillsdon, Communications Officer with the Cycling City Team at Bristol City Council says of the project:

“Proctors approached Better By Bike’s new website with enthusiasm and ideas to match our own. It’s been great to find a partner who is excited about – and engaged with – the developing social media landscape.

Together we have created a site that's becoming a measurable success. It's brilliant to watch our online community developing, and really rewarding to know that we're encouraging more and more of Greater Bristol on their bikes."