The number of motorcycles owned and used in the U.S. rose by 58% from 6.6 million motorbikes in 1998 to about 10.4 million in 2008.
That key finding is from the 2008 U.S. motorcycle owner survey released by the Motorcycle Industry Council on May 21, 2009. Other findings also support the notion that motorcycles are becoming more mainstream transportation and recreation vehicles for U.S. consumers.
Yet, there are far fewer websites that offer online motorcycle insurance quotes than the many sites offering rate information for cars and trucks.
This article highlights the most popular websites in the U.S. where shoppers can obtain online motorcycle insurance quotes.
Motorcycle Insurance Websites with Most Monthly Visitors
Major insurance companies top the list of most popular websites that offer motorcycle insurance quotes online. Consumers should take careful note of the fact that while many of these sites offer insurance for scooters, electric bikes as well as customized motorcycles, online insurance quotes are not available for all U.S. states. For example, GEICO Direct does sell motorbike insurance in Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan and New Hampshire.
While the GEICO Direct website receives more online visitors each month, Progressive Insurance is the leading motorcycle insurance underwriter in the U.S. according to MSN Autos.
- GEICO Direct … 4.5 million monthly visitors (up 16.2% over the past three months)
- Progressive Insurance … 3.1 million monthly visitors (up 4.2%)
- State Farm Insurance … 2.2 million monthly visitors (up 7.6%)
- Allstate Insurance Company … 2 million monthly visitors (up 26.8%)
- Nationwide Mutual … 1 million monthly visitors (up 15%)
- comparethemarket.com … 736,000 monthly visitors (up 3.6%)
- InsWeb Corporation … 470,000 monthly visitors (down 28%)
- Insurance.com … 355,000 monthly visitors (up 16%).
Comparethemarket.com is a bike insurance comparison site based in the United Kingdom. Visitors can compare rates and policy features from up to 19 motorcycle insurance companies online.
InsWeb Corporation enables U.S. motorcyclists to shop online for the cheapest bike insurance by zip code.
Insurance.com receives a high amount of web traffic for automobile quotes from 15 different insurance companies, but currently only offers motorcycle insurance rates from GEICO.
Motorcycle Insurance Quotes with Highest Search Engine Traffic
Among the rate comparison websites for motorcycle coverage, times the percentage of visitors using Internet searches that find comparethemarket.com is:
- about 8 times higher than for InsWeb Corporation
- over 2 times higher than for GEICO Direct.
Below is the list of motorcycle insurance websites ranked by the percent of search engine traffic.
- comparethemarket.com … 32.7% of monthly visitors (240,580 search engine visitors)
- State Farm Insurance … 21.9% (480,000 search engine visitors)
- Nationwide Mutual … 18.9% (190,000 search engine visitors)
- Insurance.com … 18.6% (66,000 search engine visitors)
- Progressive Insurance … 15.1% (470,000 search engine visitors)
- Allstate Insurance Company … 15.1% (300,000 search engine visitors)
- GEICO Direct … 14.3% (640,000 search engine visitors)
- InsWeb Corporation … 4.1% (20,000 search engine visitors).
The above lists shows that even huge insurers like GEICO, Allstate and Progressive can increase visits from prospective motorcycle insurance customers by increasing their search engine rankings.
One way to accomplish this is to increase the number of links from external websites popular with motorcycle enthusiasts. Those external links should then lead to their motorcycle insurance rate quote pages.
Motorcycle Insurance Discounts Versus Rate Comparisons
Many of the insurance company websites advertise discounts to motorcyclists who belong to certain motorcycle associations. Allstate provides insurance discounts to members of groups such as the American Motorcycle Association, BMW Motorcycle Owners of America, Gold Wing Touring Association, Harley Owners Group and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.
Other insurance companies reward applicants who have a high financial responsibility score, including factors like how reliable they are in paying their bills.
While these discounts are important considerations, most experts agree that consumers should shop around to compare motorcycle insurance quotes from several insurance providers before choosing the most economical motorbike coverage that best fits their specific needs.
Sources: This article provides independent calculations and insights based on data from the leading Internet traffic monitoring site Alexa.
Daniel Workman - A senior business and finance writer who also does French translations, notably international trade and insurance materials.
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