Hello there............new to etsy; and have a few questions; also a critique of my shop if possible.

[Former_Member]

Hello there. Opened my shop yesterday, and looking for help with tags for my items......I am trying to increase my SEO as much as possible; because I understand Higher SEO = greater potential of sales (yes; I said potential, not actual sales). Also; please feel free to critique my shop as well......I do know the first thing I have to do is add more items; but that will come with time. One other thing.....if anyone can make suggestions on tags for my torch fired enamel pendants; I would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance for your assistance

[Former_Member]

Hi Joseph. Welcome to Etsy!

Looks like you've been playing with fire for a while..

The first thing that I would do with your shop is to complete the building of the basic shop. That includes your shop title, shop announcement and shop sections.

Even if you only have one section to start, it does provide the potential buyer with another way to navigate.

Although your teal backgrounds are pretty, they really are drawing the eye away from what you are trying to sell. Maybe if you really want to use teal you should go with a lighter shade?

If you want a good 'self critique' checklist for your shop, I would recommend the blog post at
etsymentors.blogspot.com/p/critique-your-own-shop.html
I refer to it all the time and have found it to be extremely useful.

[Tattooit]

Hi Joseph,

Pictures are super important and I would agree with Crochetgal that you might want to change your background. I would also make all the jewelry fit in the picture.

Crochetgal your checklist it great! Thanks. :)

[SuedeSentiment]

Joseph, welcome to Etsy!

I think it's a good idea to use most or all 5 photo slots if possible, as the fun of shopping is looking at items at all angles since they can't be handled. Like the others have suggested, a lighter background would be worth trying too, as lighter or white will help bring out the lovely colours of your pendants. Also try taking a photo showing more of the cord too, and a couple taken at lower angles.

I noticed you mention you'll accept returns. Just my opinion, but I feel that info might be better only in policies - I wouldn't even want returning of items in the mind of my customers!

Others hopefully will chime in with some great tag ideas, but here are some suggestions I came up with: enameled necklace, enameled pendant, tree pendant, copper jewelry, torch fired
Do a search on similar items, go to the bottom of other's listings and click on 'item details' and you'll find some inspiration to help you with tags.

I wish you all the best with your new store!

[Former_Member]

I just had a really quick look and the first obvious thing (as you mentioned yourself) is your lack of items. That was something I did in the beginning too, I asked for feedback without having a "finished" shop first, something I regret today, because people do get stuck on a shop having too few items. I would want to know a shop is serious with at least two pages of items before going too deep in to a shop critique, so I understand why I had such a hard time getting any feedback when I first started.

Here are some suggestions for you:
- Try and change your background to something more "calm", for example a text sheet or a white/gray background, this background takes away from your jewelry.
- List more items
- Pick an item you'd want people to take an extra look at and let them help you critique that particular item in order for you to learn most from what you can do to improve one thing.

Good luck with building your shop, it's a lot of fun! I am working on it myself at the moment and reach toward about 70 listings by the end of this month :)