1 1/2 years and still need HELP!

[BabySoSoft]

I have been open for about a year and a half now with low sales. Can you take a look at my store and give me advice as to ways to improve for more followers/sales/etc. Is it the pictures, my tags or .....?

[BlossomAndIvy]

i'm having the same problem would love to hear if anyone has any tips, your photos are well shot, prices seem very good, etc. I'd suggest possibly joining more teams/ twitter/ Facebook I've found recently instagram helped a lot with promoting

[Former_Member]

One thing that has worked for me (I should preface this by saying I am a relatively new seller) is updating my tags pretty frequently. I use Etsy's search function to see what type of keywords come up when searching for items. I also look to see how many items are showing up for a specific keyword. I also use Google AdWords' keyword planner tool to see how many people search for certain keywords and get ideas from that. I check my stats and update tags based on results. I also found this to be helpful from the Etsy team - http://www.livestream.com/etsy/video?clipId=pla_cebd232b-e53a-49e6-8335-242e3cf63b19&utm_source=lsli... I have an instagram account (http://instagram.com/maroozikoozie) and I fill my description with as many hashtags as possible which has led to a ton more likes and comments on my photos (3x more). I also use pinterest (http://pinterest.com/maroozi) which has nice analytics to see how you are performing. I have struggled with whether or not to setup a Facebook page. I use my personal Facebook profile to promote, but I have declined to setup a business page. With constant changes to Facebook's algorithm, your posts will only be seen organicly in your followers feed under 10% of the time because they want pages to use their advertising platform and pay for promotion. I haven't wanted to do that so I have stayed away from Facebook. That's my 2 cents on what I have done so far.

Rhonda from baby so soft - I think your products are super cute. It also seems like you are really taking advantage of our tags so that should probably help. One thing that I would highly suggest is uploading crisper, sharper photos. Etsy really stresses how important photos are and I think you might be missing out on some opportunity there. I hope that helps. Would be happy to chat further.

Charlotte from blossom and ivy - Love your products. The whispy colors and prints are lovely. Do you ever hand-illustrate your coasters and notebooks? I think that could be a really cool one-of-a-kind piece that you could do and sell at a higher price point. One thing that I notice right away is the scripty font in your shop banner isn't legible and I believe that is telling me what your products are. I'd love to see that text more clearly. I also think your photos aren't as crisp as they could be. This may just be me, but since I am looking at your photos on etsy they don't really need the URL watermark. I totally understand using a watermark on social media sites or elsewhere but probably not needed since your shoppers are already on etsy. Also I think you have more opportunity to add keywords into your product descriptions to increase the likelihood of your products showing up in search. I hope that helps. Happy to chat more.

[designosaurYEAH]

Hey Marissa!

I just read about you not having a business facebook only personal which makes sense why you haven't linked it to your shop! Sorry for pointing that out in the other thread! :)

Karli

[HildaLea]

Both of you could be using your tags and titles more effectively. Go to the Etsy Seller Handbook Archive and read the article called 'Tags, Titles and Descriptions'.

--You want to repeat your multi-word tags in your titles
--You want to use multi-word (not single word) tags, whenever possible.
--You don't want to be redundant with tags. If you have 'Kids rocking horse' you dont need to put 'rocking horse' or 'horse' or 'kids' as separate tags, because you're already relevant for those searches be virtue of those words/phrases already appearing in your 'kids rocking horse' tag.

[Former_Member]

Oh no worries Karli. I realized that because Etsy doesn't have Pinterest or Instagram as a text option just (facebook, twitter, blog, website), I used those text options with a link to Pinterest or Instagram. I updated though since it was confusing. I wish Etsy would let you choose from more options or be able to write in your own text.

[MariasWorkshop]

Wow! I am marking this thread.

Marissa, I am older and not up to date in technology. You said above:

"I have an instagram account (instagram.com/maroozikoozie) and I fill my description with as many hashtags as possible which has led to a ton more likes and comments on my photos (3x more)."

I think I know what a hashtag is, but I do not understand how you use it in the above context. Do you actually insert the symbol?

Thanks.

[Former_Member]

Hi Maria,

hashtags are any word that is preceded by a #. When you are in Instagram use the search feature to search hashtags to see which are popular. Hashtags work in Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Flickr, Vine, Tumblr, Google+. I haven't found hashtags to be very helpful in Facebook or Pinterest but very helpful with Instagram and obviously Twitter.

Maria to use it in Instagram when you are typing your description any word you want to focus on use a # sign before it. A hashtag allows grouping of similarly tagged messages, and also allows an electronic search to return all messages that contain it. So I make crochet koozies. When I type my description in Instagram I will type a description like this: "Brand new #koozies on the #maroozi etsy store. Click link in my bio to start shopping." Then I will add a bunch of hashtags like #crochet #beer #craftbeer #koozie #coozie etc.

Some facts about hashtags:
- no spaces, multiple word phrases must contain no spaces i.e. #valentinesday instead of #valentines day (this would only make the word valentines searchable)
- no punctuation i.e. #valentinesday instead of #valentine'sday
- research your hashtags before using, some people have gotten into hot water by accidentally using a hashtag that may be related to something racy or just not something they want to be associated with.

Social Media Examiner - http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/hashtags/ and Marketing Land (more of a marketing industry professional site) are both great places for social media promotional ideas. I hope that helps. Happy to answer any further questions.

[BlossomAndIvy]

Thank you Marissa that was very helpful, i see what you mean about the watermark, i only do that due to people suggesting it and as i post on tumblr alot the original site often isn't referenced so i do that mainly so they dont get lost, however i think i should re take photos and maybe try a small watermark in the corner and see how it goes, the point about tags is also something i didnt know so i will try out the search function and alter me tags
thanks again for your advice its much appreciated

[Former_Member]

Happy to help Charlotte! :) I figured about the watermark. I have definitely heard that advice and wrestled with using watermarks. I tried it for a hot minute but found that on social media they weren't getting as much engagement as I would like, so stopped using them. It's definitely good to have them though if there isn't any other way for people to know where to shop for your items.

Also just found this post and it has been so helpful so thought I would share - https://www.etsy.com/teams/10713/etsy-relevancy-seo-and-stats/discuss/12499020/page/1?ref=team_page

[JGjewellerycreations]

Interesting reading all these points x

[BlossomAndIvy]

Thats a very helpful link thank you for sharing, i will give it a go and see how i go thanks again!

[BabySoSoft]

Thank you all for your advice. I will check into updating my tags often and see what I can do about the many photos I have. I have tried Instagram and I just can not get followers (Instagram) plus I'm really confused on how it all works. Do I need to do Instagram daily or is once a week sufficient. Wont the small amount of followers I have just see my posts and get irritated of the multiple post constantly. Thanks again

[BlossomAndIvy]

With instagram i'm not sure how much you know already so sorry if this is something you already know :) the followers you gain usually have followed a lot of people already and so you don't really need to worry about annoying them as your posts won't be at the top of their feeds very often (and if they are spaced out it won't as the feed refreshes a lot). I usually try to do 3/5 images a week to keep it quite up to date, things like progress shots of you making and little insights into your supplies etc help create more background/ behind the scenes information, also you need to tag with relevant tags and things like #craftsposure #etsyfinds etc tend to get me a lot more likes. I would also suggest following as many other makers as you can just because you will learn a lot from their tags. Hope this helps

[Former_Member]

Woow Marissa, You have pointed some very very good tips there. Which I have already taken consideration few months ago, but still keep changing the ones are not too popular. I do the same researches like you, before putting a tag on, but still nothing. Rhonda I see what you mean by not having too much sale in the last 1 1/2 year, but I am in the same boat:( Getting closer to 1 year anniversary and only had 10 sales so far:( And I was thinking I'll be a big hit, because my creations are different:)) What a silly thought:(

[Former_Member]

Orsi you're very welcome and don't get discouraged. Your creations are one-of-a-kind. You are just in a very competitive category. It's hard to break through all the noise.

[DesignedbyDaniN]

Rhonda! I really love the products you have! Honestly I wish you had international shipping. That limits a lot of costumers!

[MariasWorkshop]

Marissa,

Thank you so very much. Great information!

[Former_Member]

You are very welcome Maria! Glad I could help! :)

[VioletandThistle]

Your photos are good.. For tags, the search bar shows the currently most popular search terms in a drop down menu that appears when you begin a search for an item. I started to type burp rags in the search and some terms came up that you hadn't used as tags, at least not for that particular item.

[Former_Member]

Just wanted to say thank you for sharing these tips! :)

[maydaylabels]

It is good to go through and update your tags if you're not getting the search views you want; however, don't update them just to update them. Once you've made some changes, let it sit for a few weeks - it can take a week or so for an item to gain its full relevancy for a new phrase, so changing it more often than that is detrimental.

[JaxtonandJill]

I have had so more traffic when I get involved with blogs and other websites outside of Etsy. it brings more traffic to my shop.

Your photos are pretty but not stunning. standing out in the crowd will get your items viewed more. maybe add your blankets to a little kids chair, crib somewhere neat, maybe hanging them on a pretty toddler hook.

tags and titles also mean a lot when it comes to getting your items found in search engine.