Advice please.. :)

[Former_Member]

Hi guys,

I would really appreciate your help in giving me some tips on boosting my views, in the hope of eventually getting some sales.

I have been open since October 2011 and have had just 2 sales. I have reinvented my shop and avatar, changed the photos, I add more items each day. I get a few hearts here and there and have been featured in some treasuries. I've even started a blog, and regularly update my fb page..

I have just moved to Germany and had to give up my day job in Brussels, so I really have time to focus on my shop, but i feel a bit like a little fish in a big pond.. I would also like to start getting a fixed income through my shop and eventually will expand to other things other than mugs, but I need to know that it works before I invest even more.. Or maybe I should just take the plunge..?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and kind regards,
Louisa

[WoolWench]

Great mugs! Your photos are nice too, but you could brighten them up, if you have an editing programe you can easily increase the brightness or exposure on them, at the moment they look a big grey. Now you have lots of time, the biggest job is getting exposure, looking for blogs that could feature you, getting people talking with you on Facebook.. its a huge undertaking actually. I think you need to find the points that make you and your items different from anyone elses and use that to build a brand and a styling for your shop. Now youre in Germany maybe there is even something you can use in that to add to your branding, loads of people find it really interesting that youre in a european country, kind of exotic! Maybe you can incorporate something from your current new environment into your work too?! I know what its like to be in a new country and the first year is really seeing everything with fresh eyes and it can be really inspiring.
I hope thats a little helpful :)
x

[AnneLondezGlass]

Hi Louisa,
I think there is room for quite a lot of improvement in your tags, titles and descriptions. At the moment they are not optimized for SEO, which means you will not be found in searches.

Make sure the first 3 words in your title and the first paragraph of your descriptions contain the important key words, those that people are likely to search for. Same for your categories and shop announcement, they are indexed by Etsy's search bot too so use words that are relevant.

I also see that you are not using all your tags, you should take full opportunity of all the search options that are given to you. And using 2 or 3 word phrases rather than just one word tags will help you get hits by being more relevant. Sorry, I have no time to be more detailed now but search the forums for SEO, there's lots of info there.

[Former_Member]

Thanks so much for the advice. I have already started lightening up my photos and I'll def look more into the tags.. i try to optimize to the max my tags, but I need to do more research about the SEO.

Thanks again!
x

[Former_Member]

I agree the tags, and titles could use some work to help with the SEO. I also think maybe use more social media to help you. Maybe a Twitter, Pinterest, ect. I find that those get me some views as well.

[BeadLoversKorner]

I agree with all of the above, and you need more stuff! There are so many listings of items here on Etsy, and only having a few products makes it easy to get lost in everyone else's listings.

[sunshineandvodka]

I did a search for "coffee mug" and your shop wasn't on the first three pages so maybe if you put that in your title it would help?

[OurFrontYard]

Be sure and list something everyday...or renew items everyday.
Join twitter and tweet every new or renewed listing.
Do Etsy Treasuries.
Just a few tips. :)
I hope this is helpful.

[Former_Member]

You probably need many more products and some more unique designs and sayings. Offer some angle that no one else is doing yet.

[LaurelAndOctavia]

I think it would be great to be able to read more about how the mugs are made. When I see your products I love the sayings and how they look but I can't tell if they are mass produced or made by a handmade esty seller who I want to support. Give your customers a window into your process so that people know they are supporting a small workshop.

[Former_Member]

I agree with working on tags!

I'd also recommend discussing how you make the mugs. I think people are so used to seeing mass produced mugs, and don't understand how they are made by hand. I'd write a small paragraph about that - you want people to understand the work that went into it.

You might also want to sell your designs as prints as well!