Do Search Ads work?

[Former_Member]

I have been trying out the search adds. I notice it gets me to the firs page and over 100 views some favorites, but no sales. I am wondering if this is a wise choice to spend money on?

[Former_Member]

No! I used to buy them all the time, and they never led to any sales. I suggest being active in teams, making treasuries, posting on Facebook, etc.

[Former_Member]

Thanks Sara. I just figured out teams today and I will start making treasuries. How do you post on Facebook. I have tried to do that, but when I go back in it isn't there?

[damsontreepottery]

Hi Cindy
I tried it for 1 week and it made no difference at all! I think it resulted in 1 favourite and at the same time my shop and items were being favourited loads and sales from other sources - so needless to say - I'm not trying it again!

What I try and do is to list an item every day or at least every 2 days so I 'll always have something near the start of a search.
You have some lovely items!
All the best
Marieanne

[Former_Member]

I'm trying search ads right now and I've wondered the same thing. It has got me many views which is nice.

I do think joining Teams and promoting on social media is the key!

[Former_Member]

I haven't had any success with them with this shop or my bath & body shop. I get more sales and views by promoting on my own.

[Former_Member]

I tried search ads for three weeks...& am sorry to say they did not help me whatsoever!! I haven't used them since. To ME, it was a waste of money...but I figured I'd try it & see.

[Former_Member]

I signed up for a search ad last week - no sales from them.

[Former_Member]

I have not heard any positive feedback at all from the Search Ads, which is quite frankly very sad and disappointing.

If you are interested in joining a team, please check out On Fire For Handmade... it is a great team with lots of support.

Best of Luck!

[SelkiePubZines]

I had decent views from it, but no sales. I haven't decided if I am going to try it again ever or not. Also, I think that was when they first started them. By now, possibly everyone is, like me, used to sort of skipping that row since they appear over and over when you go from page to page.

[sherrytruitt]

I think they are awesome. I get 8-10 sales from them a month. Treasuries, team etc, are where sellers hang out, not buyers.

When buyers are searching, the ads are what they see. My map cabinet knobs show up in maps, in jewelry and other categories. So, new buyers are exposed to them all the time.

Any advertising professional will tell you, it takes months of consistant advertising to see results. I spend a few dollars a week and get a lot of exposure.

I've never gotten a sale from a regular non FP treasury, facebook or a team.

[sherrytruitt]

@Cindy Under your shop name you have Capitvate Romance. That's a lovely phrase, but it doesn't tell me what you sell. Google reads those words.

When buyers are looking for your type work, which is lovely, you will not come up very high in a search. You've got to use very specific words. (see mine)

Best of luck to you.

[Former_Member]

Someone posted on one of the teams yesterday and said she had two sales in the first week she tried them. I'm considering trying it.

Sherry, do you use a lot of tags on your ads? I'm unsure how to do the tagging part.

[Former_Member]

NO! I tried them and after 5 days I had only about 17 views. I tried different sections of my store and none of them had anything but bad results. I just decided it was a total waste of money for my store and cancelled the rest of the week.

[Former_Member]

@Judy, I'm Sherry, just had to switch shops. I use all my tags and all my items. You never know what people are searching for.

As soon as I fill my new shop up (this one) I am going to do it for this one too. This was my old buying shop, but I just started filling it this week.

[Former_Member]

Thank you Sherry. Your answer is very helpful.

[Former_Member]

I tried for two weeks in January with no luck, then tried again last week and got a $35 sale! I don't get a lot of views from it, but that one sale was worth it!

Has anyone tried investing more than $5 in it? I see they list $25 for 25,000 views and have been really curious if that would bring in more sales. Even if I just sold one print that would almost cover the cost and be a lot of exposure.

[Former_Member]

I have tried the $5 and $10. I get a front page showing from these and about 80 - 100 views. @Sherry thanks for the info on switching my shop name.

[darkcycleclothing]

It definitely cuts into our profit margin, but I feel like the benefits outweigh the profit cut. We spent 330 last month and made $1150 from our search ads. I like to keep our advertising costs to 10% of our revenue, but I've made an exception with the search ads.

[artbylisi]

I haven't tried those, but I still continue to do what I always have done. I either renew current listings, relist sold made to order items, or list new items. I do at least one of those 3x a day, every day. When my sales are slow, I increase it to 4x a day. This way I stay near the top of the relevancy search.

When the search default changed to relevancy, I didn't stop doing what I normally do, as described above. If I don't do it for a day or so, I'll notice a sharp drop in views. I've tested that out several times.