Does your shop need a Relevancy Critique??

[#1]

Hi Etsy Success Friends,

All of us have been like little sponges, soaking up the tips for success this week. Sometimes we just need a fresh pair of eyes to look at our shop and say - "Hey, you forgot to use this tag!" or "You might try this title!"

The rules:
1. You are at least moderately up-to-date with the suggestions for Relevancy and
good tagging < http://www.etsy.com/teams/7716/announcements/discuss/8822575/>

2. If you pop into this thread and want to be critiqued yourself, you can join by critiquing the last shop that commented. The next person to pop in will critique you.

3. You don't have to look at every listing and every tag. . . but try to come up with a few suggestions . . .Words or Synonyms that you think would help with relevancy search.

Who wants to go first?

[JillsTreasureChest]

I need help. I think ChrisAnnPhotos is next, so I will go see her shop.
Next in line is SBDCdesigns, and then me, I believe.

[tanci]

Me too, I would like a critique, I need all the help I can get! :) Thanks in advance!!!

[JillsTreasureChest]

ChrisAnn, I love your retro housewife. I like that you changed up your first comment about her, while still making the point about her dress and taking care of her house. I don't know how else you could change what you say about the paper being fade resistant and the photo being printed when the order is made, but I've heard that Google considers that type of thing to be duplicate info and may not show all your photos. I did a Google search for 1950's housewife photos and photos for sale and didn't find anything on Etsy after 15 pages.

I love your nature photos and the explanations about how you happened to take that picture. Since Google seems to be more interested in the first few lines of the descriptions, perhaps you can change the order of your descriptions. The ones I saw all had your story, then the information about the sizes, paper, etc.

This piece has the description in a different form.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/76540658/religious-but-not-saved-35mm-color

In this listing," Fall Leaves in New York City", perhaps you could change the description as follows:
"This is a shot taken in a community park in Chinatown, NYC. I loved the reflection of the tree in the water combined with the concrete of the city and lush orange and muted green of the leaves. I took the photograph in July of 2010, during my first trip to New York City.

8x10 digital archive print on Crystal Archive Type II Paper, with a matte finish unless otherwise specified. This paper is fade resistant for generations, ensuring the colors in this photograph stay bright over time."

~~This 8x10 digital archive print features the reflection of a tree in water, combined with the concrete of the city in a community park in China Town, NYC. I love the lush oranges and muted greens. The Crystal Archive Type II Paper is fade resistant and will allow you to enjoy this photo for generations~~ Then finish with your other information

Just an idea on how it could be done. I'm certainly not the expert!

Your work is gorgeous, and of course your photographs are beautiful. I have seen other photographers use their second-fifth photo spots to zoom in an area to show detail. You might want to try that. It looks to me like your tags are good.

Nice shop. I hope this helps.

[Former_Member]

Hi! Going on to JillsTreasureChest to look at the items.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/JillsTreasureChest

[Former_Member]

First off, I think you can get way more creative with your names. For example, Ceramic Bunny Box' and Star Bag.
Ceramic Bunny box doesn't really describe it accurately or do it justice. It is adorable and think about who would love this little box. I picture a little girl who can use it for tresures like earrings, rings, and little favorite finds. So with that said, I would use the words:
Treasure box
Jewelry box
Candy dish
ceramic treasure box

[Former_Member]

The rest of my reply didn't post! So I am going to post it again. You Bunny can be named like a title: Blossom the Bunny, Miss Bunny, Beatrice the Bunny
Hand painted
These all describe your item.
Same goes with the Star Bag, it really isn't an apt description and it does nothing for you. Maybe try PRIMITIVE COUNTRY RED STAR CERAMIC VASE, CONTAINER, or HOLDER..
Create an image in the minfd of the prospective buyer. You can do this thru your title, description and tags.


Sorry this got cut off before. Let me know if you have any questions or if what I said needs clarifying! Good luck to you!!!!

[JillsTreasureChest]

Thank you, DancingwithFairies! I'll look into balancing creative names with what I thought SEO wanted in names!

I believe that SBDCdesigns and tanci also need to be critiqued, then DancingwithFairies.

[AmorousDaisy]

dancingwithfairies:

I think that all of our tags are great! Maybe combine the words a little because as I understand relevancy, one word tags don't get up in the search results. i think that the titles need the most help. I think that the first three words come up in the searches. Like, instead of "Down by the Sea", start it off with bath fizzy or bath salt, whatever it happens to be.

I think I need a lot of help. Please? Anyone?

[BrittanyWright]

I'm off to critique AmorousDaisy.

I would love a critique of my shop. I've had a few sales but nothing crazy. I seem to receive lots of hearts and get featured in treasuries, but I'm just not selling like I had hoped. Thanks in advance!

[BrittanyWright]

AmorousDaisy:

First of all, your work is lovely! I added you to my Circle. :0) Your shop doesn't need a whole lot of work. Your photos are quite nice. I especially love the sheet music and old maps as a background...very nice.

I would say my biggest critique is of your tags. You use a lot of colors as tags, which is fine, but you are not using ALL of your tags!! That's a must! You could use 'hair accessories', 'women's accessories', 'women's fashion', 'feminine', 'romantic', etc.

As far as your earrings...you mention that they are surgical steel. Does this make them hypo-allergenic? That would be a GREAT thing to mention. I would also mention the measurements for sure! See the item below...this shop did a great description and great tags:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/76725917/cornflower-blue-ruffled-rose-surgical?ref=sr_gallery_2&ga_searc...

You might also want to rearrange the words in some of your titles now that the search function has changed. I wouldn't have 'large' as my first word, for example.

My final tip is that you should try to join more circles, create more treasuries, favorite more shops and items, basically...just become more involved. The more you put yourself out there, the more exposure and hopefully more sales!

Hope this helps!

[AmorousDaisy]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write so much! I'm definitely going to take all of your advice.

[JillsTreasureChest]

I believe that SBDCdesigns and tanci also need to be critiqued, They got skipped earlier.

[marylandquilter]

I'll help SBDCdesigns....

[marylandquilter]

Hi SBDC,

Love your rings and earrings. I can see how it might be hard to think up lots of tags, but thinking as a buyer I might search by color---yellow flower ring, yellow ring, maybe more teenagers would be interested because of the low price point and trendy style.

So maybe try teen ring? modern ring? handmade ring. fabric ring

One thing I'm trying is to shake up my tags so they are all a little different. This is time consuming because i can't just relist, but seems like the way to relevancy?

[Former_Member]

I would like some critique... please

[BrittanyWright]

oreldesign:

You would need to critique the next person in line before you can receive a critique. I think that would be 'tanci' who is next. :0)

[Former_Member]

My critique is for "tanci"
I think your product is awesome specially the silk scarf.
But I suggest the following:
1-) Use your name on your avatar
2-)I personally prefer to create sections specially if you have different types of items, I think it is a better and easy way for people to look at your items
3-) Some of your pictures probably would look better with a different background, I always prefer use white but I read in another thread that is also good to use natural outside spaces.
4-) It would be good if some of the silk scarf and pashimina be shown on somebody to see how it looks, for example this item:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/78500632/pashmina-hand-woven-shirred-scarf-wrap?ref=v1_other_1
5)Regarding titles and tags, I am still trying to figure it out myself and not good in that at all, sorry about that but I do not feel I can give a good advise in that part, the only thing I do myself is to use the color after the name of the product, do not like to use the color first, that is just personal and do not know if it is the right thing to do.

Sorry for my grammar, english is not my first language, I hope you understand what I am trying to explain.
Thank you
Luz

[Former_Member]

I'm critiquing tanci...not sure where that puts me on the list as I'm a little confused as to who is next and what not. But when someone gets a chance I'd love some advice!!

[Former_Member]

Oh!! Haha... Okay I see oreldesign posted at the same time!! So I'll critique oreldesign then. Sorry.

[Former_Member]

Oreldesign -

I read in a forum that the relevancy search uses terms in your shop name and shop announcement. The shop name is the words that appear under "oreldesign" in the top left. Only the words towards the beginning of your shop announcement are used in the search. I would suggest adding to one of these spaces the following terms:
beads, stones, pendants, tags, bags, earrings, necklaces, pouch, wires, cords since these are the items you are selling.

Also, in this listing:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/78060766/rhodonite-nuggets-6-pieces

you do not use all 13 tags. This is important to make sure in every listing you use all the tags you get!! Here are a few suggestions:
nuggets, black, jewelry making, 20mm x 12mm, gems, shiny,

For this listing:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/80100100/chocolate-pearls-earrings

I understand why you used "be the light" as a tag...but unless this is widely advertised as your brand, I wouldn't use it as a tag. I would be more likely to search for your shop name than your signature. Also, you used "jewelry" twice. Only one is needed.

Here are some other tag ideas:
gold, black, dangle, accessory,

Also, these earrings are not just for weddings. When you add a specific occasion it narrows the search results to only that. Leave the occasion blank unless the item truly can only be used for that event/occasion.

Hope this helps! :) Good luck in your sales!
Dorothy

[Former_Member]

Thank you so much..... going now to do some changes!!!!

[Former_Member]

Dear Squid21r,

You have a beautiful shop but I have some ideas.

Titles - rather than Carrot.... Begin Sterling Silver Carrot...
Rather than...Print. Use Art... or a a term you would use to search an item like that, etc.. also I suggest adding to your tags, home decor, office decor, collectables, everything else .

I am new to Etsy but have some experience in marketing, etc. I can help others but I need help myself. I would love a critique. I have three shops - all under construction. Pats Of Clay, La Bella Bottega @ JJZG and La bella Bottega - Where Old Becomes New @ JJZG2. I have been making changes all week. It takes a lot of time!!

Thank you,

Pat

[CapitalCityCrafts]

HI JJzG2!
you have some lovely vintage items. I'm not sure that you need to repeat tags with capitalization, ie: Vintage and vintage. I don't think it counts in the search. I'm also wondering why you are using "everything else", try to be specific to your items.

[BrittanyWright]

I think TornPaperStudio is next, followed by myself, BrittanyWright, and then DorothyLMorgan.

[glassbead]

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Troubadori

I don't know if you ever got a critique, or if you quit trying after being skipped three times, but thought I'd go and take a peek.

I think your items titles are good- descriptive, and they seem to include words that folks might use to search, like feather necklace, American Indian, and the color.

You might think about making your item descriptions start out in a similar way, just to be on the safe side for searches. I like the way you describe the necklaces and the background information.

I think the banner needs work- I would probably try to include a feather, feathers, or a closeup of one of your pieces.

Beneath your banner, you should have a shop announcement- again the first sentence or two should be heavy with key words for searches on google, etc.

I love your products, but I, personally, would not show the necklace displayed on a person. I know it is the best way to show the length, how it really looks, etc. but I have heard that some folks prefer not to see things being worn.

Hope you don't mind all this- your necklaces are lovely, the prices are almost too good, your descriptions are very nice.