Hit 10,000 views in my second month!

[Former_Member]

Wow! My first month of having my website, I had 18 views. Literally, the entire month I had 18 views. This month? Just at 10,000!

This was all traffic I brought in to my website from social media, search engines, and blog subscribers. I didn't do anything special. I didn't pay someone to market for me. I didn't even really do a whole lot of advertising on other websites.

What I did do:

>> Made it look professional!
I'm a business, so I want my web design to be taken seriously! I didn't hire a graphic designer, either. I simply used a premade theme and Picmonkey. I think I spent a total of $39 on a premade theme. The rest was all me.

>> Started blogging off my own website!
Every extra step a potential buyer has to take to get to your shop decreases the chance they'll buy, so I took this same content and applied it to my website.
For an Etsy shop, I would recommend either setting up an ecommerce part of your website, or inputting product images, details, and pricing in a "store" page that can link over to your Etsy shop.

>> Posted non-promotional material on the blog!
I share lifestyle posts, have some new Instagram photos coming soon, recipes, handmade finds, business and blogging tips, and more. I want it to be interesting and useful content. My blog draws the traffic to my website, and curious clickers explore from there. I watch the search engine terms bringing people to my website, and I try to create posts that can maximize those keywords and increase my SEO.

>> Got involved with social media!
My Facebook is great, and I am getting used to Twitter, but my main draws of traffic are Stumbleupon and Pinterest. 90% of my views come from there (especially Stumbleupon), and I am actively engaged on each platform. I also am involved on the Etsy Blog Team and utilize their Stumbleupon thread to increase the communal sharing.

>> Subscribe by email only!
I'm huge on this because it works! No, I don't have hundreds of GFC "followers" publicly saying they like my site, but I do have dedicated subscribers who want my content waiting in their inbox every day. I get quality traffic and quality engagement on my blog, and I have a direct line of communication with my followers. I follow several blogs that offered GFC following only, and I unfortunately will often forget about them for weeks at a time. That's weeks of content I never see. Enable email subscribing! Offer something like Blog Lovin', too, for those who would prefer 1 daily email with updates from all their blogs instead of individual emails from each they follow. I love this option, as well!

I raised my views by thousands in just a few short weeks, and you can do it, too! It doesn't take a large amount of time or effort, either.

I only spend about 30 minutes to 1 hour each day on my blog. I spend about 1-2 hours each week writing a few blog posts at a time and scheduling them out so I don't have to do something each and every day to have fresh content.

- - -

Note: if you haven't already seen me around, no, I don't have a shop here. I'm a wholesale buyer of handmade only good for my gift subscription company. So, no, I can't sell on Etsy because gift baskets are not allowed like this, but yes, I only do handmade. Just fyi :) I get a lot of questions about why I'm here at all, so I figured I'd head those off, lol.

I've sold on Etsy before, and I just can't stay away. :)

[Former_Member]

Thanks for all the tips! That's a pretty exciting rise in views. Can't wait to get my own website up and try these things out.

[Former_Member]

It really is the way to go! :)

[Former_Member]

That's FANTASTIC growth! Congratulations!

[Former_Member]

Thank you!

The last week we've had 900-1000 views each day, so I'm expecting February to be 20,000-30,000 pageviews. :)

[Former_Member]

Congratulations Tiffany - that's huge! I have to admit this area of marketing is my weak point. I don't enjoy the whole aspect of social media on a personal level so it's hard for me to do it consistently on a business level.

[Orchiada]

That's awesome Tiffany. What is your shop?

[Orchiada]

oh sorry just saw that you said you don't have one....I was going to check it out. I am always excited to check fellow sellers' shops.

[Former_Member]

Christina- I like social media personally, so it it pretty enjoyable to me, though I understand that it can be hard for some. I try to make my business social media personal but not too personal. I like to post funny stories, interesting questions, and relevant business stuff. It all blends together since this business is mine and my husband's. If you can't dedicate yourself to social media, it's okay, though. Just creating a sense of community will go a long way, as well.

[MReneeArtAndDesign]

Great information!! I've heard about stumbleupon, and to find out that it really does work...hmmm I may be setting myself up on there tonight :)

P.S. If you need anything for your baskets, please let me know! I currently wholesale to 2 local shops, and I'm always looking to expand :)

xoxo

[Former_Member]

Lots of great information. Thanks for sharing:)

[ArtsEtBijoux]

Thanks for sharing!! Certainly encouraging post - time for me to roll up the sleeves and get down to it. Thanks again..

[OfficineCanvasMilano]

Great information, thank you for your advices. I have to focus on social network , I have to turn more social. I will try to increase my traffic following your tips :)))
Mariangela

[Former_Member]

Just wanted to post an update to this thread to let you all know how being persistent doing the above is continuing to boost our traffic.

February views as of only 2/14 are at over 17,000 total.
We're averaging over 1,000-1,500 pageviews per day.
Bounce rate is under 2%!

We've ramped up out social media presence, as well, and used an amazing SEO tool everyone should check out-- we're posting about it on our blog tomorrow. :)

[Former_Member]

Great tip! I submitted the form for being a sponsor on your blog :)

[vintagejewelryanew]

Great information, thank you for sharing!

[LaAntiguaTextiles]

Tiffany, thank you very much for sharing that information and your advice. I would be interested in knowing how the views increase converted into sales. Do you have any numbers that you can share? I am asking you this because I have been doing some research in this particular subject. It is clear that without views there cannot be sales, but I am interested in the conversion factor and if there is a statistical pattern on it. I would very much appreciate if you could elaborate on this subject. Thank you.

[Former_Member]

That's simply amazing, TIffany! Thank you very much for sharing!

[OnTheHook]

That's awesome! I think marketing, advertising and utilization social media are my the areas of weakness for me. Thank you for posting all your wonderful tips!