Hi Julie,
I don't think your shop name is a problem, necessarily. I think your items are something that does well a street fairs and boutiques because it's an impulse buy. They are cute and inexpensive, and people can make that quick decision to buy. My tree toppers didn't sell well, when I tried craft shows last year, because people couldn't make a quick decision for something $60-100, but they sell pretty well here on Etsy.
I did a search for "girls hair bow." 176.000 items came up. Wow, I would not want to go up against that much competition! I am wondering if you looked at how many others were making these before you decided to open.
So your challenge is not only to get found, as we say, but also that human nature is to buy from the successful shop (everyone else picked it so it must be good, right), and to fight human's laziness. We are not going to sort through that many pages of options. It's daunting.
I looked at a shop that popped up at the beginning of my search, and she is selling bows for $1 that you sell for $4. I'm not criticizing you, just stating a fact (they may be a little different size). I have this kind of competition with tree topper bows. I do all of my bows by hand with high quality ribbons, but I don't do very many because there are so many people doing big bows on bow tying machines and charging too little. So I just don't choose to try to compete with them, I don't nake those items. My point is that you may not need a name change, you need to look at what you are making and how you can make it unique and special so you get more clicks. whenever I think about a new type of item, I check other shops to see if there are others on the market, and if mine will be better, and I can charge what I need to to make it worth it to me. People will pay more for a unique item.
If you do decide to change yur name, it will only affect people typing in your name. You can send your past customers a notice, maybe with a coupin. They are really impotant to a shop like yours. Even if they typed in or clicked on your previos name, Etsy says it directs them to the new shop. Even the customers from craft shows should find you this way. I do think we are influenced by the shop name when we click, after the picture if the item.
I also think photos on models are impotant in clothing and accessories.
Just my 2 cents. Hope it helps,
Cindy
