Need some advice

[RobinReNested]

First of all, my etsy shop is my bread and butter, only income.
For the past 3 years, my income almost doubled each year. Last year was amazing and had to even shut it down for a week because I was getting such a long lead time.
This was up until late fall last year. Things began slowing waay down. I know, selling wedding primarily, things slow down at this time and was prepared for that. I am not talking about the normal slow down though, I mean much slower then the year before.

So, I worked on my seo, photos and bringing in new items. January was also slower then last January. This brings me to this month...I just looked at my stats and I am getting half the views and half the revenue.
A slow month is one thing, but now we are talking about several months in a row.

I am now faced with some hard conclusions. I can only think that my money making items have run their course and since I have so many items in my shop, perhaps my new creations are getting lost in the mix. I have been letting a lot of my old listings expire that haven't sold in a long while, trying to loose some of those things that are doing nothing but taking up space.
Decision time:
I am seriously thinking about keeping the few things that are still selling (which would probably be about 30 items), taking the rest out except for my new creations and then busting my butt making and listing new items, that are in the same line as my new ones. My thought process is- 1) get the old out since it isnt selling 2) making room for my new, totally different then my past money makers 3) busting out tons of the new line and hope that it becomes popular.
However, this could ruin what little income that I have...or it could bounce my popularity back up.
Looking for opinions on this idea, am I totally crazy or does this sound like a good move?

[Former_Member]

Actually I think before you do anything you should work on your SEO some more. I have seen a lot of shops that used to do well aren't doing as well because of the increased competition. In order to keep up with the competition, SEO has to be in perfect shape.

When I look at your items, I see some definite room for improvement. Etsy search will show all items first that have the searched phrase EXACTLY in both title and in tags (ideally in one tag). If you don't have that phrase matched in both your title and your tags, then you will show up after everyone who does.

Your titles should be a series of short word phrases that people would use to find your item. I like to separate them by commas but it is not necessary. For instance, rather than saying "vintage shabby bottles painted white and distressed", I would use "distressed white bottles, shabby vintage vases, white vase set, shabby home decor" etc. It's unlikelly that anyone would search for "bottles painted white and distressed" so you would show up after everyone who had the search phrase in their title and tags.

Then you should have those phrases repeatedly exactly in your tags and in one tag preferably. (i.e. rustic wedding decor in title and in one tag). Don't have any single word tags.

The increased competition really means that you need to make sure you have matching search phrases in your tags and titles. Hope that helps. Good luck!

[KiltedWoman]

That was a helpful post! Thanks Felisa!

[TOMgirlApparel]

I agree 100% with what Felisa said. Major room for improvement on SEO there. Beyond that, you must continue to market your shop. It is an ongoing process and even when you are so busy you can't keep up, you still must plant the seeds for future harvest. There are many things you can do to market your shop beyond the typical social media aspects. Try pitching bloggers, advertising, think outside the realm of what everyone else is doing. Most of all, don't throw in the towel! You obviously have the makings of success, you just need to keep plugging away!

[RobinReNested]

Felisa,
I worked on a few of the listings last night, can you look at this one and see if the seo is good now?
https://www.etsy.com/listing/165723953/baby-nursery-decor-print-rocking-horse?ref=shop_home_active_1

[RobinReNested]

Tomgirl,
I do use social media quite often. I have not done the other, as I am older and pitching to blogs, etc is not something that I am familiar with. I will see what information I can find to read up on the subject.

I did remove about 70 of my listings last night. Maybe this will help me to be able to concentrate on the seo for the ones left.

[AttentionGetting]

Your shop is gorgeous. Your SEO does need work, especially your shop title which Google reads, and then carry those keywords into your shop announcement and categories.

It is tough to get coverage on wedding blogs as they want you as an advertiser and tend to focus on photographs from real weddings, but you need to be on Pinterest. That is the #1 social media site for wedding content.

[Former_Member]

Much improved! :)

I'd get rid of children as a tag and in the title. it's already included in the tags from your category selection. (i.e. see the first 2-3 tags are the ones that Etsy automatically inserts based on what categories you selected). That will give you another tag to play with.

Then I would use "Baby nursery decor" and "nursery decor print" rather than just "baby nursery" and "decor print". I think those should each fit in one tag. That will put you in the top group for more options. Any time you can fit three words in a tag, you should!!! It will put you in the top group for either the entire three word phrase or for portions of the tag also. i.e. you would be in the top group for each of "baby nursery", "baby nursery decor" and "nursery decor". With the way you have it set up now, you would not be in the first group for a search for baby nursery decor. I hope that makes sense!

After you change your listings, keep an eye on your stats for an item for a while and adjust any phrases that you aren't seeing much traffic on. And G.B. is right about revising your shop title for google SEO purposes. Your section titles look good though!

[Former_Member]

Oops. I meant shop announcement. Not title. Typing too fast....

[EchoLogicGoods]

Terrific thread and great shop Robin! Best wishes to you and thanks for all the helpful information everyone!

[RobinReNested]

Yes, that makes sense about the wording in that tag.
Thanks so much to all of you who are helping.

GB, I am on Pinterest and do get a few views from there.
Yea, I did contact one blog a long time ago and they wanted a crazy amount to be listed on it.

[Mzcarley]

My advice would be to try Wanelo.com it is like pinterest. But people can press a buy button and be sent right from Wanelo to your etsy store. Users can make collections that are like boards on pinterest and Stories that are like treasuries on Etsy. It is not a lot of work to have a wanelo account. It is a lot of fun being on Wanelo. Plus your stuff will get seen by people who might not normally shop on etsy.

[RobinReNested]

Thank you Carley, I will look into Wanelo. I have heard of it, but never checked it out.

[RobinReNested]

For all of you who are doing really well with seo, do you have any techniques? For example, I just learned the other day that if I copy and paste the title into the tag section, as long as they are separated with comas, hitting enter, pops them right in.
But here is my issue, I do that, some are too long, so then I change those and move things around. I end up not copying the title word for word, so that isnt good seo, correct?
Do you have any good secrets to getting those tags exactly like your title that would make it easier?

[Former_Member]

Love your shop - I'm new here but I think adding new items helps.