Only 2 sales: what can I do better?

[Former_Member]

I opened my shop December 30, 2013 and have had only 2 sales.

I have had 1,332 views, 282 "favoritings" and the Peek review I got was positive. I added PayPal today - otherwise I only had Direct Checkout. I have checked my tags on Statsy and Etsy Gadget - and they seem pretty usable.

So, if anyone could take the time to visit my shop and let me know what I could do better or differently, I would feel blessed.

[Former_Member]

Keep adding more items.

You arent putting the phrases in your title into their own tag very well.

You have shamballa bracelet and yoga bracelet in several titles, but not in one tag.You have to do that to appear in an early search page.

you have "buddhist prayer beads bracelet" in a title
but
neither buddhist prayer beads or prayer beads bracelet in one tag.

you have to do that to be found.

[Former_Member]

I think that the dashes (-) and 'and''s and other symbols (& , ) that you're putting in the title may make it less desirable to show up on the first pages of a search.
Using simpler titles with periods in between work better. Personally I would change from this, "Larvikite, garnet, amethyst & cat's eye glass wrist mala bracelet - Tibetan silver spacer beads - Lampwork top bead - prayer bead bracelet"
To this: "Glass Bracelet. Mala Bracelet. Larvikite. Garnet. Amethyst. Cats Eye. Tibetan Beads. Silver Spacer Beads."

You could change it up on just a couple listings and watch the stats to see which ones are getting found more.

Good Luck! Great photos!

[Former_Member]

Thank-you both - I will try both of these suggestions. <3

[Sewmuchfunstuff]

I think what you have is nicely photographed and pretty. Can you make another type of jewelry, say necklaces or earrings? My sales seemed to increase when I added new designs to my shop. Just a thought.

[Former_Member]

Thank-you, Wendy. I think I will try making some traditional 108 bead malas as necklaces or wrap bracelets. I am just afraid that they might be too expensive!

[PotteryLodge]

@Lilly

I use (-) dashes in my titles and have no problem with my listings getting on the first page of search. I did notice in Mugen's titles there are no spaces between the dashes..Perhaps add spaces, wait a few hours, then start searching for your listings on Etsy to see what pages they are being shown on. Also make sure you are repeating your title in your tags.

Also wanted to add that the commas in your titles don't look very appealing. I would get rid of them and opt for dashes instead.

[Former_Member]

@Casi: There are spaces before and after the dashes, at least on my laptop. I wonder why you do not have them? If I don't have spaces, then all the words will just run together.

I have now gone through all my titles and tags and only a very few didn't have the same words used. I have corrected that! I get hit at the 20 space minimum for some of it, however.

I'll take a look at the commas. I'm not quite sure how to re-work the titles to get rid of the commas when I use more than one material in the body of the mala. I use dashes to separate materials that have different functions and to signify alternate item titles.

[Former_Member]

this is why the comma is the superior punctuation mark

it only takes two spaces, and if you forget to add one after it, no biggie search adds a space where the comma was.
if you use as much as the title space as possible, that extra space can crowd out a keyphrase. Which can cost you traffic, which can cost you sales.

[Former_Member]

@alex: that makes sense!

I kind of intuited that the Peek reviewer was confused how item titles were given. The titles aren't very poetic or concise --- they just seem to be a method to maximize hits.

[Former_Member]

I keep referring to Peek: here is the review:
peek.usertesting.com/result/01430449901?autoplay=true

And here is the thread:
https://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/discussions/discuss/13944142/page/6

[Former_Member]

I kind of intuited that the Peek reviewer was confused how item titles were given. The titles aren't very poetic or concise --- they just seem to be a method to maximize hits.
............................

ding!

Your title is a grouping of phrases that you think buyers will type into the search box. Not the name you call your piece. Not a string of adjectives or nouns.

etsy search is based on word matching.

i heard about the peek. A person on my team started that thread. Many of those reviewers had never heard about etsy.

[PrayerNotes]

Hi Mugen!
The title and tags are important, but you have to get your items in front of folks. I just learned this recently and my sales peaked! I set up a pinterest, facebook and twitter account. I visit blogs daily leaving indepth comments that have nothing to do with my shop, with a link back to my blog, which showcases an etsy mini shop. I joined teams and participated in their games....Also, I have about 400 items in m shop which has helped, too.

[WintergreenDesign]

I would also move the word "bracelet" to within the first three words of your titles as that is what most people (at least within north america, australia, uk) will search for... the first three words are used for the Google/Etsy search. Your stuff is beautiful... good luck : )

[Former_Member]

Thank-you so much, Cynthia and Christa.

Easy enough to move words around... I'll get to that ASAP.

I have a FB acct. for Indra's Net - and today I got on to Pinterest. Seems like the latter is going to take up a lot of time to do correctly. On FB, I've kind of stagnated - I've been in the 130's for months now. Guess I need help all around.

Blogging - I'll get to that after I re-take and upload more photos. I have about 200 malas lying in front of me.

[Former_Member]

In addition to the really great advice you have received so far . . . .

Malas may not be a popular keyword used in searches on Etsy or on Google. Adding more popular keywords to each listing such as, "jasper bead bracelet" and/or "green beaded bracelet" will attract more viewers who are not aware of malas but might just like the pretty green beaded bracelet.

Use keywords that shoppers really do use when they search for items like yours, not just words that you and other Etsy sellers think that shoppers might use, such as a list of materials used in the bracelet. Most jewelry shoppers are not aware of all the materials that are used in jewelry making and, in most cases, do not care.

[Former_Member]

Mary, is it ONLY the first three words that are captured in google and Etsy searches? Or do all of the words end up counting?