*Shop Critique Game*

[Former_Member]

Since sales and traffic seem to be slow this week I thought it'd be fun to start a new game that focuses on improving our shops!! All you do is visit the shop above you and leave a reply with 1 thing they're doing well on and 1 thing you think they could improve upon. Quick and easy feedback!

[Former_Member]

The lighting in your photos is nice; you can see the items clearly.

The resolution on your shop banner makes it seem a bit "foggy." Perhaps if there is some way to sharpen the image and the words it would help.

Nice shop!

[SusiesBoxes]

You banner is good. The lighting in your pictures is good and you show different angles. However, for some of the dolls, you don't use all 13 tags. Even if it's hard to think of more tags, I would use all of them to maximize your SEO - search engine optimization.

G0od job!

[Former_Member]

SusiesBoxes are beautiful! The photographs are clear and well done. The only improvement I could think of is to see more items! Great Job. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.

[Former_Member]

Susan,

You have cute items, but it's hard to pay attention to them since the backgrounds are kind of busy. For items such as your "Purple Flower Garden Box w/ Bee OOAK," you might want to include terms such as "tin box," "metal box" or "decorative box" in your title and tags. Also, your box is green, so you might want to put that in your title, as well as your technique, which appears to be decoupage or some type of collage.

As for your tags, you have tags such as "children" and "leaves," which don't entirely describe your item. Tags such as "metal box" or "garden decor" might be able to fit what a buyer is actually searching for. If I searched "leaves" and saw a metal box, I would feel confused. Tags such as "Christmas gift" and "seasonal" sort of contradict "spring" and "leaves" since those are opposite seasons.

These are just my opinions as both a buyer and seller. Of course, get feedback from others, as well!

Aman

[Former_Member]

CrazyBagGirl.,
Your photos with the white backgrounds are nice. I would work on your titles a bit. I've heard the first 5 words are the most important. So for instance in this listing:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/78613629/funky-moon-and-stars-cotton-clutch-bag

I would say, "Clutch Bag Cotton - Funky Moon and Stars"

Best of Luck

[Former_Member]

Hi Natasha!

I love your banner. One thing you could work on is some of your pictures. Most of them are bright and clear, but then some are a bit dim.

[Former_Member]

Aman - Oops look like we both posted at the same time. Your shop looks great, no real critique. I sometimes find the inclusion of Handmade in the title to be redundant.

[JoArtyJo]

Aman-

Your shop is stunning as always! Your photos are so professional and beautiful- the overall "feel" of your shop is awesome, I love it!

I *really* struggled to find a tip, but came up with the idea of more backlinks in your descriptions. I see you link back to your shop, but how about kinks to similar cards, relevant sections and so on. Maybe- you may like to kook at the rest of my valentines cards! -link- and so on.

Keep up the fab work this is clearly what you are meant to do!

[Former_Member]

Nadine,

It looks like we were both typing up Susan's critique at the same time!

You have very detailed work in your shop!

Some of your titles have more adjectives than nouns, such as: "Glitzy Red and Black Lace fully lined zippered evening bag with crystal and jet wrist handle"

Buyers tend to search first by noun, then adjective. For instance, I would be more likely to search for "evening bag" or "red clutch," and less likely to search for "glitzy red and black" or "fully lined zippered."

I would suggest a title with commas, similar to this: Glitzy Red Black Evening Bag, Fully Lined Clutch, Handmade Purse or Handbag (This is just an example of the structure I would use).

Search is based off of "exact match" so it's important to put terms in order by which they will be searched (the search engine doesn't "unscramble" the words in your title). If I searched "red evening bag," my top results would have those words in that order in both the title and tags (go ahead, try it!).\

It also helps to have the same keyword *phrases* in both the title and tags to optimize relevancy ranking. For more info, there are a bunch of articles in the Etsy Seller Handbook, as well as countless blog and forum posts online!

I hope this helps. As always, these are just my own suggestions.

Aman

[Former_Member]

Hey i got skipped! lol

[LaraLeib]

I'll critique you! Checking out your shop...

[JoArtyJo]

Candace- it's all moving too fast! Can someone do me please? ;-)

[sunshineandvodka]

Candace, Your policies and profile are excellent, in addition to your banner. It would be great to see your items on a manequin or person to see how they fit. Might be a good investment to consider. Post as many pictures of the details of the product like you would do when you're touching it. Sleeves, front/back etc..

Looks like some great vintage items! Good luck and Merry Christmas!

[LaraLeib]

Hey Candace,

Love your shop! The photos are great and at first glace I definitely want to poke around. One suggestion I'd make is to divide up your shop sections. You have the most clothing, so maybe split it into skirts, tops, jackets? One more suggestion is to use five photos for each item! Your initial photos are great, but once I click on an item I want to see all angles - so you may as well take the opportunity and use all of the photos you can!

[sunshineandvodka]

Joanne,
Great shop, love the artwork.... the best pictures are the products being held... if nothing else, just because it adds color and gives your drawings more life to them than the PDF files.... love the work!

[sunshineandvodka]

sorry, i posted twice just to make sure everyone got a "critique"... ;) no artist left behind ;)

[LaraLeib]

Paulette - will do you too to make sure you're covered, and hope someone critiques me as well!

Checking out your shop...

[LaraLeib]

Paulette,

Love your photos, and cute ideas to dress up a gift and make a gift card personal. I'd suggest listing other uses for the holders (business cards, change purse) so people associate them with longer use than giving the gift. I'd also add your Facebook link to each listing, because you reference it but don't give people a way to immediately find you.

Hope this is helpful!

[MayhemHere]

Jordana....

I love your shop.. Your items are adorable, I think you should keep a simple background on your photos...

like these

http://www.etsy.com/listing/88277225/custom-tissue-box-holder-wood-with

especially with the Art pieces.. I helps people see it better without getting lost in the background.

I would also maybe flip my titles around just a bit

http://www.etsy.com/listing/83602394/paper-collage-multi-flower-blue-frame

instead maybe put Framed Multi Blue Flower Paper collage

It just sounds better I think.. otherwise your shop looks lovely

[Former_Member]

Hi Jordana -

Your collages are beautiful! I particularly love this photo:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/83610247/flower-collages-custom-11x14?ref=v1_other_2

because the flowers make such a strong graphic statement against the white background.

You may want to take a look at your tags and repeating your listing title in the first line of your body copy.

With the change to relevancy search, the formula seems to be:

Listing Title
Repeat listing title in 1st line of body copy (simple cut and paste will do the trick here!)
Then repeat the title in your tags first, so for this listing the tags could be "flower collage" "custom collage" "11x14" or some variation on those four elements - flower, collage, custom and 11x14.

I'm not really sure how or why doing it this way works, but it usually will to move your listing closer to the top of the listings.

[sunshineandvodka]

Great feedback, thanks!

[ScytheAndStemFarm]

PopQuiz -

Your pictures are AMAZING! Very crisp, and your shop has great visual integrity as a whole, as well. Your tags and titles seem quite good.

Your avatar fits so nicely, I would like to see a banner that is a little more tailored to your shops - oh, the possibilities! The one you have looks a little generic to me, and doesn't quite match up to the great visuals that your avatar and pictures offer.

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

Hi Abbey,

First, let me say I absolutely love your jewelry!

You descriptions are wonderful, very detailed - great for a buyer. Your banner is very creative and professional.

I would, though, like to see pictures of the backs of the pieces. This comes from someone with very sensitive skin and I am always worried jewelry like this might be "itchy".

Happy Holidays!!

[MayhemHere]

man i think i got skipped