Shop name changers, help!

[Former_Member]

I'm thinking about changing my shop name to something that makes more sense for the casual shopper (my shop name comes from the phonetic spelling of my name, but shoppers may just think I think my stuff is odd). The name I have in mind would be more boy and girl oriented and I have lots of ideas for how to brand. Before I do anything, though, I want to make sure people who have already found my shop as oddedesigns will be able to continue to find me, even if they don't know I've changed the shop name.

So, those of you who have changed your shop name: What were the positives? Any negatives? Did you experience a drop in traffic? Did people have a hard time finding you? Why did you change your shop name?

[Former_Member]

Anyone have any experience with this?

[iheartcharlie]

Hi Adyan I changed the name in my othershop earlier this year. If you change the name your old url will redirect as will typing the old name into search.

Can't answer if it's been an issue with traffic as I never had much in that shop anyway.

[HausofAriella]

I didn't have much traffic when I changed my name either, and I hadn't gotten to the point where people were searching for my shop by name. The only downside for me is that my username is still ariella42, so if people need your username for something (messaging you directly, searching for treasuries you've curated) then they have to know that. As far as I'm concerned, it wasn't much of a downside though especially when weighed against having a shop name that was really a shop name (instead of my handle on every other website in the known universe).

[Former_Member]

Thank you, Ariella and Libby.

I suppose I'm more worried about the google part of things. Etsy says it has a way to redirect. I'm going to see if I can find more about this in Help.

Any other thoughts/experiences?

[Former_Member]

Include the old shop name in some of your tags. Use variations of the spelling too. I've done that and I do occasionally see search hits come up for my shop name.

[Former_Member]

That's a great idea, Judy! I already use tags for my name now, but I didn't think about using the old name if I change it.

[Former_Member]

I want to just do this NOW! I have these great ideas for new clothing labels, banner, packaging...of course it will cost money I don't have, and waste business cards I just bought. Argh!