Sudden drop in traffic after bettering my shop!!!

[Former_Member]

So.... in the past 2 months, my shop has been dead. This has completely thrown me through a loop, or ten. One of the biggest reasons I'm so lost with the sudden fall of traffic is just before it happened I got advice from a number of different people on how to make my shop better. Clearer/better pictures, (Half way there) More relevant tags and titles, (SEO can always use more work... i know)) Edited policies and my profile. I've started to actually use my Facebook fan page, and pinning items on pinterest after uploading, posting in Team forums and making treasuries! them here I've even started to raise my prices to seam more reasonable for the materials I use... The only thing I haven't done is twitter.

But I did all this work to get more traffic into my shop to better it but it seams to have only gotten worse!!!I went from getting steady 50 views a day to suddenly dropping to about 10 views a day. Anyone have any thoughts or ideas. I'm getting really discouraged here.

I understand that Jewelry can be a difficult medium on etsy due to similar shops. But i just don't get how my shop got so bad so quick. :(

Has this happened to anyone?

[Former_Member]

You may get replies saying "I don't know what you mean, my shop is exploding!" but please rest assured that many MANY shops are struggling right now, for a couple of reasons: economic uncertainty is a big one, as is the huge influx of cheap mass-produced imports. Customers may be looking for bargains, or simply cutting back on luxuries.

I think you've already figured it out: jewelry is a really tough area. So, it requires more work than other areas. Sounds like you are doing the necessary promoting...it may take awhile to see the results of that.

Valentine's day should bring you sales in next couple of weeks!

[DustyDiggerLise]

Just my 2 cents, but I seem to get the most looks as I post new items, rather than from treasuries. Now that you have your shop largely the way you like it, maybe spend time creating and listing? You have some lovely things, btw. Good luck.

[Former_Member]

January is a downtime for most jewelry artists. Don't despair. Use this time to keep working on your shop. Joining and participating in a treasury team may help, too.

[Former_Member]

Lets hope. I have so much fun making jewelry But I'll be unable to 'feed my habbit' and create more items if I cant sell what I have I have nearly 100 items made but I don't want to post them all cause it's costing money to do so.

[NevermoreGifts]

My shop is slow too. I sell vintage items and a lot of vintage sellers keep saying "my shop is the busiest it' s ever been" but not mine. I think it's just the economy. I know I'm not shopping for myself right now except for food and necessities. Hopefully we'll all start feeling more secure financially in a few more weeks. I'd say go ahead and post more items because it'll equal more views for you. It costs money to make money, right?

[xoxocrocheted]

Lots of shops are slow now, don't worry about it! Maybe try going back to your old system of pictures/descriptions/etc for just a few listings. See how these do. If it works, then by all means go back to your old way! Good luck :)

[LittleRabbitJewelry]

I hear you too. I have a similar jewelry habit and concern about being able to sustain it. I can't give you any advice, since I average about 5-10 views a day no matter what I do. I am slowly but surely incorporating all the advice I have found, including better pics; 100 item benchmark; improving SEO; etc, but I see no results. It is discouraging, but I'm willing to hang in there at least until I've tried everything. I share your pain!!

[Former_Member]

Sammie: I have I have nearly 100 items made but I don't want to post them all cause it's costing money to do so.

It's $20 to post 100 items for 4 months to hundreds of thousands of viewers. Compare that to $50 to have a booth for 1 day at a craft fair (where I live).

You've already invested money in your stock....if nobody can see them, they can't sell....why not post 3 new items a day?

[Former_Member]

I get that. and unfortunately I have a budget for my crafting. And With our bills I cant pull out of my husbands paycheck to spare the $20 to put it towards listings.

[AttentionGetting]

Twitter won't help, it is more for business to business.

What you need is that one unique piece or trendy piece that can get you blog, magazine or newspaper editorial. It's free. That is the best way to get buyers. Traffic isn't always sales.

You are welcome to check out my marketing blog as I have advice there for anyone selling online. Can't put links in here but the url is on my profile and shop page.

Hang in there!

[Former_Member]

You seam to be finding all my discussions. ^_^ thanks a bunch for all your advice I'll check your blog now.

[seemomster]

You don't have to list them all at once. List one item a day. I always get lots of hits after I list something new. You can afford .20/day, right? Try that.

[Former_Member]

Sammie, here's your unique piece: you know your Valentine pandora bracelet? Do you have supplies to make a matching kid's one? There are very few "mother daughter valentine bracelets" listed right now....

Mother-daughter anything is hot. Also doll-and-me stuff (for American Girl type dolls).

Tags:
doll and me
daughter gift
daughter valentine
mom valentine
doll valentine
American Girl doll
doll jewelry
valentine jewelry
doll bracelet
valentine bracelet
red bracelet

[Former_Member]

D: Amazing idea and it will have to be something I keep in mind for next year or something.. I'm literally 3 silver beads short from making it work. And unfortunately It was a clearance item at my bead store. so i cant pick anymore of them up.

[CarolBradley]

Sammie,

I hope it doesn't hurt your feelings when I say that your photos could still use some work. Another Etsian posted an excellent quick-and-dirty photo tutorial on her website. It's at http://www.boo.myzen.co.uk/artisan.html . She explains everything much better than I ever could.

Hang in there and best wishes!

[HeritageCurrentCo]

January has been the slowest month I've had in *years*. It's crickets around here, and my shop was doing about a sale a day for quite some time before this.

I blame the falling-back-into-recession UK economy (I used to get lots of orders from there) and the fiscal cliff/debt ceiling/etc panic in the U.S.

It sucks, but I'm spending my time creating new items and trying to come up with new sources of revenue (and looking into going back to school for my master's...).

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

G.B. Oliver, your blog is fantastic! Will any of your ebooks apply to card shops? I don't actively market for weddings because of the quantity that's needed (time and supplies might be an issue). Is there an ebook you would suggest for my shop?

[Former_Member]

my shop is really slow too - its so frustrating. I don't know what else to do. any suggestions? I promote my store on my team sites daily, I also have fb and promote there - don't know what else to do

[TerraRhapsody]

I've not had much interest since Christmas either- it's the time of year, I think. However, I've been concentrating on making some new designs and photographing them so that I can begin adding them to my shop over the next few months when things start going better.

[Former_Member]

We got our now seemingly usual little burst of custom orders for wedding rings and such in early January, just like last year, and now it's pretty dead, just like it was this time last year. So I'm with the folks who are saying calendar trends and economic uncertainty. I look at views occasionally, but I don't rely on that for how I feel about the shop. And awhile back when we made a bunch of changes to the pics, things slowed down for a bit also, but then picked up later.

So, do give yourself some more time and try not to get obsessed with views; these will vary. The only consistent way I've seen to increase traffic and sales is to post new things or renew things regularly. That's the way Etsy's system makes you more visible.

Joanne, MMM shop manager

[Former_Member]

I am right there with yah :( I just started bettering my shop and it seems that my traffic is slowing down even more. I even purchased some advertising ads but it's still slow :( but I am not loosing hope.. I think maybe it's just that time of year. Hopefully it will pick up!

[QuirkyUniverse]

I've found that when I make changes or start a new line it takes some time for it to catch on. I would say a good month usually.

[CarrieStephensArt1]

Unfortunately every business comes with some kind of upfront expense :( It may be hard to spare the extra 20 dollars but, if you really want to make a go of it, you need to find another way to get those extra dollars (a few hours babysitting or doing an odd job for someone who needs help.) to add more products. With more products comes more views and more sales and eventually, you will have that money to invest because it will be coming from your shop. Unless you get REALLY lucky, it really is the only way.

[Former_Member]

Here's some advice that I was given that I will pass along:

*DON'T list your items all at once. Someone once told me you are getting promotion every time you list a new item right? (blast on facebook, twitter, posting in promotion teams, etc.) So if you add them all at once, you are essentially getting the promotion of one product at the cost of 20 - it makes more sense to slowly release those items individually rather than list them at the same time.

In fact, if you just post-and-run on facebook (I'm guilty of this) then you aren't taking advantage of the tools you already have. I have seen the sellers with the most success on Social Media sites is to engage their customers, not just post their new items, but also before you post, put out teasers announcing a new product is coming soon. You can also just post musings or thoughts, what you are working on at the moment, etc.. Turning your business page into a more personal one is the best chance at getting your customers to get excited about your products. Getting a customer base is important if you want to stay in business for the long term.

*If you changed something and you are getting less views, you need to figure out what that was and change it back. It could have been a small tweak in SEO that turned out to be a bad choice, none of us really know what you did to change so you will have to figure out that one.

*PHOTOS, PHOTOS, PHOTOS. I don't know how to say this so prepare for the non-sugar-coated version: Your photos need serious work. I mean SERIOUS "learn what makes great photography on Etsy" - work.

I have seen nothing in your shop that shows "Front Page worthy" photos and that should be your goal in the next few months. You don't want just okay photos, you want GREAT photos - - this is a challenge we all face and ultimately, the success of your photos will depend largely on your current skills and how much you are willing to learn about how to take great product photos.

Study the front page. People always complain that the FP is never diverse, but really those people aren't paying enough attention. I see diversity on the FP every day, but no matter what, the 'theme' is always the same: great photos, well lit items that aren't washed out (and of course, there's the 'whimsical photos' but that's a whole other topic, lol), great close up shots.

All in all, jewelry is the toughest category to get into. Not only do you have to have an awesome product that is desirable (and not something they can find at 1000+ other stores) but you also have to present it in a category with people who hire professionals to photo their products.

In order to compete, it's going to take some serious skill, and not everyone has that skill. Good luck!