Why you are not getting found newbies

[#1]

Things are tough when your category has 2,000,000 items, and you have 40.
You must do everything possible to give yourself a chance to be found. I dont see that in threads compalining about low views.
And, it isnt that hard, nor does it take much time to have good tags and titles. Ignore all that constant "tweaking" noise you read about. Do it right the first time, and you can spend the tweaking time making things.

I have learned the following from the Queen of SEO:

1.Your title is not the name of your item. It is a 70 character string whose goal is to get your item found by etsy search.

2. If you cant tell exactly what the item is by reading your tags, your tags stink. Those words are what people search on. If I had a dime for every purple necklace that had neither purple nor necklace in the tags, I would have a lot of dimes.

3. Words in your title must show up in your tags. If Blue scarf is in your title, blue scarf needs to be in your tags.

4. Use as many of the 20 characters in your tags as possible. Blue scarf as one tag is better than blue, then scarf as two tags.

5.Read about SEO at cindys seo group. she is very wise. http://www.etsy.com/teams/10713/cindylouwho-team/discuss/10196168/

the end

[Former_Member]

andre lee from brooklyn:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/kowaikuma
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Oh! I saw your list of questions. I will answer them here:

what is the goal for your etsy store?
I'd like to have my etsy store as a full time business but I'm giving it until the end of the holidays to see where it's going. 

how long have you made stuff?
I started posting items since end of year last year but not regularly. I am trying to add couple new listings per week now. 

have you sold elsewhere before you opened on etsy?
I have done a few hoilday fairs and customers always asked if I sold online. That's why I started the etsy store. 

how well do you think you will do here?
I think my items are unique and well-crafted, so I thought I would do well but now I'm having doubts. 

how well do you hope you will do?
I still hope that things will turn for the better in November!
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took a peek, and it is Hammer Time.

Time for the Come To Jesus Talk.

You say you want this to be your full time job, yet you are only going to give it 2 months.
That shows a total lack of commitment. I cant even hold those two ideas in my head at the same time without them fighting.
Are you willing to do what is necessary to make this your full time?
Riding out the year aint gonna get that done.
Nothing will turn around unless you turn them around. You have competition here. You only have 33 items. You have worked on the seo of some items, and not others. Partial commitment will bring partial results. That is an immutable law of the universe. Trust me, I have tested it. I fought that law and the law won.

so.... Everything necessary to fix what aint working can be found in the 64 pages in this thread, and over at the cindylou seo team. It is all there, and all free.

You can show me that your commitment is consistent with your goals if you apply these things to your shop. Or you can tell me to fuck off.

If you do these things, come back and tell me and I will take a good long look.
Otherwise, I am wasting my time.

[Former_Member]

And I may be an old dog, but I'm not THAT old, ya whippersnapper !
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this is in freaking sane

I am going to google something and I looked at a teeny picture in the corner, and it is the late great Bob Ross doing a palette knife painting !!!!

i dont know whether to shit or go blind.

inside joke between matt and me

[ninedragons]

Man. I went to bed too early on Friday night and missed all the fun. I'll go take a few laps around the dining room table in honor of...but flat out refuse to turn on Lifetime.

Wonder why I keep thinking about The Witches of Eastwick...I'll be working on my titles and tags again tomorrow - and the day after that - and the day after that...

[mattsart]

I always thought Bob Ross had the most awesome hair, and I heard he used to poke smart AND dumb girls, but only with his palette knives when they were dipped in magic white.

[Former_Member]

I totally agree Matt, Bob Ross did have the best hair ever!!! His voice was so soothing too!

[Former_Member]

Didn't he always paint happy little trees and mouuntains and stuff? I remember that dude!

[mattsart]

Yep, but the "happy little trees" thing actually came from William Alexander who taught BR everything he knew. William was a portly guy with a thick German accent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRZBrdMuzBY

[Former_Member]

HA! I love his sound effects, and how he talks to the painting.

[Former_Member]

Matt, I love acrylic myself!! But there is a fairly new product that is a mix, they are called water based oils. They've been out for 5-10 years. I haven't used them myself, but my mom is all about them. I just love my acrylics and can't convert. I can't stand the dry times with oils. I am a bit impatient with that part of painting. I can sit in a chair so focused for hours and finish a painting in a day if I'm truly inspired, but with oils it just isn't possible. At least not the way I like to paint!

[SwanboroughPrints]

Well now......is anyone out there..????
This is the third time I have posted a question....but nobody has noticed....would love to know why????

Am I being too quiet...am I being too noisy....who knows???

Oct 28th and Oct 27th........
Minnie

[Former_Member]

Hi Minnie,
It could be that no one has the answer to your question...... When Alex started this thread it was for Title, tags and SEO. From what I can see there are several that posted asking for a "tags" critique that are still waiting. There is a lot of really good information all thru this thread to read while we wait.

Then he posted this and asked us to answer some questions:
...................................................................................................

I have thought of ending this quite a few times. But, doing these has caused me to reflect on my journey and about all the people who have helped me along the way. And they all have been women. Shop owners, show directors, family, friends, gallery owners, guild members. And I am a beef eating, beer drinking, sports lovin, cuss word using manly man.
So, I will continue,

However, there are some things I need to know about you.

what is the goal for your etsy store?

how long have you made stuff?

have you sold elsewhere before you opened on etsy?

how well do you think you will do here?

how well do you hope you will do?

some of those are scary to mention out loud

be bold
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Hopefully someone has an answer for you as for myself I have no idea, sorry.

[Former_Member]

Hey Millie you may find your answer on this team ....there are a few discussions on renewing and relisting. This lady really knows her stuff!

http://www.etsy.com/teams/10713/cindylouwho-team

[Former_Member]

Wonder why I keep thinking about The Witches of Eastwick...I'll be working on my titles and tags again tomorrow - and the day after that - and the day after that...
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me too, especially the ending

so...

what color hair do you have?

[Former_Member]

Well now......is anyone out there..????
This is the third time I have posted a question....but nobody has noticed....would love to know why????

Am I being too quiet...am I being too noisy....who knows???

Oct 28th and Oct 27th........
Minnie
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The problem is you havent read much in this thread. If you had you would know these things:

1. there are a lot of people I havent gotten to

2. I am not on your payroll

3. You havent applied much of what I said in the very first post

everything you need to know has already been said. I am not going to do the work for you. Do you care enough about your business to go find what you need?

What I said back there to andre applies to quite a few of you. All you need to know is at your feet.
Pick it up.

[Former_Member]

I have been working really hard on my tags and descriptions as well. However I'm still getting very few views and even less found through search. What am I doing wrong? Overall how does my shop look?

[Former_Member]

2. I am not on your payroll

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Very true! And DO read this thread...it's very helpful and f'in hilarious. You'll laugh, you'll cringe, you'll learn.

[Former_Member]

Ok, show weekend is over, I've caught up on the thread and have deduced the following:
a) Romo is doomed as long as Jerry Jones refuses to hire a real coach that will tell him (Jerry) to just shut up, sign the checks and let the coach run things.

b) The Giants play better in our new Jerry-Palace than the Cowboys do. (They beat us in the opening game in the new stadium and I don't think they've ever lost here since.)

c) The world is a little less colorful without Bob Ross & his happy trees. He was the Fred Rogers of painting. And I liked Fred Rogers.

d) Alex may poke smart girls with pointy sticks and he truly IS the BIG BOSS MAN of helping us get our acts together, but I would postulate that underneath that manly man exterior he has a Lifetimey soft center that is all heart. If not, he's at least pissed off enough at the resellers to want true handmaders to get off our asses and be great so we can keep Etsy...Etsy.

Now I need to get back to my shop, delete the items that sold at my show (yay!) and renew a clump that expired - Alex style. My initial thought was to leave the shop alone til I got my Alex critique so he could see where I was, Pre Alex, but I see now that I would be a fool to do so. And even Chip Foose would need more than a week for the Overhaul I need. The second shop is even worse. Don't even go there Alex. I'm hanging my head in shame. And getting to work.

[Former_Member]

1. there are a lot of people I havent gotten to

2. I am not on your payroll

3. You haven't applied much of what I said in the very first post

everything you need to know has already been said. I am not going to do the work for you. Do you care enough about your business to go find what you need?

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this is EXACTLY how I feel about my thread Alex!!!

Mostly said and done, no one wants to read and apply.

[Former_Member]

1. there are a lot of people I havent gotten to

2. I am not on your payroll

3. You haven't applied much of what I said in the very first post

everything you need to know has already been said. I am not going to do the work for you. Do you care enough about your business to go find what you need?

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this is EXACTLY how I feel about my thread Alex!!!

Mostly said and done, no one wants to read and apply.
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Since I wasnt aware of you when I was in Chicago, I want you to come to PGH and take pictures of all my stuff. For free. And I want you to give me that bison bag.
I would look so bad ass with that. I have shoes that match

[Former_Member]

LOL!!! Funny as always!

[Former_Member]

alex from woodenaht says

i watched the video
it all makes sense now
no fat guys needed

you will be succesful no matter what you try, so I will watch you and claim credit, unless sylvia beats me to it
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Credit given! I'm going to keep the eye on you as well!

Alex thanks so much for the critique! You had me sweating there (that's a physical change not quite a chemical reaction btw).

[Former_Member]

I will do a few more before I wrap things up with Big Picture stuff for those of you who are looking for etsy to make a difference in your lives.

Sylvia from "somewhere" in New York state.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AlbinaRose

I know sylve from elsewhere. Much of what i read here and elsewhere is just words on the screen. Sylvies words have a warm glow for me.

sylvia makes girlie stuff

she changed her avatar pic. Pretty smokin. Sylvie lies about her age.
In the wrong direction. If you get tired of this etsy stuff, I think you have a future as a centerfold for AARP magazine.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/112341300/dangle-earrings-wire-crochet-earrings

I would like to see these worn by a hot chick. Know any?
It would help cuz I aint familiar with them.
I would not search on "fantasy" to find these earrings.
I would search on "fantasy earrings", only 6k in there. good place to be, n'est ce pas ?
"copper" is really big no matter how you work it. copper wire earrings may be your best bet
otherwise, lookin good

I want to rip out your woodwork and make frames out of it.

your titles are really good. I am afraid to use commas, as I dont often put a space after them. that is bad

http://www.etsy.com/listing/112606772/cuff-bracelet-gypsy-rag-cuff-bracelet?ref=v1_other_1

bridal, wedding, romantic are gettin paid for not working

how bout "vintage look wedding" it fits, fort pitt

"romantic wedding"
"pink bridal cuff"

your good, but there is still a little meat on the bone. You are Jim Kelly, but you can be Terry Bradshaw. I have a great Mark Kelso story I will tell ya sometime.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/94555482/wire-crochet-pure-white-bridal-fairy

my fave, hands down

I want to see them on you or a model wearing a very pale pink dress in soft focus.
and
"white lace earring" might make a good tag, as that is what they are and is worth 5 tags,

do you use Ren Fair Jewelry in any item? i dint see none.

i do see a lot of incremental changes that will help you, none on their own, but collectively indeed. You can do it while you are waiting for the AARP talent scout to call.

[TOMgirlApparel]

minnie swanborough from swanboroughprints says
OK Need some advice quickly, before I leave and quit.

My sales have plummeted...and similar shops selling same items seem to be ok-ish.
I have checked tags - titles - paid for search ads - now using statsy and clockbot - and nothing....
I have had sales, my last one from a twice returning customer...thank the Gods.
I really am finding it difficult to find a good catagory to add my prints into without finding millions of other images swamping mine .
Re-listing is the latest ploy....which I admit sounds good....but should I do it direct from Etsy, and that would mean missing out on some time zones, and spending hours just sitting at the computer - refreshing and relisting

Any advice friends..??
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Hi Minnie!

I just searched Etsy for "natural history art" and tried to think like a buyer. I compared your item:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/110970032/vintage-branch-coral-art-print-8-x-10

with this item that came up in search:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/113443109/vintage-red-sea-coral-plate-1-natural

I think your competition's print has more depth and is more interesting. It is also cheaper and cheaper shipping. I am NOT advocating cheaper prices, i am just telling you how I would be thinking if I was looking to buy something like this. I would choose the second one for these reasons.

Also, look at their shop. Their banner perfectly blends with their images and creates a noticeable brand. Overall, I think your prints are better, but I think they have a nicer looking shop. I would change your banner. Change your avatar also to match.

They have a buy 3 get 1 free. They tag a bunch of different ways
Art > Print > Giclee
Art > Collage > Print
Art > Print > Digital
etc.
Do you? I didn't check all of your tags.

I would change your shop announcement, put "Natural History and Decorative Art" before "Swanborough Prints".

I think you need to take a hard look at the comp and see why a buyer would choose theirs over yours. Good luck :)

[Former_Member]

Ok so I know i have miles to go to get my shop fixed up (the to do list gets overwhelming after reading this thread) . I want my shop to be a source of steady income for my little family but in the year and a half that i have had it open i havent been able to devote as much time as i wanted to the shop (full time jobs and planning weddings are stupid) and the whole relevancy thing has gone out the window for me. Now my full time job is 3, 13 hour days per week so i have plenty of time to spend on the shop so im getting back in top shape.
I asked for a review a few pages back but got lost in the hundreds others that are asking. Which is ok as i have read the rest of the thread and for the most part have a good idea of what i need to do. The real question that i have now is about my pictures, i know i dont use all 5 but the ones i do have show as many angles as i can think of for my products ( im working on filling in the blanks with pics of models holding/wearing my stuff). But the ones i do have are clear and bright . Is it better to use a plain white backround like most do or is it ok to have a natural backround? I've tried a few different things and im not sure. If you get time would you take a look and let me know what you think PLEASE?

[Tafipiri]

Hello, I was reading some of the advice and I would love if you can help me. I'm not getting so many views at the moment. I just changed the titles to see if that can help. What do you think? I would really appreciate any advice and constructive criticism.
Thank you :)