getting some help -- and where to start

ok -- so the holidays are over, and it's time to start thinking about your shop for 2014.

let me be honest with you right up front - - i need a break.  lol.  i am hugely grateful for the growth in my shop this past year, but a little down time sounds nice too. ;) let me also say, early on in this new journey together -- i don't have all the answers -- i'm learning like everyone else.  my plan for this blog is to share some things with you that i have found helpful -- but it is a TEAM blog -- so the team should be involved in it.  i hope to have plenty of opportunities for you to share what works for you and others can give it a try.    please remember - on the team page on etsy there is always a monthly discussion thread for help with any questions or advice -- the light is always on, and a pot of coffee ready.

anyway -- lol, went off on a tangent ;)

so today i went in to my shop and looked around - deactivated a bunch of christmas items (do you leave them up all year???) switched my banner -- and decided to look around at my settings and such.

if you haven't done that in awhile you may want to start there -- is your shop taking advantage of the free google ad placement?  do you have your facebook and twitter accounts linked up?

then -- for the heck of it, i clicked on the etsy apps  i haven't looked around in there in some time -- there are lots of things to play with and look at -- some are free, some are paid services -- some may be helpful, some a waste of your time --- but there are lots of things to check out -- tools to help manage your shops - to help in promoting --emailing customers, you name it -- you can probably find it.

in the comment section below -- or on the team discussion thread -- what outside apps, programs, etc do you use to help with your shop, with promotion, etc?

one of the apps i like to use is buffer.  i see from looking at the etsy app page that there are other sites that do this too --- basically, you can go into this app and set up tweets, and facebook posts to post automatically.  this was helpful for me during the busy christmas and holiday season -- i could sit down and write the posts all at once - and set the time and day, and not have to worry about it.

so -- are there things that make life a little easier for you -- share them below! :)

until next time -- happy handcrafting :)

--d

Tags and Keywords

Tags and Keywords and their importance...By using them effectively--- this is how others find your shop and the items in them. This is how you get much needed exposure. This is how others find your items for treasuries. Team Tags are super important!

As I was wandering around our member pages.. there are quite a few of you that do not use Team tags in your descriptions. How do you expect other team members to find you? I for one, do not have the time in my day to go through each of  the members page and check the shops for items that I want in my treasury. With a team tag- I just have to do a search for that tag and find the shops/items that way-- so much easier. 

Another problem I have seen is that there are some of the shops that use the same tag over  again. Like "PLUS Size", "Plus SIZE" &  "plus size" (notice the caps or not)... what? They have just wasted a tag(s). When in doubt-- add in a team tag! 

Also-- you are allowed 13 Tags-- USE them all. It can only help you.  Sometimes, I run out of descriptive adjectives for my items... and then you will see some items that pretty much have all my team tags in them!

Check your stats to see what others are looking for.. take your cue from them. If customers are searching for "Teal" shirts and you sell "Turquoise" Shirts... Change your tags to include "Teal"!  

What you might think is obvious-- might not be to someone searching. Try to think in those terms. Also a tag that just says "Big".. is a waste.. Something more like "Big Bath Towel" would be better. You are allowed 20 letters in your tags. Use them. By doing this.. (Big Bath Towel) you have just put 3 tags into 1 and effectively described what you are selling. Use your caps to seperate the words.

 

Also the Etsy help page is very good if you get stuck for a description. Here are some sites to help:

http://www.etsy.com/help/article/483

 

http://www.etsy.com/search-ads/keywords#list-n 

(this is just an interesting page.. might help you decide which words to used based on the prices that Etsy sets them at).

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/make-your-shop-more-relevant/

 

http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/internet/google-ranking-factors.htm

ttfn, Linda/The Homespun Loft