Sunday, October 2, 2011

No Views - Low Views - Relevancy - What's Up With Etsy ?

Above ... from the side you can see how thick and substantial the sterling bail and Awareness Ribbon is. It came from a high end jewelers' supply source and is no cheap pendant.
Etsy has been a strange bag of beans lately.  Views are way down and it is hard to believe that a big site such as Etsy can't generate a healthy flow of traffic for it's many shops.  A few days ago I listed a lovely pendant and after several days it has had only 5 views.  I don't know exactly how Etsy defines it's new "relevancy" system but it does not seem to be working, at least not for a vast majority of Etsians myself included.

Since October is breast cancer awareness month I made up a very special necklace using a beautiful, genuine rose quartz and sterling silver pendant. 
Above ... pretty in pink.
With so much sterling in the necklace, from the heavy sterling pendant, to sterling silver clasp, crimp beads, crimp bead covers, and even jumprings there was a small fortune invested in supplies.

I decided the heart pendant would look lovely on a jet black necklace but instead of going with a simple cord I strung 3 strands of 11/0 Delica jet black, hex cut seed beads and attached them via sterling crimps (and 49 strand 14 weight AccuFlex beading cable). All in all what I'm saying is I tried so hard to make this a truly special piece for a very special cause and I feel so defeated when I see that it has sat there completely invisible to the public.
Photo below ... the back of necklace with solid sterling silver heart clasp.  This clasp is solid, not hollow or concave on one side, it is flanked on both sides by my handcrafted links featuring Czech firepolished faceted beads ... in pale pink of course.


Above ... I forgot about the translucency of the rose quartz and should not have laid the pendant across the jet black seed bead strands as it tends to show through this translucent stone.

I realize that there are a ton of jewelry makers out there and that Etsy has more than it's share of them on their website but still the Internet has a huge audience, millions of people world-wide.  So only 5 views in several days ? What's going on with that ?

13 comments:

  1. I know how disheartening it is. Since Etsy switched from recency to relevency we have to focus on the tags and titles of each item. I would suggest playing around with them to see if you can land this piece on the first page of search results. Maybe this will help
    http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/putting-your-shop-on-top-etsy%E2%80%99s-most-relevant-search/

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  2. Annette, thank you. I'll check out that link and see if I can learn anything new. Old dogs are hard to teach. :)

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  3. I tweeted it. That should at least bring some views and hopefully lead to a sale!

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  4. Thank you again Annette - you're truly a blog-Angel. :)

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  5. It has been a challenge to get views on Etsy, and I have spent weeks changing all my titles and tags to be more relevant.

    Here is another link with good info on making your shop more relevant on Etsy. http://www.handmadeology.com/the-etsy-relevancy-breakdown-free-report-and-checklist/
    I hope this helps.

    Your necklace is truly beautiful!

    Valerie
    Everyday Inspired

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  6. I just added it as a favorite & was already thinking I'll probably be doing a Breast Cancer Awareness treasury this week so you bet this will be included! Its a gorgeous piece my friend!

    I have recently had the pleasure of reading a SLEW of business tip articles, books, blogs (too many to list all the links here I apologize!) and the top tips for listing now are:

    1) SEO - Make it your best friend! Use Keywords in your title and the first couple lines of your item description. So this one You might title - Breast Cancer Awareness Month Feature Pendant Rose Quartz and Ribbon; then use all of the key phrases in your first couple sentences. Google searches pick them up and they appear more relevant that way.

    2) I'd move your 2nd pic to the first pic slot, both are nice close ups but the 2nd one is more clear what the item is.

    3) Promote the heck out of your items! This post is a great way to start because just being in your circle I'd have missed this listing if I wasn't on at the right time. But have a FB page/post on your personal wall (yes everything, your friends should support you!!!) and definitely have a twitter account. My views go up by like 65% when I tweet the item.

    4) Join some teams, promote each other, have guest bloggers, follow, etc. and number one most important networking tool -- make & comment on treasuries. The dual exposure is awesome when you inform the seller they're in a treasury.

    Long winded I know but I thought the advice I've gotten lately could help a lot of people to increase their sales/views so hopefully it is useful!

    I love your items my friend, it just takes time, patience and perseverance plus a LOT of social media networking and you'll be getting views and sales, your work is so beautiful there's no way you won't! ♥

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  7. Lovely necklace! I'm with you on the low views etc...it's kind of hard to "get found" sometimes...very frustrating!

    I liked the old etsy set up much better.

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  8. Thank you each and every one. I'll certainly try out your good suggestions and advice. I need all the help I can get.

    AdditionsStyle - I'll be sure to check out that link. Thank you.

    Jenn - Wow what a ton of wonderful information.
    I'll definietly be trying a lot of your great advice. And thanks so much for thinking of me for your next treasury ... I am going to switch the photos around on that listing per your suggestion. :)

    Meeling - I know. Etsy has gone through too many changes too quickly. It would have been best to impliment one or 2 changes and wait and see how they panned out before doing more. :(
    I guess I will always miss the old etsy forums the most. The old Promotions Forum really did work to get views and favored. Putting promo into teams just is not cutting it.

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  9. Hey Anna, first congrats on your first sale that must feel good :)

    Your necklace is so pretty, hearted it just now and I see about 18 views so it is improving. :)

    Etsy has been so confusing recently and I have really struggled with it all for the past year, but with the new search ads, I think things are going to get very difficult for the people who do not sell well on Etsy.

    I guess we will see how the holiday season goes.

    I wish you well, cheers, T. :)

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  10. I don't have anything to add on the Etsy front, other than I have always found Etsy frustrating when looking for stores, people, particular pieces, limiting my search to price ranges, colors, etc...

    What I really wanted to say is that it is a very well done necklace. I love that clasp. The stone is beautiful. The sterling ribbon bail is gorgeous. I like the beads instead of a ribbon. It is a beautiful piece.

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  11. That clasp is completely gorgeous - in fact, the whole thing is LOVELY - but the clasp is so completely original. I love it!!

    That's frustrating about Etsy - I hope they sort it out for you.

    Sarahx

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  12. Etsy is confusing these days. I am with you. Your piece is beautiful. I am going to tweet it. We all need all the help we can.:) Dita

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  13. I just tweeted it. Dita
    http://www.alankarshilpa.etsy.com

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