What is Your Etsy Shop's First Impression?

I am a big believer that you only get one chance to make the best impression and when this comes to sales you have to really impress them to get the wallet open. That is why on Etsy it is all about using your 3 promotion spots to show your best of and the variety in your items. Often times when people first open your page (any Etsy page) they see the banner, then the shop announcement, and finally the 3 feature items. One thing I kept seeing when doing shop critiques was that the shop announcement is so long you can’t see the feature items when you first open the page. Which means the customer has to scroll down to find out what your product is and if they would like to purchase it. Now I know what you are thinking it doesn’t take any effort to scroll down. But we are artists we like to sit and explore the different shops. But if you are a shopper quickly looking…scrolling down is a huge mental block. Think about it like a real store. Would you go into a story in the mall that tells their company history in their store front windows or would you go into the store displaying their absolute best merchandise? So what should a customer see when they click on your shop? Here are my suggestions:

(keep thinking…real store)

1) The Banner – This is your shop sign (in the real store scenario) so it should definitely have your name in it. Brand yourself just like the GAP or any other retailer. I really like the banners I see that are a collage of product photos with the shop name layered on top but I have seen other great banners made up of graphic arts just make sure it has your name and your medium written in it if you aren’t using some sort of product representation.

2) The Shop Announcement – This is like a sign you can put in your shop window, you just don’t want to take up the entire window with it. So just because I think this shouldn’t be too long doesn’t mean I think there should be nothing in the shop announcement. Give a brief description of you and your product and then use the rest of the space to keep things current. You can keep things current by talking about certain items that would be good for upcoming holidays, talk about charities your shop is involved in at the time, or promote a sale. Just make sure your promotions are timely and up to date.

3) The Three Feature Items – This is your store front display and these are the items that are going to get them to walk in (scroll down) to see the rest of your merchandise. These items should be seasonal, a variety of your work, a variety of you price points, and most importantly the most visually appealing of the three previous.

Great Etsy Treasuries

Hi all. I got a treasury spot!!! Inspired by my longing for summer, please check out "Under the boardwalk"
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=109555

My work was also just included in a beautiful treasury called "Shades of BLACK" you have to see it!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=109400

Tip 1 - Don't Be Affraid of Honest Critique of Your Etsy Shop

Tip 1 - Ask someone to look at your site even if you think you have a great site. A fresh set of eyes and a different perspective can really work wonders. I mentioned before that I gave advice in the forum but I also received a ton of good advice as well. Things I would have never have thought of or didn't think were important come back from fellow artists and it has made my shop so much better.

Hi! I am Lori and Spell it Out (http://www.etsy.com/shop/SPELLitOUTbyLSudler) my little artistic corner of the world. Obviously from the above I am an Etsy artisan and I am starting this blog because in my previous corporate life I gained a great deal of experience in helping to create websites that met customers wants/needs (and sometimes what we wanted the customer to need). So as I started spending the money I earned on other Etsy shops (come on we all do that) I started noticing a few little things that many artists were doing that could be easily fixed and maybe make a big difference. So I started a forum thread http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6399670&page=22 in the Etsy Critique forum where I would give honest and considerate feedback on the way people were marketing their crafts. People ate it up I literally could not keep up with the requests and I am still trying to go on once a day and do a couple but then I get 4-5 more requests. Don't get me wrong I enjoy doing it and I have met some really talented artists through that forum but I was noticing some repeating issues so I thought I would start writing about some tips for anyone who might care.


I'm not always going to talk about marketing an Etsy site and I don't want to be the one doing all the talking. I also want to highlight some of those really talented artists I have seen. So you never know what you might get but please check back often to see!!!