Your Etsy Shop Reinvented for the Holidays - Day 1 Review

We work hard to design and create the products we sell, pouring our heart into each piece. So when we set up our Etsy shop to present our work to the world, we hope everyone will see the value of our handcrafted items.

We set up our Etsy shop to reflect our personal style and ideas. What we sometimes forget is that our Etsy shop should reflect our style but be written for our customers.

How your customer sees your shop is what is important. They are the ones looking for something to purchase, and you want to make sure they have all the information they need to choose your items.

Today you're going to take a good look at your shop, as if you were the customer and not the artist. You are going to be a critic and dissect every detail.

Start this process by downloading this form.

Click here to download

You will be able to easily list all the changes you want to make, and it will help you develop your action plan.

Their are several things to consider when doing your self-critique of your Etsy shop:

Your Brand
♦ Is your avatar recognizable and does it reflect your style and personality?
♦ What about your banner does that let people know what to expect when looking at your shop? This is the first thing people look at and it could be the deciding factor as to whether they want to stick around.
♦ Have you added an about page with your story and photos? So your customers know who they are buying from, here is a link with tips for writing your about page.
♦ Does your shop feel and look cohesive?

Your Shop
♦ Are you using your shop section? Are they specific, concise, and easy categories for people to search? This is your customer service department.
♦ Does your shop title have keywords for searches? Good keywords help search engines find your shop
♦ Are you using your shop announcements to share news, links, announcements, and promos?
♦ Do you have your Twitter and Facebook buttons turned on so people can follow you easily?
♦ Do you have your location listed? People like to know where their items are shipping from.
♦ Are you using the featured items section? This is a great place to feature new and some of your favorite items.
♦ Have you enabled the Google Product Ad Listing? It's free and Etsy sets it all up. When you click on Your Shop in the sidebar there is an option for Google Ad. Just click it and enable.
♦ Are you using the automatic coupon code that is sent to your customers after purchase? Click on coupon codes and activate your Thank You Coupon.

Your Policies
♦ This is one of those pages you set up once and rarely look at again. Take a look at this page, read through the whole things. Is everything on that page still current?
♦ Do you have special shipping options for the holidays? This is the time to add them to your page, and don't forget to add the last day you will be shipping for the holidays.
♦ What payment options do you accept? Are you using Direct Checkout via Etsy? It's a great option, and once you setup your shop can accept Etsy gift cards.  Check out this link for the benefits of Direct Checkout.
♦ Do you have any FAQ (frequently asked question)? Use that section to answer those questions.
♦ Do you do refunds or exchanges? Make sure that whatever your requirements are you spell them out completely.
Need some ideas for your policies page, check out this link.

I understand that doing a self-critique can be challenging, so try asking a friend or acquaintance to look at your shop and share their thoughts about your shops.

If they have something negative to share, don't think of it as an attack or feel the need to explain why. Just listen to what they have to say and use that helpful information to make your shop better.

There are several Etsy teams that do shop critiques as well. Here is a list of the critique teams on Etsy. This is a great way to have your shop seen the way potential customers view your shop.

Want to see some shop critiques in action? Check out Handmadeology Etsy Shop critique webinar, also Etsy Online Labs has several shop critiques under there Etsy Success tab.

Your review of your shop is the most important step of getting your shop ready for the holidays. If you take the time and are honest with yourself you can have a shop that is found in searches and brings in more customers this holiday season.

Tomorrow we are going to talk about your shop photos, descriptions, titles, and tags.  Now grab your shop critique printable and start listing all the things you need to work on in your shop.

What do you find most challenging when doing a self-critique of your shop?

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