Selling Crafts – Just How Important Are The Search Engines?
Chances are that if you’re reading this post about selling crafts it’s because you’ve heard that search engines are important to your craft business but you need more information.
Happy to oblige!
Search engine traffic (traffic being what we call people visiting your craft site) is free – always a good thing – and should be as a result of someone entering relevant information into Google, Yahoo, Bing or whoever. As a result that visitor should be highly targeted. In other words they should already be pre-qualified as someone who is interested in what you craft items have to offer.
Obviously good news – and important because it’s much easier to sell to someone who wants what you’ve got!
But if you’re selling crafts you’ve got to have time to actually make them! Many crafters have other pressures too. Most of us have to prioritize in some way, so how much time should you pay to getting into the search engines and ranking well?
As much as you can – but I understand there are limits. To grow a business beyond your local area you need the internet but you don’t want to be spending all day in front of your computer at the expense of your craft work.
So although Google and it’s competitors can be a great help, concentrating on SEO (search engine optimization) is not your number one goal. Spreading your craft marketing efforts by using a number of tactics will pay off better in the long run – and actually help your ranking too.
A craft blog is naturally more search engine friendly than a traditional website so if you haven’t got one, get one! It doesn’t have to be one or the other, it’s a simple addition even if you already have a substantial site.
Then look at article marketing, which will provide the search engines with valuable content and you with more free traffic. Look at you linking strategy because the search engines also judge you on who you link to and, more importantly, who links to you. Did you know that a comment on someone else’s blog can frequently look like that blog linking to you in the eyes of the search engines? So craft blog commenting can be another valuable free tool.
Selling crafts successfully on the internet is not about finding a secret, it’s about doing a number of things a bit at a time. If you can give half a day a week to marketing your craft site your rankings will improve surprisingly quickly. If you can give less then your rankings will still improve – they’ll just reflect the amount of time you are able to give. Every little helps. There’s only one bad way to do this – and that’s not to do it at all!
This is great advice. I’m surprised that more people don’t spend time reading and commenting on other people’s blogs. Not only do you get the link, but when ever anyone leaves a comment on my site, I go check out their site and try to leave a comment for them.
It’s good for everyone, all around.
Thanks!
Hey Conrad
Thanks for your comment. Couldn’t agree with you more.
Thanks for the great information. I have finally got my business to the point where I am ready for some traffic….lots of traffic. Thanks again, I will put the information to good use.
Kiara
Thanks for the info. I had a blog but got rid of it in favour of a full blown website. I will go back and get it going again. Do you suggest posting new product info, sales etc. on the blog? And if so, how often should you post to generate traffic?
Hello Paula
Thanks for stopping by, glad to be of help.
Yes, I would include all that in your blogging. A blog gives you the chance to keep your potential customer up to date with regular, bite-size pieces of info. The fact that you are updating frequently is also good for search engine ranking.
As to how often, as often as you have something worthwhile to say. The only mistake would be to post because you thought you ought to. People know, so never fill with “fluff”. If you haven’t got anything to say, don’t say it!
Bob
I have never done a blog and thought it was for kids. I did not realize it had such potential. I thought that I should get a website so that I could have someplace for my Art and Wine Festival customers to go when I am not in town. So, I started my own website http://www.julssewcrazy.com (note the sly entrance here) so that I could get traffic. But it is very basic – and now it has become a reference site for my customers from my Etsy site http://www.julssewcrazy.etsy.com. HELP! There is virtually no traffic.
I don’t know how to “get a blog” so I downloaded The Blog Profits Blueprint. Is that going to help me? Is this going to get me a blog and get me traffic? Is this the place to start?
Does anyone have another suggestion?
Hi Jul
Blog Profits Blueprint is an excellent book – particularly as it’s free (anyone else who wants a copy can get one here). Yaro Starak who wrote it is not a craft person but is a top pro blogger. It’s what he does for a living and he knows his stuff.
At the end of the day a blog is basically a traffic funnel – draw people in with interesting content, point them where you want them to go. You have to be a bit subtle about it but I know of no more effective way to get new customers. You need to mix in a bit of article marketing and you need to keep at it – there’s no magic pill that will work in five minutes! Hopefully cotinuing posts on this blog will also help!
Bob