This is a Free Basic Shop Critique* for Tanya Gilmartin's art + photography + design e-boutique. Tanya submitted her shop because she needed some help. Her Etsy shop is already opened for business, but she still hasn't landed a sale. She confessed her stuff sells really well at art shows, just nothing so far online. I know this can be very frustrating, so I decided to give Tanya a little hand.
Overall look + feel
The overall look + feel of the shop is charming. The design has style + personality. It's bold + attractive + suitable for your industry (art + photography + design).
Header + avatar
Your header is very professional + elegant + speaks well to your brand + identity. But what I like the most is your avatar. It shows me who you are. It put a real life person in charge of the shop. And the detail of you holding the camera is an awesome move. It positions you as an expert in the field. Great touch!
Shop announcement
This is the place to say the most important things + announcements about your shop. And you don't have a lot of words to spare. For SEO purposes I would recommend not starting with "Hello and WELCOME to my Etsy shop!", although it may feel warm + fuzzy. I would jump straight to the "I am a passionate photographer, mixed media artist, designer and crafter…". The first few words of your shop announcement are what Google picks up, so you want to make sure you tell the juicy stuff right from the start. And because the warm greetings are important to you, include them, but towards the end.
Shop title
Again for SEO purposes I wouldn't use "tGilmartin Designs" as your shop title + description. I would put "art + photography + design". Those are the tags + keywords your potential clients will type when hunting the web for their next photograph to decorate their lovely home. They won't type "tGilmartin Designs", so make it easy for them to find you + fall in love with your work.
Product titles
You do a great job in this department. Your titles are short + sweet + very descriptive about size + medium. Bravo!
Listings + products
You have a good variety of fine art photos which is phenomenal, but you just have 2 handmade journals + 1 little words series + 1 vintage paper. I understand the main focus of your shop is fine art photography, but when you add another section to your shop it should be only if you have a splendid collection to show off. You don't want to give the impression that you have an understocked or neglected corner in your shop. So, taking that into account, I would recommend making a "calendars" a section, specially during this time of the year, when calendar shopping is so hot + I would work on building my other sections to have a more solid sample to showcase.
Tags + keywords
It's absolutely imperative to use all 14 tags when listing an item. I see that not all your listing use up all the tag fields allowed. This is waste of valuable searching resources + as online sellers we can't afford this luxury. If you run out of words think about the colors + shapes + sentiments that your photos evoke. You might also want to include your name on some of the listings so that your returning customers can find you even faster. Still no inspiration? Why not look up some of the tags other photographers in your field are using?
Item descriptions
Back to SEO. You want to make sure that your first few words include all the most important keywords about your listing. For example in your Blueberry Love 8x10 Fine Art Photograph listing I wouldn't start with "Wouldn't this brighten up your kitchen?". Instead I would start with "Original fine art photograph taken and processed by me. Signed on back. Photo is printed on premium quality paper with archival inks. Photo is unmatted and unframed." Additionally, I would include a link that takes visitors back to your shop taking into account not everybody is familiar with the Etsy shopping system.
Product photography + staging lighting + composition
Your photos are crisp + clean + bright + perfect. I can see you are a fantastic photographer. I would just suggest two things that I strongly believe would improve your shop. First, you want to include more than the main image in your listing. I suggest showing images of your photos in a real life setting: framed + hanged with clothes pins + in your hand + you decide. And second, I recommend including other photos that would go well together. Make it easy for your customers to envision your photos in sets. This would increase the likelihood of them buying more than one item.
About page
I like you about page, but we need to make it juicier. Your about page is your moment to shine. Show them you. Tell your customers what your passionate about + your philosophy + why your shop is so special + how you came up with the name. If you have a degree in photography or you were featured in a cool blog or the front page, brag a little (or a lot). Be sure to nail your about page so customers can identify with you + feel they are actually buying from a human being. The more they can identify with you, the more likely they will buy from you.
Shop policies page
Your policies are clear + well defined. If you want to take it a step further you may want to anticipate everything + anything your potential clients would want to know about your shop + answer all these inquiries in a friendly + easy find fashion. Creation process + delivery times + gift packaging + shipping method + damages and lost packages + trades + consignment + wholesale orders + copyright + guarantees + photo size pptions (I would move this info from the about page to here), these are just some of the things you should be addressing in this section. Having a concrete policy section will help you gain consumer confidence.
Additional tips:
1. Tanya, considering your background + industry I would recommend joining an Etsy team that specializes in photography. When you join a team + you're part of a community + a tribe, your group members help you shine + they help promote your shop + give visibility to your items via treasuries + events + many other ways. Why do it alone when you can team up?
2. Your calendars are so divine. You should submit your work to blogs that showcase calendars. The world needs to see them!
Tanya, I hope this helps! Be sure to let me know if you have any questions or post them below in the comments if you think everyone can benefit from them.
Everyone else, I’d love to hear what you think + what else you would address too.
xo,
Mayi Carles
*Every now + then, I’ll do a Free Basic Shop Critique review on heartmade's main page (just like the one you see above) to give my readers a snippet of how my one-on-one shop critiques work. I will do a quick analysis + offer a series of tips that can be implemented quickly to immediately improve that shops success. It's a little teaser to show you just a fraction of what I can begin to do for your shop when working with me one-on-one. If you’d like to apply to have your shop reviewed for free + don’t mind sharing it with others, please contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it + submit your shop. Please keep in mind this is a very high demand service + as much as I would love to review all shops submitted I simply can't because it's just me here. Yeap, no umpa-lumpas in my creative factory. Only Mayi here.
**Ready to rock your shop + take your creative biz to another stratosphere? If so, yayyy!!! I can't wait to talk to you about your goals + dreams + help you get to where you want to be + so much more! Click here to book your session with me today or just e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it + I'll get you all started.
