New Jewellery Business - Need Site Traffic

princess_tinks

Hi everyone,

I've just started my own online jewellery store and I'm in desperate need for some traffic to my site. I have joined all the free directories and search engines, but does anyone know of a good, paid site that will help direct traffic to my site (nothing too expensive - say £20-£30 a month? I have tried pay per click, facebook and google adwords but all are very expensive.

Thank you for your help

Mistral001

Have you tried ebay?

princess_tinks

Yes, I also have a shop on ebay but I want to do away with it after Christmas and concentrate on running the website.

I am not sure if I can post links on here yet as I am new, but my shop website is on my info page

InsideInsurance

What has changed between when you did your analysis before setting up the site and now? Where did you plan to drive traffic from to your site? Have the long tail PPC costs gone up as much as the more mainstream ones for your AdWords etc?

pitkin2020

princess_tinks wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I've just started my own online jewellery store and I'm in desperate need for some traffic to my site. I have joined all the free directories and search engines, but does anyone know of a good, paid site that will help direct traffic to my site (nothing too expensive - say £20-£30 a month? I have tried pay per click, facebook and google adwords but all are very expensive.

Thank you for your help

You need to focus your traffic, free directories and alike are great but they aren't always specific to the keywords you need. Generally just posting your URL here there and everywhere won't help as there is no keyword association.

Facebook, encourage sharing of your link and put some offers up to get more people on your facebook page, more people more shares.

Start a blog and fill it with relevant keywords, search engines like to see frequently updated and relevant content, that will help no end.

You can look at paid SEO but £20-£30 a month won't even scratch the surface really and your far better doing it yourself if you have the time. It can be very time consuming but will be rewarding in the end.

I also wouldn't be so keen to drop your ebay shop just yet, just make sure your doing something to encourage repeat business through your online shop rather than the ebay shop, a discount voucher/refer a friend etc.

best of luck

princess_tinks

pitkin2020 wrote: »

You need to focus your traffic, free directories and alike are great but they aren't always specific to the keywords you need. Generally just posting your URL here there and everywhere won't help as there is no keyword association.

Facebook, encourage sharing of your link and put some offers up to get more people on your facebook page, more people more shares.

Start a blog and fill it with relevant keywords, search engines like to see frequently updated and relevant content, that will help no end.

You can look at paid SEO but £20-£30 a month won't even scratch the surface really and your far better doing it yourself if you have the time. It can be very time consuming but will be rewarding in the end.

I also wouldn't be so keen to drop your ebay shop just yet, just make sure your doing something to encourage repeat business through your online shop rather than the ebay shop, a discount voucher/refer a friend etc.

best of luck

Thank you so much for this, it is very useful. I have a page dedicated to my shop on Facebook which is starting to get fans and a few unpaid directories offering money off vouchers, I've also a Twitter page set up. I was going to wind down the ebay shop after Christmas but will definitely see how it goes.

I will start a blog. I have heard Wordpress is pretty good so will look into it.

Again, thank you for your help.

pitkin2020

princess_tinks wrote: »

Thank you so much for this, it is very useful. I have a page dedicated to my shop on Facebook which is starting to get fans and a few unpaid directories offering money off vouchers, I've also a Twitter page set up. I was going to wind down the ebay shop after Christmas but will definitely see how it goes.

I will start a blog. I have heard Wordpress is pretty good so will look into it.

Again, thank you for your help.

I'd use wordpress too, very easy to set up and very easy to modify. I haven't ran a blog myself as I never really know what to write lol. I know its a highly recommended way to up your internet visibility though. Just make sure you drop in as many relevant keywords as many times as possible (without spamming it lol) and update it often (weekly/fortnightly).

steve1980

After looking at your site, it really says why you're not getting much.

I'm being cruel to be kind but the site looks like it was put together by a child (no offence meant if it was)!

Jewellery must be the most oversubscribed business on Ebay and the amount of people you are competing against (who are not on Ebay) is massive.

So in answer to your question of "how do I get more traffic to the site?" Your first step has got to be redesign the site to make it look more like a business and less like a hobby.

If you are going to do a blog then make the whole site in Wordpress.

Alison_B

Have you checked with your insurance that you are allowed to sell on Ebay? There is a group on Facebook called Send in the Troops which might be worth following. It took me a year before I started getting regular customers to my site, so be patient. Good luck with it.

paulwf

I have to agree with Steve. I don't know how to sugar coat this so excuse the bluntness but your site design is terrible. I wouldn't spend a penny on advertising until you give it a complete overhaul.

Again, I agree with Steve that jewellery is such a competitive market online. You need a good name for your brand, some signature pieces and something unique. I think it would be worth taking the time to write a business plan and get some opinions from the experts (friends and family will always tell you what you want to hear) then build up from there. Any business is about building a brand or concept, not just putting lots of products on a page.

I know that is probably not what you want to hear but I only say it as I'd rather see you make a profit instead of wasting your money!

princess_tinks

steve1980 wrote: »

After looking at your site, it really says why you're not getting much.

I'm being cruel to be kind but the site looks like it was put together by a child (no offence meant if it was)!

Jewellery must be the most oversubscribed business on Ebay and the amount of people you are competing against (who are not on Ebay) is massive.

So in answer to your question of "how do I get more traffic to the site?" Your first step has got to be redesign the site to make it look more like a business and less like a hobby.

If you are going to do a blog then make the whole site in Wordpress.

Thank you for being honest, it's always best to be. I brought an e-commerce package and got a site together myself and I know it needs a lot of work. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I am not doing too bad, I have sold a couple of hundred pounds worth of stuff and have had great feedback about the jewellery itself and a very happy customer in the Netherlands which has pleased me.

I have come very far this last few months, I have slowly recovering from a 6 year battle with depression and I wanted to do this as a way of proving I am good at something. So I will would appreciate all suggestions from everyone. And any help.