Etsy charges for advertising, per click, per item, per month, per EVERYTHING. You are limited in the layout of your site, what products you can feature, and the look and feel of your company.
Jumping off Etsy to a stand alone website is scary. Here are a few tips to help your process.
- Build a hand-crafted brand: The Etsy brand is handcrafted and you will need to carry that message into your own business. People who are logging into Etsy already know they are going to spend more money for a fully customized, hand-crafted item. Do not forget this when creating your brand, logo, font selection, and palette.
- Transfer products and their individual variations: Brenda’s shop had 553 items. I downloaded her grid, changed her product titles from 120 on Etsy, to the 80 character limit allowed on Wix. I updated her descriptions, created new collections, and dropped the grid into Wix. The problem was, her variations did not transfer. What is a variation? Well- if a shirt is offered in 3 brands, 4 colors, 2 necklines, and 4 sizes, it has 120 variations.
- Organize your collections: Think about when you walk into a store. The shirts on the side, the hand sanitizer and masks, and wipes are right in the middle, and the expensive electronics are in the back. Use collections to organize the layout of your store online so people can find what they need quickly.
- Connect your social media channels: Connecting your Wix shop to your Facebook and Instagram is important for ensuring all audiences can interact with your products. I wanted Brenda’s customers to make all purchases on her site to streamline the process. Use Instagram to create product guides that highlight similar products. Find influencers who like specific kinds of products and have them post about you. Do behind the scenes on your creative process and share content to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc…
- Give yourself time: Etsy has a giant customer base, a standalone app, communities, Facebook groups, advertisers, and all kinds of backers who support the website. it is scary to make the leap. But you as an artist also have something unique to share with your customers that Etsy does not have: you. Keep pushing forward, in spite of the fear. Your website traffic and social media engagement will grow over time and before you know it, you won’t even look back at all your Etsy fees that you threw away!
