Assignment 1, Bootcamp #5 - Backlinks Basics

[iCraft Admin]

Glad to hear from you, Fairy Cardmaker! 

Auto posts are ok too, as they drive traffic and make your social media accounts look alive.

We use Project Wonderful too, most recently to promote Easter Treasure Hunt. Maybe you could share your tips on using Project Wonderful when you get a bit of time? I think others would benefit from this too.

[SilverDawnJewelry]

I am here too...I will try to follow along because this is awesome info to know...Thank you!

Alot of my traffic happens by word of mouth, or my customers will post listings  of my items, or threads about my work...on large forums to share with their friends.
I have also done physical craft fairs for years, so I have a following of people from this as well.

I had opened a shop on Etsy, and brought my customers there with me, as well as made more customer friends there.
And now leaving there and coming here? I bring my customers with me I send each customer an email, with the link to the new shop here, and ask them to come join me here...

I have never really done much promotion online....
Sometimes I Pin, but only on the Native Team Board...I do not do my own...
Now we have a fb page too, and I just figured out how to make a shop page, but know nothing about linking it to anything yet...
https://www.facebook.com/Silverdawnjewelry

Though we have two shops, this one where I list my metal jewelry, and another where we list seed beaded jewelry, leatherwork, smudge feathers, and things like this. We do not mix them (except the few  pairs of seed bead earrings), because they have completely different target audiences.
Eventually we would like to move our other shop to Icraft as well.

[iCraft Admin]

Great! Welcome to Bootcamp, SilverDawnJewelry!  
Just wondering why you left Etsy.In any case, I am glad you picked us.  

I'll have to review your store and see if there is anything needs to be done in preparation for the link building assignments. (this group has done all page clean up already)

Have you done any blogging before? Are you a member of any forums? What about Twitter and Google+?

Oh, can you also please tell me which 3 products you'd like to promote? We choose only 3, so we focus our efforts on best pages that can convert visitors to buyers.

[JaJeJems]

Welcome To the group Silverdawn!  Admin, I have been doing my homework and I have a couple of questions:
Is there an easy way to identify spammy sites?  I tend to be suspicious of everyone-due to my age I guess!
Is it equally important to build links that attract people or search engines?  Should you do one before the other?
In the article it talks about finding sites that are relevant to your business but not directly competitive?  So would I be looking for sites that sell jewellery supplies or teach jewellery techniques as opposed to sites that sell jewellery.  Or could I look at sites that sell different types of jewellery from mine?

I am also having a bit of a struggle getting my head around this concept but I am looking forward to what comes next!

[SilverDawnJewelry]

I still have the shops on Etsy for right now...and will most likely leave them through the summer (I have a notice up that I am changing venues, but it can take a few months for everyone to see it, and to notify hundreds of customers)
I am leaving there for many reasons...but to keep it short & sweet, *lack of professional admin, *allowing thousands of re-sellers and overseas labor camp work to not only be sold there, but it is applauded in unspoken ways, by supporting quick turnover marketing. (look up charm holders on Etsy, and then open a RoiGrande catalog...they buy premade, add a chain, and call it handmade) Etsy is now gearing their entire market towards the 20ish age bracket, planning to change their entire set up for listing pages to mainstream into what works best for mobile devices...
It is feeling more and more like Ebay. Their new CEO, seems to have VERY different ideas on this market than I do. All of their changes are good, for their business, but they are honestly not good for me, in what I do. There is alot more, but I know many artisans are leaving there for the same reasons.

They basically have people/kids running things there who seemingly have no clue about the retail selling of handcrafted artisans work.

So, that is the short reason for leaving...too fast paced for my style. I prefer a smaller strictly handcrafted environment, with other serious artisans.

I have dabbled in blogging, but am not always the best at writing and keeping up with it
I have been a member of the Native Forum Team on Etsy for a couple of years...but no other forums. Twitter confuses me the few times I have looked at it, and we just began a G+, but not sure what to do with it yet. It is connected to the leather shop.

I would choose
https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/37303/handcrafted-free-form-sterling-charm-holder-pendant-large.php
https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/37355/chrysoprase-sterling-moon-catcher-tm-earrings.php
https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/37319/hair-pin-fork-nickel-silver-with-northern-lights.php

For three items to promote

Thanks JaJeJems !

[Jewelry by Kat]

Welcome to our boot camp group , Silver Dawn Jewelry and to Icraftgifts.  Your work is beautiful and I envy that you have loyal customers following you, something I desire but not gotten.

[iCraft Admin]

Thanks for the questions, JaJeJems! They are great!

There is no danger in losing customers for you if you align yourself with other jewelry makers. You could discuss cross-promotions and attract new jewelry lovers. I think relevancy to your business is the key, so choose the sites that complement yours.

Also, focus on building links for people, that will bring you referral traffic. Search engines will find and count those links anyway, if you do things right.

I'll have to put together a longer response on your question about spammy sites. Great question!

[iCraft Admin]

Thanks for the feedback, SilverDawnJewelry! 
Luckily, we don't have those issues. 

I'll review your pages today and provide your with my feedback later today.

[SilverDawnJewelry]

Thank you

I will try to read about the link building, and go over the questions already asked 

[iCraft Admin]

Hi JaJeJems,

I posted the answer to your previous question here:  Link Building: How to separate Good Sites from the Bad? Let me know if it answers your question.

[JaJeJems]

Thanks admin, that's great info and clears up some of my confusion.  You have a nice clear way of explaining things.  I find that some of the articles that I have been looking at aren't written for beginners!  Thanks!

[iCraft Admin]

Bootcampers,

Pls post your questions! I want to see that you are researching this topic and read on your own.
I'll summarize main points and takeaways on this topic at the end of the week.

[SilverDawnJewelry]

I have been reading some, and it makes sense...so far. But I will be getting into it deeper, and try to come back with questions tonight.

Aside from the shops, I keep a 40 hour job too, so working right now...

[iCraft Admin]

No problem!  we are going at a much slower pace this time because some people are busy at work. It's a tax season right now. 

[Jewelry by Kat]

I have a silly queation, but one I have wondered about.  Can you link to a private site if agreeable to both?  Or is the following too small.  For example...I have a shop where I get my awesome pendants and I make necklaces with them.  Is this something we could do or not worth it?  We compliment  each other's sites.  I do use their store name but not the link.