Should I change my banner?

[PetiteTuques]

I am thinking that maybe the reason I am not getting any sales is partly because my banner and avatar are too abstract. I really do love the design, but maybe it's not cute enough/reflective of my work. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[Fairy Cardmaker]

It's just me, but I'd say yes.  I see the Fleur-de-lis, mountains, and a snowy owl (very beautiful bird - was my mother's favourite.)  It says, cold-weather shop.  It does not speak to your craft at all.  Note, not all places where knit hats are worn are snowy either.  Australians might put hats on their children when it's 5 degrees celsius.  Babies in the premie ward in hospitals might need little hats in any weather.

If you totally love the owl, I wonder if it would look cute as a cartoon owl with a knitted hat on?  Or, since your market is children, consider ways to make them "family hats".  A lady in my office has two girls, 3 years apart and whenver she buys something for one, she has to buy exactly the same for the other - same colours and everything or they fight about it.  What about showing a big sister and little sister close-up of their heads, side-profile, nose-to-nose with hats on and BIG smiles.  Or mother and son if you want both sexes represented.

Since I was looking at your shop with a critical eye, I noticed some other things that might help.  There is more than one way to spell tuque.  You might consider the alternate spelling as a tag: toque.

I looked at this listing:
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Item #: 22470
Availability: 1
Dominant Color: Brown
Materials: acrylic
Tags: hat, knit, baby, child, cute, brown, mittens, mitts,
Listed on: May 18, 2010
Last updated on: Jun 21, 2010

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:
Same great pattern, in mittens! These mitts can be made specifically with any of my hat designs. They can be lined with fleece at extra cost.

Hat is not included in this listing. Please check my other listings to purchase.

Mittens are featured in Taupe with Oatmeal/Natural stripes.

Items made in a smoke-free home.

Thanks for looking!
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- If someone used a google replacement to find this listing, the first sentence is not helpful because they haven't seen any other listings.
- I think you should put "acrlic yarn" as a tag, not just as materials or else put it in the description somewhere.
- Is there a reason for accylic?  It is hypo-allergenic?  Put that in there somewhere.
- I would also put boy and girl in the tags like the way you have "unisex" on some.  Some people might replacement for "child" size, but some might replacement by gender.  Consider also, "children" instead of "child".  *MY* understanding is that replacement engines will pick up "children" in a replacement for "child" because "child" is part of the word "children".  DON'T QUOTE ME ON THAT.  Try it out to see, maybe.  I say it only beause some people will replacement "child sizes" and some will replacement "hats for children" or something.

Just an non-knitter's ideas.

[PetiteTuques]

I've just worked long and hard on my own banner and avatar! It's not the best, but for me it's a work of art! I've spent over two hours I think, and 30 mins just trying to get it the right damn size for icraft!! ARGH!

So let me know what you think... I'm going to tackle my other issues in the morning... good night!

[Fairy Cardmaker]

It's much more relevant now.  You have each age of child for which you knit!  That's great.

I notice your shop name does not have an "S" at the end of "petite", but your banner and avatar do.  Also, because iCraft shrinks our avatars so much in the forums, I'd suggest making the picture in the avatar bigger by getting rid of the frames.

I tinkered on my first banner for 2 days.  I was so excited about my quilled dragons but, alas, I don't make them often so it was not very relevant at all.  So, I feel your pain!

[iCraft Admin]

Your product photos are great. I'd say the best visual for your avatar would be one of your products shots. No frames or writing on it, as you can't see anything much when image is scaled to a small size. Think of buyers who will browse the site and come across your Exhibit on pages like this one https://icraftgifts.com/profiles.php or here on forum. If you had a product photo as your avatar, they'd know right away what kind of products you sell.

In terms of traffic, avatar is not critical. What helps traffic is incoming links to your store here on iCraft. So make sure you blog, twit and post links to your products on iCraft on the external sites regularly. Hope this helps.

[PetiteTuques]

I heard after I started advertising that I needed an "s", as per french language. I just didn't change it right away, but now with my new banner I can set it right. I hope people will not be too confused with the added s, I'll have to get back to my ads and change them. Thankfully I don't have too many! Thanks for your input Fairy Cardmaker and Admin!

[Fairy Cardmaker]

Really?  I posted in the other thread about the spelling.  I'm not french but I like the way it looks right now.