Day 4 Assignment, Bootcamp #4 - Review "Jewelry by Kat"

[iCraft Admin]

Today's assignment is to review next store from buyers' perspective.
This time it will be:    

Jewelry and more by Kat

Here is what we want to evaluate:
(I am making this list of questions generic, so we could re-use them on all stores):

• Your first impressions
• Store Title & Description.
  Is it clear why these products are special and why you'd want to buy them? Is there enough copy to describe variety of products in this store?
• Target Keywords.
  Are the keywords currently used in the copy accurately describe all items? What keywords you'd use to describe products in this store?
• Store Policies.
  Do you have any issues with any of the stores policies? Is it clear if you can return products to the seller?  
• Product Photos.
  Are they good quality photos? Can you see what you are buying in a detail?
• Product Titles & Descriptions.
  Are all Product Titles unique? Is there enough copy describing each product? Do you understand why those products are special? What method or technique did the seller use to make them? Who most likely would appreciate them and why? What occasion are they for?
• Product Prices & Shipping.
  Are they too high? too low?
• Any other comments you have

Please post your comments below. We'll review all comments and summarize what needs to be done at the end of the day. Tomorrow we'll take a look at the next store in the list and so on, until we review all six stores.

[Silver Workshop]

Hello there!

Here are my comments for Kat:

First, lovely beaded jewellery. I like the variety and the use of different components with different colours. I'd love to see the pictures a bit brighter though because things seem a touch dark in the store. I know pictures are really hard though. I find overall the pictures are clear but some could use a good close-up like the white beaded necklace with celtic knot: https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/32465/white-beaded-necklace-with-celtic-knot.php .  One last thing about pictures, I think the hand in this picture takes away from the bracelet https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/32057/copper-and-white-beaded-charm-bracelet.php . it looks like a really nice bracelet but I find that the hand is the featured piece in the shot.

Your titles look great and your tags too. Your descriptions are a bit short but I suffer from the same thing, I just don't know how to talk about my pieces. Maybe that's ok though, we've just seen stores with long descriptions so far. Maybe you could talk about the style a bit more.
 
I like that your store description is personal and we get a glimpse of who makes the items. I'm wondering if maybe you shouldn't have a banner which relates to your store a bit more though. The cat is cute but doesn't really set the tone for your store. Also, you have so much jewellery, maybe you should have one store just focusing on that and another for ceramics and knitted items.

One last thing. I don't usually comment on pricing since it's such a personal thing but maybe some of your items with real gemstones could be a bit higher.  I think that's all I've got!

[Jewelry by Kat]

Thanks for the info.  I have been trying to get brighter pictures even bought a photo box with lights but no matter how I try they come out with a grey hue.  Help!  Since seeing the other store comments I have been working on my tags and descriptions, I have alot to fix.....Kat

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Kat,

I am not a photographer, but I find sometime more light helps. So try either move to a location closer to a window with more natural lighting or invest in a good camera flash.

We interviewed commercial photographer from Toronto Christopher Gentile a while ago and asked him for tips on How To Photograph Your Creations. Check out his suggestions!  Hope it helps. 

[Delightful Suds]

Hi Kat,

Yes, your photos are quite dark, and yes it's difficult to get good photos of jewellery. I'm surprised you're still having trouble with the lightbox though.... Are you using a flash? I also recommend adjusting the exposure afterwards on your computer. You might already have a software that came with you computer, if not you can always download one for free.

Personally, I would change the name of your shop to just "Jewelry by Kat". I'm not convinced about the "and more" part. But that's just a suggestion, maybe I'm wrong.

I also agree that you should choose a more relevant avatar and banner photo. While I love animals myself and I get that's it's clever to use a cat since your name is Kat, I don't think the actual cat has anything to do with your shop or items you make, so maybe it shouldn't be there?

I do like your store description and your items seem to be well priced. I also really like how you position the necklaces for pictures. Very clever how you twist them so the entire item fits in the small picture yet doesn't look boring.

Your shipping rates are amazing (I'm jealous you're able to do that!). Your policies are clear to me as well. I guess like others are always saying, you need more copy. You have a LOT of items for sale. It's always good to have plenty of choices, but as a buyer I wouldn't scroll more than 5 pages though. Not sure if this matters.

Good shop and I think we're all learning lots 

[Red Rock Designs]

Doh, I was writing and Delightful Suds beat me to it!

Kat, I had the same problem with lighting in photos.  See the Photography Advice in the forum.

My impression of the store is that it’s well put together with tons of items to choose from.  I do agree with Silver Workshop  about the image...by just looking at the banner and image, I get the  impression that your products are made for cats...or made by cats (lol).
If you want to keep the image of the cat for your store, perhaps an image with a cartoon cat or drawing of a cat with jewelry or a cat sitting at a craft table, might be more appropriate ?  

Also, I'm not sure how I feel about the name Jewelry and more by Kat.  I agree with Delightful Suds, the 1st 6 pages are all jewelry.  And the word "more" entails anything...car parts, pots & pans, clothes, anything really.  IF you were to consider a name change, how about Kat's Creations, or Kat's Creative Designs, or Crafty Kat....The Crafty Kat ( l like this one the best actually, it includes all things crafty which fulfils "jewelry & more").

Your store description looks good - I'm starting to get the hang of it - personal info good, too little info bad.  Your sentence: " I choose less
expensive materials so that everyone can afford the fun and joy of items that "look" expensive.”  You’re basically saying you buy cheap materials.  I know you didn’t mean that, because I also buy supplies in bulk or on sale.  Instead try “I search out affordable materials to provide you with thrifty & chic creations”…or “All of my materials are specially chosen to create affordable and trendy pieces.”  Or something like that.

The titles of product are great, with colour and material used.  Some items could be described more, like your ceramic items, for instance, you could include how you made it (process involved), is there a specific type of ceramic or clay you use, paints used, hand painted by you.

Shipping and return policy are clear. I like that you’ve included the different ways you ship jewelry and afghans.  

I also agree about the quantity of items listed.  Too much selection can be overwhelming.  
Overall, I think the store looks good.  

[Fairy Cardmaker]

Your first impressions
First impression - I like the cat for an avatar.  So long as Jewellery is in your name, the avatar picture doesn't really matter.  I just need to be able to tell from one or the other what you sell and that is covered.  And wow - FULL shop!  I don't think it's bad to have a lot of pages.  It means a lot of variety.

The cat in the banner, though, perhaps not your strongest selling point.  Also, seems the picture was brightened and a tad grainy as a result.  Having two different cats is distracting to me.  I feel like, if you are going to use a cat, it should be consistent like branding is consistent.  I like the idea of an illustrated cat wearing jewellery - perhaps a black silhouette of a cat with a nice shiny neclace, bracelet and  a ring (on the tail maybe)?

Yes, the "and more" is confusing because I see sooooo much jewellery.  I see the "store categories" that iCraft makes shows: "ceramics & pottery" and "crocheting".  I argue this is not specific enough to tell me what the "and more" is.  Consider using iCraft's "collections" feature and make a collection for your jewellery, "potted plant decor" because that's what your "ceramics" are and a collection for "Children's clothing" since that seems to be your crocheted items.

Store Title & Description
Your tagged storeline is good: One of a kind- handmade necklaces, bracelets and earrings, crocheted items.

I shall say again, I think having the first line of a store description as "Welcome to my shop" is a waste of prime time store description real estate.  Tell me all about your product first, and at the end of your sales pitch, you can close with "Welcome to my shop and happy browsing!" if you like.

Your shop description is generic.  You use "products" in the first three lines and it isn't until the fourth line that we see something specific: bracelets.  And then further "wire wrapped jewlery".  Get this kind of specific information to the top.

This is good: "handmade in the USA".  Keep it near the top.  And this is good to know too: We have home jewelry parties, if you are within 25 miles of Chicopee,Ma.

You mention you sell at craft fairs and do home parties.  If you have a craft fair date coming up, I strongly recommend you put this in the shop announcement (the big bold thing that will appear at the very top).  It's exciting and you want everyone to know!

Your store description is kind of brief.  I'm not sure how you can beef it up though.

Target Keywords
RE: the store description, I've already mentioned the targetted keywords are way too far down.

I think your product title keywords are pretty bang on.  I see they are all updated - you mentioned you have already started changes from what we have learned.  Good for you.  I think you learned this one well.

Store Policies
I don't see any issues here.
Unless you want to count that you tell how jewellery and crochet are packged but not pottery.

Product Photos
After your store description, this is by far the area of greatest room for improvement.  You say you have a light box - I struggle with my backgrounds being grey too.  And I know how frustrating it is to photograph white on white!  Here's what I can share with you in the short, short version:
Learn your camera's settings.  Are you photographing with daylight?  Use the daylight setting.  I purchased daylight bulbs to light my lightbox.  Even if I have natural daylight, I use the daylight bulbs along with natural daylight and use the daylight setting on my camera.  If you are using tungsten bulbs, use the tungsten setting.  If you are using flourescent bulbs, the flourescent setting.

Tungsten gives a yellowish brown glow like this photo:
https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/31950/white-beaded-earrings-with-black.php

Also, as has been suggested, you can also tweak your photos afterwards on your computer using free sottware.  (I do.)

There is more detail on these two things in the photography advice section.  Let me tell you, I was really displeased when I found out the hard way that the lightbox was not, on its own, the miracle solution!

As for your large items, like this:
https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/29502/crocheted-girls-hat-mittens-scarf-and-pocketbook.php
You clearly need a larger piece of white.  (So do I.)  Petite Tuques here on iCraft posted in the forums that she got a large piece of white vinyl to photograph her larger items.  I'm going to go look for that (someday).  Maybe it would be good for you too.

(The above linked set does not look dark green.  I thought it was dark teal!)

This picture turned out quite nice!
https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/32253/aqua-beaded-bracelet-with-sapphire-beads.php
Why are there only two pictures?  Perhaps get a wrist sized tube (or plastic model) to show me how losely it would hang on an average wrist.

This is a good shot too:
https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/29574/crystal-and-red-beaded-cha-cha-bracelet-cranberry-ice.php

I just wanted to say.... these two listings....
https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/29604/gold-beaded-earrings-with-beige-pearls.php
https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/29603/gold-beaded-earrings-with-purple-crystal-beads.php
... when I saw them flash up on the new listings page on iCraft once upon a time... I thought of women's chest armour.  The ornate part around the boobs of plate amour.  (Probably no one else here is a MMORPG player like me) but I liked it.  I thought - how clever to place them together like that!  I pictured strength and adorned ornateness all at once.  Like a battle queen!

Product Titles & Descriptions
Titles are good, as I mentioned.  ALL descriptions are brief!

On the crocheted listing I linked above, what kind of hat is that?  It's not the pull it over your head tight kind of hat.  I think that style has a name.  That name should be in the tags at the very least.  I am glad, however, that you put both the sizing AND the wash instructions in the description.

Too brief:
https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/29638/silver-and-red-beaded-earring-with-cat-charm.php

Imagine there is no picture.  What kind of hooks to they have?  Is that a hoop?  I think "round" when I see "hoop".  Or is it a tear-drop shape?  Fire agate gemstones ..... diamond cut?  Oblong?  Oval?  Spheres?

This too - too brief:
https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/29695/libby-ceramic-cat-potted-plant-decor.php
"This cat is cute...2.5 inches tall. He sits on the edge of your house plant. It is a perfect gift for the cat lover or the plant lover "
-- No mention of ceramic.  No mention of Potted Plant Decoration.  No mention of colours.  No mention of it being handpainted.

Too brief again:
https://icraftgifts.com/handmade/32253/aqua-beaded-bracelet-with-sapphire-beads.php
This bracelet has aqua twist glass beads with small sapphire blue accent beads. It measures 8 inches.

What is it strung on?  Thread?  Fishing line?  String?  Wire?  What guage? What kind of clasp does it have?  What is the clasp made of?

Product Prices & Shipping
Uhm... actually seems very inexpensive.  Is that really what shipping costs?  Lucky you!  With that little in shipping, you could probably raise the price of your goods and the total all-in cost to the buyer would still be reasonable.

Other Comments
Here's a thought for your jewellery makers - if you have sets or pieces that co-ordinate but are listed separately, do the work for the buyer.  Don't make them dig through your pages.  Say in your description: See the matching/coordinating XYZ here: and paste the link.  It may not be a live link, but your customer can copy and paste it in their browswer.

Personally, I love it when I clothes shop, pick a top and the clerk picks some coordinating stuff for me to try on at the same time.

[Jewelry by Kat]

Thanks for all the info.  I will be days adding to my descriptions!.  But I am up to task. I might consider making 2 stores.   I am getting a new camera and I will take all the info I learned and practice picture taking.............Kat

[JaJeJems]

Hi Kat!

I have been admiring your jewellery for a while, you have some lovely pieces.  My first impression of your store was one of curiosity over your name although I don't really have a problem with it. You might be able to come up with something catchier but I think you should at least tell us as customers the connection with cats.  Your banner and avatar are cute but are they relevant to what you are selling? Is it the ceramic cats that are the connection?  Maybe you started out making cats?  They don't show up until later in your store so I am not sure.  Unless you make the connection clearer then I think that your name lacks meaning.

Store description
I would really expand this because you could say a whole lot more  about your lovely products, yourself, your daughter and the cats!  I know that it is hard to talk about yourself but that is what people want to know(that thought came from icraft admin!) Since you make a variety of things you need to say something here about each of them. You stated that you love bracelets - tell us why.  Then you can tell us about yourself and your daughter. 

Store policies and shipping
Well you have done a great job here of summarizing your shipping policies - you said it very clearly in a few words. 

Keywords
Yes we are going to learn a lot more about this.  I find that your titles aren't really very descriptive of the product.  If I could not see the picture of the beautiful silver and turquoise earrings the title wouldn't tell me very mucho out them.
Your  descriptions need a lot more detail.  Because our customers can't touch and try on the jewellery we have to put in a lot of detail about the beads, findings, construction and I think it also helps to suggest what it might look good with or when you might wear it.  You have a lot of items so writing detailed descriptions for each will be time consuming for sure.

Photos
I can see that you are struggling with good photos just as I am.  You do really well with positioning your jewellery so that it looks natural.  I like some of your props like the open book but I also find the black hand distracting.  I think that we both have to work at lighting.  I am going to try editing some of my present pictures to lighten them up.  I noticed that some of my colours aren't just right and I see you have the same problem with blue and green.

Prices
Your product prices are very good.  Shipping is reasonable.

I am impressed with the number of choices that you offer- getting all of those items listed takes a lot of time- now you will be all set to fine tune!

[iCraft Admin]

Awesome job with suggested improvements, everyone! 

Glad to hear you are not overwhelmed and ready for all this work, Kat! That's the dedication I was hoping for. 
We've got small, but amazing team this time. I am behind on my Keyword suggestions for you and JaJeJems. Off to do some research. Will post my suggestions shortly.

[iCraft Admin]

Jewelry by Kat, I'd like to show you a banner for your store that our designer created for you. I am going to upload it for you, so you and others could review and critique it. We saved your old banner, so we can put it back, if you don't like the new one.
Are you OK with that?

[Jewelry by Kat]

ok although I changed it and like it but it is sort of blurry............Kat

[iCraft Admin]

Hmmm... Well, we thought it didn't sell your products and you have a lot of great pieces to showcase your jewelry.
I'll upload the new banner in a minute, so have a good look at your current banner and then refresh the page in a min to compare

[iCraft Admin]

OK, have a look now. What do you think?

[Jewelry by Kat]

Wow!!!  I don't need the name on it?   I will keep it. It is beautiful.

[iCraft Admin]

One of the things that I've noticed right away with your store is that you have, at least, 2 separate product lines that are competing with each other... and since you already have a lot of products there, some of them get lost and the store doesn't seem to have a clear focus, though name suggests Jewelry...  so here is what I'd suggest doing:

Option 1
Set focus of your store on Jewelry and optimize it for Jewelry-related keywords, since you have a lot more Jewelry pieces in your store than any other types of products!

Option 2
Split this store into 2, focusing one on jewelry and another one on Ceramics, Pottery and Crocheting etc. It would make it easier for you to promote those 2 stores and to drive targeted traffic to them. Though it's probably more work with managing 2 stores. So I am not trying to sell you on this. Think what's better for you. However, to make things easier for you, if you choose option 2, I can waive your registration fee for the second store.

[iCraft Admin]

Great! Glad we could help.
No, you don't need to repeat your store name on it. It's repeated enough times on the page already.

[Jewelry by Kat]

Cool...I already decided to open a second store but have to wait til next week for that ol retirement check.  This store already has a name change and the new store will have the ceramics,crocheted items and cats................Kat

[iCraft Admin]

No problem!  Just let me know the name of your second store, after you register it, and I'll take care of the fees.

[Jewelry by Kat]

It will be Krafty Kat ..................Thanks Kat

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Kat,

I actually have more feedback for you on your Product Photos.

I think most of them (accept really blurry ceramic cats etc.) could probably be fixed in photo editing program, like Photoshop or any other program that allows you to brighten, sharpen and to add contrast to to your photos. So it's not only the camera that can give you good results.

Also, I really liked those photos where you've added a splash of color on the background to create a nice contrast and to allow your your products to stand out more.

       

For white backgrounds, a sheet of paper works a lot better than fabric.... or you can try experimenting with natural backgrounds like marble or wood - what you used on this photo.



Check GalleriaLinda. She has a lot of great photos with white and natural backgrounds.
I'll have more feedback on Keywords too

[Jewelry by Kat]

I just played with my software and I did it, but how do you change the main photo?  It won't change..........Kat

[Fairy Cardmaker]

It's a nice compilation! I think it would look better with a name - just simple typeface, nothing fancy and not superbig.

[iCraft Admin]

Kat, are you talking about product main photos? You just upload a new one and it will replace the old one. There might be a slight system delay with seeing the updated images, so just give it a minute.

We can add the name to the banner too, if you prefer that. Let me know.

[Jewelry by Kat]

it is fine

[iCraft Admin]

Here some Keywords Ideas for your store page:

Right now you have "One of a kind- handmade necklaces, bracelets and earrings". That phrase is used to create your page Title, so it has to contain important keywords that later should be repeated in the store description.

You have A LOT of beaded bracelets in your store, so I think that's what you should optimize your store for. However, Beaded Bracelets is a competitive term. I checked on Google. There are 110,000 global monthly searches for Beaded Bracelets.
So you could choose something less competitive like "Beaded charm bracelets" with 1,600 searches. And you have a lot of those products too. So its the right term for you.

So here's what you'd have to do to optimize your page for that term.
1. Change your Specialty line to something like "Beaded charm bracelets, chunky silver bracelets, beaded earrings & necklaces".
2. Repeat Phrase "Beaded charm bracelets" in the first sentence of store description. So you could do it like this:
"Bracelets are my passion! I love making beaded charm bracelets in various colors...
Then you can list a few different types of products, again including a variation of words like beads, charms, bracelet, earrings with specific attributes.

I'd move personal story a bit lower on the page, after you talked about your products, your jewelry techniques and your passion for bracelets.   
 
Other good Keywords that you can use to optimize product pages:   
silver bead bracelet - 4,400
chunky silver bracelet - 1,300
beaded earrings - 22,200   
silver flower earrings - 1,000
chandelier earrings - 40,500
beaded necklaces - 74,000
gold chandelier earrings - 2,400 (better use terms with 3 words - they are less competitive!)
glass bead earrings - 480   
pearl dangle earrings - 1,600   
beaded dangle earrings - 260
wire wrapping - 49,500
wire wrapped jewelry - 8,100   
gem stone jewelry - 6,600
wire wrapping stones - 2,400   

[JaJeJems]

Hi Kat,

I really like the changes that you have made to your description!  I also think the banner really "pops" when is open your page. Well done!

[Jewelry by Kat]

Thanks JaJeJems          Been working my fingers to the bone but the hardest part is the wording......Kat

[Fairy Cardmaker]

I just played with my software and I did it, but how do you change the main photo?  It won't change

I notice a delay too, even if I move off my store page and wander through the site and come back.  What does seem to work, though, is make your changes, then click to "My Store", then push the F5 button to *force* a refresh.  Almost like the page keeps loading with help from a cache file, so I just push F5 to force a full page refresh.

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Kat,

Your store description is nicely optimized now. Great job! 
Just do the same for a few of your product pages and you are ready for promotional part of the Bootcamp.

[Red Rock Designs]

Hi Kat, I agree, description and banner are great...good work

[Jewelry by Kat]

Red Rock,   I did not recognize you.  Love your new Avatar and Banner.  They are bright and cheery and catch the eye..........Kat

[Delightful Suds]

I agree Red Rock, good job!

[Fairy Cardmaker]

I like the new store description too, Kat.  Great work!

Red Rock, the avatar is instantaneously recongizable as jewellery - nice work!
LOVE the sparkle and shine in your banner now too.  Really POPS!

[JaJeJems]

Red Rock your new banner is really eyecatching!  I just read through your description - that is so well written.  I really like it!  I feel like a slacker!  No banner ideas yet but I have been working at brightening a few pictures - not as bad a job as I thought and I see an improvement already!

[Red Rock Designs]

oh, thanks for the compliments...I've been working hard. Fingers. Are. Tired.

[Jewelry by Kat]

I am lightening my photos and they are coming out well but...the photo on the store page does NOT change,  the photos on the item page does.  What is with that?..........KAT

[JaJeJems]

I am having good luck with lightening my pictures as well.  There may just be a delay. The last was I did last night wasn't changed until this morning.

[Jewelry by Kat]

I do not like the results of my lightened photos, the beauty of the jewelry gets lost.  When I get my new camera next week ,I will be practicing until I get it right then I will retake all photos....lots of work...........Kat

[Fairy Cardmaker]

I'm not liking my photos much either.  Wildly inconsistent in the new room.  Guess I will still be heavily dependent on real sunlight.  Not good with the looming winter.

[Delightful Suds]

Hi Kat,

I found a couple of links online that give some good tips of taking photos of jewellery. You might wanna have a look at these:

http://www.tabletopstudio.com/documents/jewelry_photography.htm

http://www.mkdigitaldirect.com/tips/quick-guide-how-to-photograph-jewelry-jewellery.html

Hope these help