Saturday, May 26, 2012

Sunshine and SEO



So it feels like it's been forever since I posted last.  Sorry for slacking my dear readers.  It's just that the weather here in Vermont has been so nice and sunny and I've kinda thrown myself into this whole SEO project...I know, I'm terrible.  Naturally you've all been wondering where the heck I've been and why I haven't updated (at least that's how the story goes in my head, so hush).

Since my last post, I've been doing a lot, and I do mean A LOT of work on search engine optimization (SEO).  That's the thing where you work on titles, tags, keywords, item descriptions and so on, making them more relevant and easier for search engines like Google to find and rank. 

Honestly, if they offered a class locally on this sort of stuff, I'd totally sign up, because it seems like there are about a billion million things to consider.  And if I had the money, I'd probably pay someone else to do it for me, because even after you think everything is just right, you're supposed to go back and tweak things every now and then to see if small changes make any difference.

You know, I say that, but the truth is I wouldn't want someone else to do it for me.  I feel this awesome sense of accomplishment after I've tweaked an item top to bottom and I see it show up better in searches and it gets more views.  I like knowing that I'm the one putting in the work, and that my hard work actually makes an impact.  It really is a great feeling seeing things improve and knowing that I did that.

This SEO stuff has taken up a ton of my time lately, but fear not, I haven't completely abandoned my right brain activities.  I've made a few fun new pieces for my summer line like these bracelets:

Natural Agate and Smoky Quartz Chainmaille Bracelet


Rainbow Fluorite Gemstone and Chainmaille Bracelet

Both these items will be available in my shop  starting June 1st.  Which is fast approaching.  I have so many more pieces I wanted to have ready for the "launch" of my summer 2012 line.  Guess that means I have a bunch more work to do :)

In other news, I've also been working on some promotional/branding material.  First up, the earrings cards.  Ones that I designed and printed and folded and punched.  The only way I could have been more involved in the process is if I made the paper myself and hand printed each card.  Which I would never do, because i totally don't have the patience for that. Here's a picture of the finished cards:

Homemade Earrings Cards
Oh, the earrings are a new design as well.  I think I really like the leaf and the font I used here--pretty sure that's officially my logo.

I also took advantage of a promotion through Etsy to get some free "mini moo" business cards from Moo.com.  They're smaller than regular business cards, thus the name, but they're just the right size for a simple picture on one side and the basic info on the other.  Check out the ones I got:

Mini Moo Business Cards

Sorry for the slightly out of focus photo--but you get the idea, right?  And I mean, how cute are these things?  They got here wicked fast too, I wasn't expecting them until June 4th, but the arrived first thing this morning (May 26th).  Pretty great.  And hey, if this inspires you to go out and get some Mini Moo cards of your own, or anything from Moo.com--please, pretty please click here 10% off first purchase

I earn points for referring people and you get 10% off your purchase.  Everybody wins!  :)

I think that's all for now.  Oh, it looks like I won't be doing the local farmer's market this year--they're all full up, and apparently have been since like, February.  I had no idea people signed up so early, so while I'm a bit bummed that I don't get to participate, I figure oh well--I'll know better for next year.  I think I'm going to do Art in the Park though.  At least I'm going to try...it's a juried event, so I'm at least going to submit an application.  We'll see how it goes.  It'd be so very cool to be accepted.  It's one of the premier craft shows in Vermont and people come from all over to shop and browse and meet local artists.  Even if all I did was make some great new contacts and pass out a whole bunch of business cards, I'd feel like I was a success.

I think that's all for now.  It's super hot here today, and the sun is shining.  I think I'll spend some time outside enjoying the beautiful weather.  Hope everyone has a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!!

As always, thanks for reading :)

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