TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 23 Your Etsy Shop's New Look

Welcome back to our followers!		If you're new here, welcome to our Etsy Newbie Bootcamp! If you want to take part in Bootcamp and get one-on-one mentoring, or answers to any of your questions, please drop us a line at TorontoEtsyST@gmail.com.  If you want to open an Etsy shop, just follow this link!
We have new sellers joining our Bootcamp all the time, so even though this is Class 23, you can join now or anytime! You can complete the classes at your own pace. Just click on our re-vamped NEWBIE BOOTCAMP tab above to get the lowdown on all the classes so far. As we reach mid-March it's time for spring cleaning in your shop, but this year Etsy is re-doing the look of ever shop! If you visit your own shop you'll see a new header:

Feeling springlike? Check out EllenEveredDesign's floral thank you cards.

The Etsy makeover is a cleaner, more streamlined experience, which clearly has the ever-growing mobile app user population especially in mind. You have from now until April 5, 2016 to get your shop looking its best in this new format. Follow that "Edit new shop" link and you'll get a preview of the new look, as well as a chance to edit everything. Basically, it's your old shop, but all in one place, and with a very clean white look - there are no extraneous lines, boxes, or tinted areas. The structure is vertical and users need simply scroll down, rather than visit a series of pages. Everything is there, from top to bottom: your front page (now 3 listings wide rather than 4 and we'll get to changes in Shop Banners in a second);  3 most recent Reviews (now users can simply scroll down and can follow a link to see the complete list); 3 most recent Shop Updates (with a link to the complete set); your About Page, including 'Around the Web' section which contains your links to your website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram and Shop Members;  Shop Local (upcoming local events); Shop Policies; and the option to add a FAQ and receipt info (required only for selling to EU nations). There's also an additional 5 new sections, so you can categorize your products in up to 15 categories. They've also introduced drag and drop rearranging of Shop Listings. Also, the back-end, what you see as a seller when you press the "Edit new shop" link mirrors the front-end as closely as possible. It's all arranged in the same vertical, scroll-down, all-in-one-place way. It's virtually WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get"). There's a preview button, but you can basically tell what your editing will do, as you edit.

Shop Banners

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When you first click on "Edit new shop" you won't see your Shop Banner. But, never fear! Etsy is letting the sellers choose from 3 options. You can choose a small banner 760px by 100px, which will not appear on mobile applications at all. You can choose a cover photo a minimum of 1200px by 300px (but ideally 3360px by 840px) which will appear on any application. There is a built in crop-tool if your image is larger than that. Or, for a truly minimal look, you can have no banner at all. The idea there is if you have a minimal aesthetic, and want to focus all your branding efforts on your shop logo, and raise you featured listings even higher on the page.

The Seller Handbook adds that there is a cover photo tool on (Etsy's newly acquired service Canva) which allows you to make cover photos the exact right size and easily add text.

Check out our class 2. Branding & Shop Banners  and Etsy's The Ultimate Guide to Telling Your Etsy's Shop's Visual Story   for tips on how to make the right shop banner or cover photo for your shop.

Shop Icon

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The new look has an added emphasis on your Shop Icon.  This really is your logo and needs to represent your shop and look good at all scales. You can use the Sell on Etsy app to see what your shop will look like on mobile applications. Etsy points to the Canva Shop Icon tool if you are starting from scratch or want to redo your icon quickly and simply.

Featured Listings

In your new Etsy Shop, your four Featured Listings are really given a prominent placement, on any platform. If you aren't using this tool now, you really do need to do so in the future. This may be the only product a new potential customer sees unless you grab their attention! You can use the space to feature your best sellers and/or cycle through different seasonal items.

Social Media Links

These have been given a less prominent place. Rather than appearing right below your shop banner (for FB and Twitter at least), they are now only in 'Around the Web' in your About page section.

Updates

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As mentioned in our previous class, Shop Updates are a great tool for sharing your story and connecting with your buyers. Now, not only will your Updates appear in your fans feed on their homepage, but they also will have a prominent spot in your shop! If you use any sort of tablet or smartphone you can use the Sell on Etsy app to start making Shop Updates.

About Pages

We stressed the importance of this in class  5. About Pages! This is part of the basics of getting your shop up and running and now, in the all-on-one-page format, it's right there. So, take advantage of that visual real estate and be sure to connect to buyers and tell you and your shop's story in words, photos and video!

Shop Policies

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With this format, Etsy has added boilerplate simplified Shop Policies prompts, to get sellers to keep it simple yet hit on the vitals. You can stick with your existing Shop Policies - but should check that you are not being redundant as everything is now on a single page. Now is a great time, if you want to stick with your Shop Policies, to have a look and make sure they are clear, succinct and up-to-date. If you are a brand-new seller or unsure about how to write Shop Policies, you can use Etsy's tools to customize your answer to their 5 prompts:

• Add processing times and estimated shipping times.
• Let shoppers know whether you accept returns and exchanges.
• Tell shoppers how you’re using their info.
• Answer frequently asked questions.
• Add essential details for shoppers in the European Union.    

READ MORE HERE and HERE 

And note that Etsy is encouraging you to use their template:

As we announced in November 2015, customer experience is a factor we consider in search placement. When determining customer experience on Etsy, we look at positive reviews, completed About sections, and completed Shop Policies (FAQs and seller details are not factored into search ranking). Selecting these new Shop Policies are an easy way to give shoppers the information they’re looking for while slightly improving your placement in Search. To learn more about how search works on Etsy, check out this article.  

You can customize the template and always switch back to your original policies, which are saved by Etsy.

PrintMantis You Rock! card - well-earned for after shop spring cleaning!

So dive in and freshen up your shop this spring!

Note: We've updated our previous class 22. Automate it because as of March 23, 2016, IFTTT will no longer support Etsy as a channel. Luckily, we have good news! There's a workaround. You can use your shop's RSS feed to automatically update all your social media instead. Read all about it.