A good website needs 2 things:



* To be found by customers (traffic)

* To be interesting to a visitor - a real human being

Let's talk about the real human being first.

Remembering the Real Human Visitor

A crafts or jewelry website that sells needs some key elements- it needs to be inviting, and has to be about the customer (or the audience or reader if you like that better).

So what does an inviting website look like?

An inviting website talks directly to the needs of the customer rather than about you, the artist. Sad to say, nobody cares about you until you tell them what's in it for them. The key to selling is thinking like your customer. They are always thinking, "What's in it for me?".

Not in a bad way.

Everyone thinks like that. Don't you?

One of the greatest lessons I've ever learned is to talk to your customer as if they were standing right in front of you. Websites often aren't designed like that though.

Let's look at how many art, crafts, and jewelry websites are set up. They often talk about the designer front and centre, don't they? Who they are, where they live, how they would love to make you something, and how people tell them how great they're jewelry is.

But think about it. Do people care where you're from? Maybe, but if you think about why they care you'll see that even that is about them, not you.

Put yourself in the shoes of your visitor. What do you look for when you're shopping. Why do you care where they're from? You might want to know how far away it is from them because of shipping costs, because you like to shop local, or because there's some sort of prestige or "specialness" attached to buying from say, Paris.

Elements of an Inviting Website

Back to your arts and crafts or artisan jewelry website itself. So what makes people want to stick around a website? Other than the content I mean. Think about yourself. Do you tend to hang around sites that have a ton of stuff on them, or do you like sites that are more simple? Are there websites that make you feel overwhelmed and make you click that back button pronto?

The biggest problem I see with most sites is that there is just too much going on. The trick is to cull mercilessly.

Two of the most popular websites are The Google Site and the Apple Site. I think they're well-designed - they'd better be since they hire the top web designers in the world, right? So what do they have in common?

* Clean

* Simple colors and design

* Lots of white space

* Goal oriented/ purpose driven

* 1 focal point

* Easy to understand navigation

Here's a tip for analyzing your own website. Load it up and squint.

* How many focal points can you count?

* Does your eye automatically go to one place? Or does it bounce around all over the place?

And take a look too - if your eye does go to one place, is it the place you want it to?

Next, consider this: Is the purpose of your site obvious? Does it look like your purpose is to please the customer? Or is it all about you?

* How easy is it to get around?

* Do you have a search box?

* Is it obvious where to click first?

* Does it look like you're just out to "sell" them stuff, or does it look like you want to help them find what they need? Once again, it goes back to the customer.

Photography

On the web, great photographs are not just important, they are paramount! Handmade items, especially jewelry, are the type of thing you like to touch, feel, and maybe try on. You can't do that on a computer screen so you have to do the next best thing. Describe it thoroughly and enticingly, and half lots of great pictures. And lots of different views of the same piece.

To get some ideas on presentation, I like to look at what other people are doing. There are some great Etsy shops with beautiful pictures. Doing some research there will likely give you lots of ideas.

Good Copy

What's copy? Copy is just the words you use on your website. The best copywriters in the world get enormous sums of money because they get results. They know what people want.

Here are a few things people want:

* Not to be "sold" to

* Solutions to their problems

* Fast, easy, convenient

* To be priority number 1

I often see websites that say something like, "I'd love to make you a custom bracelet". But if you were shopping, do you care how someone would love to make you something? Or do you think, "Yeah, so what, everyone selling something would love to sell me something?"

So as a shopper what do you want? You want to know WHY you should buy from them. Marketers sometimes call this your USP or "Unique Selling Proposition"

As a shopper, you have a bunch of things that might be motivating you. You want to feel special. Some kind of "wow" factor that you can tell your friends about.

Often with jewelry this comes down to some story they can tell.

For example, if you make jewelry in your rustic barn studio using a cutting edge technique that few know how to do, that might be something that would make an interesting side story.

Another great way to get into the mind of your customer is to use the problem and solution strategy. Instead of "I'd love to design your bridal jewelry", maybe something like "Your special day is all about you, the bride. You want to look like the most beautiful woman in the room. Imagine yourself, walking down the aisle, flushed with excitement, your handcrafted custom designed swarovski crystal princess length necklace, tiny matching earrings and 3 strand bracelet are sparkling like diamonds, and all eyes are on you. Wouldn't you love your jewelry to sparkle like diamonds on your most special of days?"

Getting Traffic

Remember the other good website must-have? Traffic! People need to find you. How do you get traffic? Marketing!

There are lots of ways to market to bring traffic to your websites. Of course every creative type person hates marketing. We all just want to build it and have people come. Well, I'm not going to sugarcoat it - if you want traffic you have to work at it. So suck it up.

Here are some ways to bring targeted (i.e. people who are actually interested in your website, not just miscellaneous surfers) traffic to your site:

* Article marketing: write articles and submit them to article directories, magazines, and other websites

* Search engine marketing: make sure you are search engine friendly

* Pay per click marketing: Use a service like Google Adwords to get traffic

* Social media marketing: Use social sites like Twitter, Stumbleupon, Facebook, Youtube, I-Tunes, Hubpages, and hundreds of others to strategically spread word about yourself.

* Forum marketing: Participate in forums by offering USEFUL answers. Don't spam. Sometimes people will follow your "sig" back to your site.

* Newsletter marketing: Get your customers on a mailing list (make sure you ask first!) and send them interesting news and updates. Repeat customers should be your bread and butter.

* Other Marketing: business cards, ads if applicable, do craft shows, trade shows, put your website on all your packaging

I could go on and on - and I guess I have - sorry. Now get started on fixing your own websites. I want to see you shine!