How can I improve my first online woodcraft store and increase traffic?

[cbruhn42]

My store is www.CarveandCreate.art and this is the first time I've tried selling my wood crafts online with a storefront.  I've typically just posted items for sale on Facebook marketplace, but lately the traffic to my items has declined substantially for some reason.  

I'm using a free template to get going and would appreciate any feedback on the storefront setup and/or how to drive traffic to my store.  I've started posting on Instagram and Pinning pictures with descriptions and links on Pinterest.

Thank you in advance f

[MooseDesk]

Hi @cbruhn42 ,

Thanks for reaching out to the community. This is MooseDesk - All-in-one Shopify Ticketing System App

Congrats on your new store! I can tell you have put a lot of effort into building this. However, I have some comments to make the good get even better. Here are some of my recommendations for better customer experience, please kindly check.

1. Hero Banner

The fact that, whenever people look for their products on the internet, first visual impressions play a crucial role in judging every website. Therefore, to make your store eye-catching enough to keep people scrolling the site, a here banner with a high quality image is the key. In this your case, you can choose a high resolution image of your product and include some of the highlighted features or promotions that you are running. 

You can put multiple hero banners on your site, one at the top and others along with other sections. 

Note: The ideal size for a banner hero image is 1600 x 500 pixels.

Examples: 

2. Value propositions

What are the benefits of your products? Why are they superior comparing to other competitors? 

By highlighting your value propositions, you can have higher chances of persuading the visitors to make the purchasing decision. Here is an example of how you can present the value propositions:

Note: You should also list out your value propositions on your Product Page as well.

3. Guarantees

Understanding your business's policies would make your page become more transparent and visitors would feel more 'secured' to make the purchasing decision. Here are some guarantees that you can include on your page but feel free to make any changes depending on how you run your business.

4. Testimonials:

People also often make the purchasing decision based on the reviews, rating from the previous customers. Let's add some actual statements from real customers on what they have said about your products.

Example:

5. FAQ section:

Customers tend to have a lot of questions, most of them can be answered by a simple FAQ (frequently asked questions) section. A well-written set of FAQ can build trust, confidence and make your customers feel more secured to make the purchasing decision. For more tips to create FAQ sections, you can refer to this useful blog from Shopify.

Example: 

6. Customer Support: 

Sometimes, self-service channel might not be efficient to address all the concerns of your customers. That is when you need your support team with a communication channel. There are many apps that can help you integrate a help widget on your page where users can submit their requests to your team.

If you are also looking for a ticket management system, you can give MooseDesk a try. MooseDesk is currently FREE for all early birds with 24/7 dedicated support, which would help you answers all the questions and explain why MooseDesk is suitable for your business. 

---

So those are my recommendations for your store. Hope it brings you some new insights.

If this is helpful for you, please let me know by giving me a 'LIKE'. If your question is answered please mark this as 'SOLUTION’. It would make my day!!

Once again, thank you! 

[PageFly-Garcia]

Hi @cbruhn42 ,

I'm Garcia from PageFly - Shopify Advanced Page Builder App. From my CRO expertise, I’d love to give you my suggestions as hereby:

1. Have a favicon for your store

Whether you're putting the final touches on your online store or it's already up and running, don't overlook the significance of adding a favicon! It's a small yet crucial detail that can enhance your website's appearance and reinforce your brand.

By including a favicon on your website, you can effectively communicate to your potential customers that they have arrived at your company's page.

You can check this Shopify guide on how to add a favicon - https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/images/add-favicon

2. Resize the sticky header

It's great when you have a sticky header which makes it more convenient for your vistors to navigate around the site.

Another thing you might care is that the sticky header with the current logo might take significant space while scrolling with the logo above the navigation buttons. So I would like to suggest that you resize the logo and place the logo alongside the navigation buttons in the same row to save more space to showcase the products.

3. Have the hero section on top of the page

The banner is very significant in hero material. It is the first thing customers see when they visit your website so you need to get consumers to know exactly what you're having in 5 seconds first. 

Unfortunately, you missed this section and you placed the collection lists on top instead. Please recheck this part.

4. Align items on the same row

The section I captured below is not well aligned in terms of the images, titles, prices,...

5. Add more sections

• Product details: One of the best-sellers from your store should be showcased to catch more attention
• Brand story: A business can stand out with its brand story. A brand story helps customers understand more about your business and also helps your store look more attractive.
• Instagram feed: Your Instagram content adds a fresh feel to your website by showing you’re active online and interacting with your customers. 
• Testimonial - customer reviews: This section will help you build customers' trust. You can show rating stars for each product or you can add customer reviews as text and photos

6. Update the footer

At least, you should have the Shipping and Refund policies in this part.

7. Get ready for sale season

With the holiday season on the horizon, and numerous businesses already preparing for events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday (BFCM) and Halloween, your products are ideally suited for this festive period. I strongly suggest implementing these tips to maximize your success during this time

• Holiday-themed landing pages: Create dedicated landing pages for specific holiday promotions or events. These pages can highlight exclusive deals and provide a cohesive holiday experience for visitors.

• Holiday specials and offers: Offer exclusive holiday promotions, discounts, or special deals to entice customers. Highlight these offers prominently on your website to catch the attention of potential buyers.
• Email marketing campaigns: Send out targeted email campaigns with personalized offers and reminders about your holiday promotions. Keep your subscribers updated with relevant content and exclusive deals. Let's start this campaign soon as if collecting emails is delayed, the holiday campaign might not reach a wide audience.

And that's my feedback! Hope it helps you boost the conversion rate.

Cheers!

Garcia | PageFly Team

[cbruhn42]

If I was going to pay someone to build out a proper site using these recommendations, what kind of price should I expect?

[Ollie]

Hey @cbruhn42.
 
Thanks for reaching out. 
 
I appreciate the context and your online store URL that you have shared with us - that is very helpful! Looking into your store, I noticed that you currently do not have a favicon added to your homepage. A favicon is a small image that represents the business/company and displays on the browser tab. If you take a look towards your browser tabs now, I am sure you will see several favicons! You can add a favicon to your online store to have a polished look. We have a great guide that can walk you through the process here. 
 
What do you think about including a slideshow section as the first section on the homepage? This can make the homepage more engaging and interactive for your visitors - they can also learn more about the business and products available. For example, you could include some of your favorite product or best seller. You could even include the tools that you use to make your products! 
 
Add more social media business pages to the footer of the store. This is a great way to show brand consistency and allow your customers to connect with you across multiple platforms. Additionally, I would suggest adding store policies to the footer section to allow your visitors to view the refund policy and/or shipping policy for the business. Feel more than welcome to check out the guide to add and create policies here. 
 
Let me know if you have any questions.