Artfire Shows Google Algorithm Change Announcement

Welcome to LilacsNDreams! I stopped by Artfire to check on things, and to check on my LilacsNDreams Artfire Shop too. While there I roamed through the forums to see if there was anything to know, anything new, any glitches, or what was being shared. There I found what you will be reading below. For all of us who sell we are forever watching things with Google, the search engines, our rankings, what rules have changed, and so on. Well, on Artfire I found this in the forums there:

Google Algorithm Change

It is rare that they announce these.  But this one affects a large portion of queries.  And it reinforces AGAIN how duplicate content will be further penalized and how your item pages need to have more content.


Google Announcement Here


Best Practices

1) Do not duplicate content across marketplaces - a site like Etsy has higher authority than most and can get away with more duplicate content ( other duplicate sites will be penalized)

2) Do not duplicate content on the marketplace - try to keep your items unique from one another.  This change is targeting content farms that run massive duplication of content to try to snag Google traffic.  If you use the "easy method" of copying listings you are behaving like a content farm in the eyes of Google, your listings may suffer.

As we have said in the past - easy for you is BAD for your business.  Difficult for you is probably better for your business.

3) Do not write short, low-value descriptions -Longer descriptions with more information, discussion of product, how the product is made, how it can be used, even testimonials will index better.

Why?  Because  Google says so in the announcement.

"At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on."


And....here is the link to that too. http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=forums&op=view_topic&tid=29290

I hope ya'll find this helpful, and make sure you click the link for Google at the top of the discussion, and read what they had to announce. As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, and so on. When in internet roam, don't forget to visit LilacsNDreams Artfire Shop, and also LilacsNDreams Ecrater Store. Never know what treasure you might find that is a must have:) Have a super weekend everyone:)

 

All Photo File Names Should Be Descriptive For Google Searches

All Photo File Names Should Be Descriptive

Below you will find an article that Angie with Treasure Seekers Unite had posted for the members of the site to read. Visit Treasure Seekers Unite to see this article, what others are saying, and to visit with other blogs, and articles posted for the members.

 We all know that item titles should be descriptive, yes.  What I'm talking about here are the actual file names (photo.jpg) that you upload to your online store, website, or blog.  Did you know that Google reads these too?

 If someone searches  Google and chooses to limit their search just to photos...and your photo is called ivory-pillar-candle.jpg it will show up!  However, if your photo's file name is 12345.jpg it will not show up in this type of search.  

SIDE NOTE:   Google reads spaces as "%20" so if you upload a photo called "my photo.jpg" (notice the space?) the actual URL for this photo would be http://www.mysite.com/my%20photo.jpg - which causes a lot of links to be broken if they were not linked to properly.  You should either use _ (underscore) or a - (hyphen) for any file that will be used in a URL.  The hyphen is preferred because Google reads these as a keyword separator.   The underscore, while it does prevent broken links, is treated just like another character and Google sees "tealight_candle" as "tealightcandle" with another character in between.  Whereas, "tealight-candle" is read as two separate keywords.

Very interesting isn't it? But, it also makes sense, and I know I went back through some of my pictures I use for my listings that were going to be listed, and changed the names with them. Those that are listed I have left, but after reading this article I make sure to always name my pictures that will be used for my market places I list with.  

Thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams today, and drop on by anytime time. Don't forget to also visit my LilacsNDreams Artfire Shop, and also my LilacsNDreams Ecrater Store. If you visit my Blog here, and my LilacsNDreams Website you can keep up to date with market places I use, listings, and the links to various places also.  If you want to see some things now, check out my LilacsNDreams Store blog link that is at the top of this page. Follow, and it will take you to the next page needed to view. 

Take care everyone, and have a splendid day!

LilacsNDreams Blog, Website, Web Presence, Venues, Etc

Hello everyone, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! I have been kind of busy lately, and not with any new listings like I should be. Or, crafting for my other site, and blog like I should be too. Sorry, and I do apologize for not being the fastest person to get things done. But, I keep working with things as my abilities allow me to, and it does get done. 

I did start crafting a cloche using a glass bowl, plate, and adding my own knob to the bowl to make it a cloche which I hope to maybe have done tonight for my other store, and site to show. What I have done the past 2-3 days is work with websites for LilacsNDreams, but also for PassnItOn too. The sites are free, and of course with that comes some learning curves, and of course as they say You Get What You Paid For. 

A while back I had read someone commenting about their brick & mortar store, how they moved from 1 state to another....I don't remember the business name but she was from CA, and they moved to Ohio I think it was. Anyway, she made the comment she wanted to show that using free things on the internet such as blogs, and websites could be done that you could profit with it. Her idea was free, and no/low cost, and it could be done. Most cost I have had so far is paying for my domains which makes the web addresses easier to remember, and shortens them too. I always kind of hung onto that idea, decided to finally work with it more....maybe because the season of spring is coming, and like many others trying to find a way to be more efficient, and bring it all together. Upon checking with GoDaddy where I get my domains from they had a special for a .net of $9.99 a yr, and for the .com and .co it was $11.99 a yr. But, already have the .com, and the .net intrigued me as that is what I had in mind. So, off I went to get just a yr, try it out, see what happens, and take it from there. Small investment compared to having an actual host, and so on.

I decided this was a good advantage actually as I sometimes will sell with one market place, then I choose another market place, and yet another one gets chosen too. Soon I have more venues than I know what to do with, don't have the time to spend with them like I should, and sometimes after a while I do not see the benefit with the site, and have left it, or hardly use it. Unfortunately, doing something like that makes it hard for customers, or anyone interested to follow with me. Let's face it, I don't mind hopping a little to get to someone myself. But, if it is done too many times it becomes questionable to me, and I start to lose interest myself. So, thinking of that is what helped me decide to work on things a little bit more with my blog, and with some of my own websites. 

Ok, here is what I have done so far. I have a website set up with Google Sites, and just came from GoDaddy getting my .net reserved for the year. My .net I will forward to my Google Website, and in case you are asking about the .com...I have already forwarded that one to here, my blog. I have decided I will still sell with the venues I have chosen, work with them, and saves me the cost of the shopping cart at this time too. But, for any changes, updates, keeping everyone posted about items listed for sale, where I am, links to follow me with or get to me, etc. I am going to keep all that information at my own places. So, for anyone to find me if need be all they have to do is look for my .com which comes to my blog, and my .net which will take them to the Google Site I have been working on. Anything else I do, I have, have worked on for blogs, sites, and so on will always be posted between the 2 places with all the clickable links to take you from there.

Hope this is going to work out as I am planning, and I know it sounds like I am babbling right now. Sorry. Trying to inform you of what I have been doing, my thinking, and hoping it makes sense to you. If not, please do not hesitate to contact me, leave a comment, and etc. 

What I have so far is on the right side you will see the stores, venues, places I am selling with, and the links are clickable in pink too. Follow my tabs at the top of this page, and you can be taken to what is called LilacsNDreams Store.  What I mostly do there is show pictures of items being offered, and what store they are in. For easy ways to reach me, and go straight to places that have links for you I can be reached at http://www.LilacsNDreams.com which brings you to my blog here. If you use http://www.LilacsNDreams.net that will take you to my Google Website I have been working on, showing links there, and setting up pictures for some items being offered on the different venues too. 

Hopefully if I do what I am planning to do, and have started to organize with I can pretty much keep things between these websites, and will not have to go all over to keep everyone updated. Also, hopefully I can make this easier for you my visitors, customers, potential customers, and for those who like to follow:) I like the idea of "I am only a click away"

Thank you all for being patient with me. I so appreciate it, and hopefully it becomes understandable why some days I am around a lot, and other days I have been kind of scarce. Feel free to visit my Website, and please keep in mind, none of it is perfect, and still a working progress, but I have enough done to finally announce it to everyone:)

Thanks for visiting me here, and feel free to ask questions, or leave a comment too. As always have a super day everyone. Till the next time:)

Toys From the Past Artfire Collection Check it Out!

Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams Blog!:) I don't know about all of you, but I am soooo ready for spring! I don't really have a separate area I can use to paint some things with, and would love to open the windows, get out in the garage, spring cleaning, and etc. Just like a kid waiting for the time, and seasons to change:)

Today I got a notice on Artfire that one of my vintage items, a fisher price toy, was included with a Collection there. Very sweet collection, let's you know how times have changed, and brings out the child in all of us. The collection is called Toys From the Past, Did You Play With Any of Them?

Cute collection, and when you get a chance stop by to see the page. Will bring some memories back for you. And, you will also realize how times have changed, and how advance we have become too. 

Wishing everyone a super evening. Hope all is well where you are, and enjoy all you do. Don't forget to visit my LilacsNDreams Artfire Shop, and my LilacsNDreams Ecrater Store. See the goodies in the stores, and watch for more coming as I slowly am working on adding more inventory. Also, if you like restoring items by repurposing, and upcycling check out my other Shop at Artfire PassnItOn. That one is slowly growing, and I am working on a few more projects right now too.

Feel free to leave comments, ask questions, and etc here. Always welcome. 

Junk-Love it, Treasure It, and Craft it Too!

I LOVE junk! I love digging for the pieces, I love treasure hunting, I love thrifting and finding everyday pieces that can be used as is. Or, better yet, repurpose the pieces to make something different. Sometimes it is adding pieces together, sometimes taking a part a little bit, but knowing there is always something to do with any piece found for all of our home decors.

I just a couple of blogs, and what amazing things they show they have done, or show what others have done! Great way to visualize things you can do yourself with your thrifty finds, or even with extra pieces you have sitting at home. And, sometimes what we have at home just needs a little touch up for us to fall in love with it even more. 

A few blogs to take a look at to see the beautiful everyday things being done..
http://www.junk-fest.blogspot.com, http://www.bec-4beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com, and http://www.fabulesslycrafty.blogspot.com. Please, when you get a chance stop by to visit them, and see all the neat things they are showing us all that we can do too.

Hope everyone is having a great Sunday! Feel free to ask any questions, or comments with each blog that I post. I will respond to you as quickly as possible, and let's have fun!:)

 

Life is Good-The American Dream Success Story

http://www.accesswealthstrategies.com/1086/cnbc-business-nation-how-i-made-my-millions-part-2/  This is a link to the story that you can also see done by CNBC. Story of 2 brothers who started out small selling from their van, traveling, no advertising, and how they are today....a million dollar industry. It can happen, and we all need to have faith in ourselves. Persistance, believing in what we are doing, and going for it. Click the link to see the story, and for others here is a short version of what is being said copied below. I found this in the forums at bonanza, and copied it over to share here. 

In 1989, Bert and John Jacobs designed their first tee shirt. They knew nothing about the business.
For five years, the brothers hawked tee shirts in the streets of Boston and traveled the East Coast, selling door-to-door in college dormitories.
They collected some good stories, but were not very prosperous. They lived on peanut butter and jelly, slept in their van, and showered when they could.
Chicks were not impressed.

Bert and John street hawking, South Boston, March 1993
By the Fall of 1994, heading home from a long, less-than-fruitful roadtrip, Bert and John were desperately searching for answers to keep the dream alive. Little did they know, the only answer they needed was back in Boston, hanging up on their apartment wall.
Jake’s contagious grin, simple as it was, seemed to express everything the Jacobs brothers believed in.

Original Jake drawing, July 1994
One fateful September day, they printed up 48 Jake shirts for a local street fair in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They laid the shirts out on their rickety card table. By noontime, all 48 of those tees were gone. A star was born.
Soon Jake was introduced to local retailers, and his simple message of optimism was embraced like nothing the brothers had ever seen. As demand for product soared, Jake’s team grew, and the Little Brand That Could began to spread across America.
Today, the New England based brand stays close to its roots, with an emphasis on simplicity, humor and humility. Through Life is good Festivals, positive products, and a steady dose of ping pong, Jake’s crew does its best to keep the good vibes flowing.

First day ever selling Life is good, Cambridge Street Fair, September 1994

  Amazing story, isn't it? Makes you realize it can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Believe in yourself, and what you do, and you might surprise yourself where you will go with it:)

Have a super weekend everyone, and thanks for visiting LilacsNDreams!:)

Social Networks We Belong To

Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! I was thinking of Social Networks when I headed here to write to ya'll. How many do we all belong to, do we like them, do we benefit from them, and where do we all belong to?

I use to have a very long list of places I belonged to. It got over whelming, I was spending more time socializing then working on my listings, so I narrowed some down for now. Here are some I belong to at this time:


TSU Sellers Network ~ http://www.tsusellersnetwork.com and if that don't work with some changes happening with the site, please click this http://www.treasureseekersunite.ning.com.  Great group of people, much has been shared here, much has been learned, and everyone is always willing to help another too. Great place for the sellers, buyers, and website owners to belong with too. Also, the owner of this site is working on a new platform that will be open soon to the members, and open to the public. Going to be a really neat place, and a little bit different from all the other sites too.


Vintage Village ~ http://www.vintagevillage.ning.com Is a great place for all those with vintage, and antiques. Many people working together here to get their stores out there for vintage finds, sharing things they know about websites, places to help with your searches of vintage, and so on.

I Antique Online ~ http://www.iantiqueonline.ning.com is another great place for vintage, and antique collectors and sellers. Over 5000 members, and still growing. Great place to use if researching an item you have, but not quite sure the age, the make, brand, and etc. 


Junk Market Style ~ http://www.junkmarketstyle.com Great place to be for those who like junking, restoring, repurposing, upcycling, etc. Great place to get ideas from, see some pictures, meet some great people who also like junking too:)


Like many of us do, roaming the internet, bored, finding things of interest, etc....When you can, check out these places. I know there are many many more out there, and if you have a favorite place you belong to, please do share it with us here:)


Wishing ya'll a great day, and best of luck with all you are doing. Take care till the next time.

Etsy Forums Done, Join a Team, Artfire is Growing

Hello, and Welcome to the Blog of LilacsNDreams! Happy to see you there, and always welcome anytime too. 

Well, Etsy has gone through with not having their forums, and still have quite a few members not happy with it. In order to ask questions, find out about glitches and bugs, or to clarify anything, You have to belong to a Team now in order to get that information. For you to belong to a Team you have to find one that you feel you might like, and then you have to request to be approved for the Team. Yes, due to different things a Team can turn you down also. Nothing like the forums, huh?

Interesting times with Etsy, what changes will come next, what have they already done, but haven't let you know about it yet? Have to keep an eye out for things, and I will try to share things here as I learn them myself too. 

Don't forget to visit my LilacsNDreams Store Page from this blog. There I show pictures of listings I have done, give you links to my LilacsNDreams Artfire Shop, and LilacsNDreams Ecrater Store. Welcome to visit that, view, and visit my shops too. 

Thanks for visiting, and wishing ya'll a super week! Take care, enjoy, and Have Fun!:)

 

Forum at Etsy about Clarifying What You Share and How You're Found on Etsy

Admin

* * * Please note the title on this blog listing is clickable to the forum page at Etsy that these conversations came from too. For those who would like to read more, and understand more of what is happening and being said over there. 

sean11 says

Hi all,

We've made some important updates to help you control what you share, how you're found, and how you present yourself on Etsy.

1. Findability

We recently announced the coming of a feature that will help you find people you know on Etsy. Soon you will be able to connect securely with your email service provider and see which of your contacts are on Etsy, so you can add them to your Etsy circle.

If you don't want your Etsy username to be found by friends and family this way, for whatever reason, you can opt out by adjusting your settings in the new Findability section of your account privacy settings:

http://www.etsy.com/your/account/privacy

This upcoming feature is aimed at buyers and new members and is scheduled to go live in mid-February.

2. Circles

Circles on Etsy are about sharing and discovering the work of others. When someone adds you to their circle, they can follow along with your public favorites and Treasury lists in their activity feed.

Circles are just a few months old, but they're growing up fast and are here to stay. The option to disable circles and the activity feed has been removed from your privacy settings page.

You can control what you share when someone adds you to their circle with the existing favorites privacy setting.

If you make your favorites private, do not create any public Treasury lists or add anyone to your circle, Etsy members who have added you to their circle will not receive any updates from you.

If you had previously disabled this feature, your activity feed is just being born. Learn more about circles and activity feeds here:

http://help.etsy.com/app/answers/list/c/9,92

3. Profiles

Your profile is your "face" on Etsy. You can show off your latest item listings, favorite items, favorite shops, Treasury lists and Teams there.

But we won't force you to show everything. You can now turn modules off if you like via the the new Activity Modules section when you edit your profile:

http://www.etsy.com/your/profile

Questions? Please post in this thread.

Thanks!
Sean 

* * * While I'm glad we have the choice, it should NOT have automatically been turned on without our consent.

-----------------------

I understand this viewpoint - I can see how being found by your email could be seen as invasive. However, we made a big effort to inform every one of our members of what was happening. We also want everyone to be found by default - if it's easier to be found, people will make more connections, and thus will be exposed to more through their activity feed, and more items will get sold! So, it's a difficult call to make, and I totally understand why our final decision would be upsetting.

* * * I'm really happy that you are no longer required to show everything on your profile, thank you for that.

Can you please explain the logic behind no longer allowing people to disable their circles and activity feed?

----

Circles and the activity feed are really core to what Etsy's about, and will be integrated more fully into the site. Just as it's hard to imagine Etsy without a checkout process, soon it will be hard to imagine Etsy without an activity feed and the ability for members to connect with one another and share discoveries. Etsy is a marketplace, and markets are conversations.

The option to disable this feature was also a bit redundant -- if you don't want to share your favorites, you have the option to make them private. If your favorites are private, and you don't create public Treasury lists or add anyone to your circle, no one will receive updates from you when they add you to their circle. If for some reason you don't want to be added to someone's circle, you can discreetly block them.

Your activity feed is limited to your own activity and your shop activity if you decide not to add other members to your circle.

Sean

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6770145&page=1  Here is the link to the copies of the conversations I have noted here for you to read, and of course to the rest of the thread of what people are saying, asking, and how administration is responding.

* * * Ok, for those from Etsy who are sellers, buyers, or concerned about what is happening recently, this is a part of the conversations that got started on a thread there today. There is plenty more to read about this issue, and how things are being worded. Just when you thought it might be ok, calming down a bit, then when they say things & how they say it....Well, now, it is not good. I just watched a long time member who has been there through much announce that after this thread, and how Etsy answered to things....they are closing shop, and going to Artfire!  They feel unsecure with things, and feel the need to move on, but hope that Etsy can still fix things. So sad to hear this.

So, how does everyone feel with these newest changes of the circles, and activities feed? You can opt out of the email privacy thing, but now this is coming at ya. Share with us if you want.

Etsy Forums, Emails, Facebook, Privacy, Sellers . .

Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams Blog. Glad to see you here. Hope everyone is handling the weather well for where you live. Me? Very cold, winds, below zero, snow, dismissals, late starts, and...I think I am ready to move! Been saying that, but starting to think it just might happen yet.


How many visitors are with Etsy? I have a store there I have not done anything with for a while, and not sure if I really want to. Very big ordeal going on there, and everything I am seeing and reading I am not impressed with it. I feel sorry for some of you who have maybe bought from there once, twice, and have not been there in a while. In Feb. they will be implementing a thing of getting into the sellers email addresses, and grabbing those contacts in there. Yep, invasion of privacy! Sadly, the sellers can opt out of this which is good, but it can still backfire on them. IF they bought from anyone on Etsy, and that seller does not opt out of this next step, well...Etsy can still get their email address even though they opt out themselves as a seller with their personal information. 


Reasoning is to help people find each other with email addresses. Sorry, to me and many many others at Etsy it is like spam. It has already started with them moving into Facebook for those Etsy sellers who submitted to that feature to help show their sale items. But, upon going into facebook it not only got on the fan pages, but also hit some of the personal profile pages, and got the sellers real names from there! Whew! Some people due to security reasons do not show their real names till items are sold, and transactions are then being handled by them, and the buyer, which is only natural then. But, there are some people who might have issues of exs looking for them, stalkers, and whatever other personal reasons there could be. 


This is just a very very sad time at Etsy. Has been one thing after another...the coral issue, when the treasuries was showing personal information a few months ago & they had to work to stop it...took some time to do it, they were on CNN news because of a seller on Etsy selling some cards that were in bad taste....bad enough to make news with CNN, the forums there are soon closing because you will have to belong to groups/teams instead of using the forums, and now this with the email addresses, and the privacy of many actually. 


IF you are involved with Etsy in anyway, watch your emails for any kind of notices, check on your accounts if still associated with them, check your facebook account, and if you have to remove Etsy from your applications on there, and most of all....thanks to all of this, take precaution, and watch things closer right now.  Good Luck to all who may be involved with this mess.


I listed a few things in my Ecrater store that do not qualify for vintage on Artfire. Stop by to visit, and see some of the goodies I have for sale there. Thanks again for visiting, and ya'll take care. See you the next time.