If you have been to my site recently you might notice that it looks a little different! Last week (at 4pm on Friday to be specific) I decided to switch my domain from Pattern by Etsy over to Shopify. It was sort of an impulse decision and once I actually did it, my main goal was just to get my new Shopify site up and running ASAP.
Now that it's been live for a few days, I'm really glad I made the move. I still have quite a bit of work to do, but this feels like a fresh start, and I'm excited about the possibilities.
I thought I would write this post (one of my first posts on this new blog platform) to tell you why I made the decision to move my site from Pattern by Etsy over to Shopify, and what I'm liking about it so far. Hopefully this helps anyone else who is thinking about making the move, or who is trying to figure out which platform is better for them.
And just to be clearn, I DO still have my Etsy.com/shop/mendezmanor shop. This way customers can still find me and purchase through the Etsy market place. It is my domain name that I have switched over to Shopify.
I was really getting tired of the theme options over at Pattern by Etsy. I think they had only eight to ten themes and I was having a difficult time finding one that matched the look I was going for. The themes they do have are extremely shop focused, so if you are trying to highlight another part of your business on your site, you don't have many options.
While Pattern by Etsy did allow me to connect my email service list (MailChimp), I never had the ability to actually ask my customers to sign up through a pop-up window or banner on a blog post. In my past two years on Pattern by Etsy I think I got maybe 3 new email sign-ups. I've received 4 new sign-ups in the last two days on Shopify. Insert hand clapping emoji here!
This may relate back to the theme I chose, but I have way more options for categorizing my products that I did before. On Etsy you only have the ability to use 20 categories and each product can only be assigned to one category. This is very limiting if you are trying to create a more elaborate collections for your products. For example, now I can have a brass trinket box in a category titled "Gifts Under $20" and in a category titled, "For Your Jewelry" at the same time. I think anyone would agree that this is just better for sales!
Pattern by Etsy has hardly any options for search engine optimization. Not only does Shopify have it already built in, but you can also download additional apps to help you even more with it. SEO is something I don't know a lot about but I'm determined to get a hang of it and make it work for me on this new platform!
I don't know anything about HTML other than that the ability to edit it allows you to endlessly customize your site. In addition to that, if you are trying to work with certain brands or advertisers on sponsored content they sometimes require you to post a snippet of HTML on your site so that they can read the analytics. This is impossible with Pattern by Etsy. It has been years since I've posted any sponsored content and I'm not sure if I'll get back into it or not. But I like knowing that the possibility is there!
I'm not tech savvy so I want easy access to help when I need it. I ran into an issue when I was setting up the shipping in new my Shopify shop. I went to the help center and there they have a live chat button. I was able to chat back and forth with someone immediately about my issue. We sent each other screen shots until she helped figure out and resolve the problem. It was great! And it feels good moving forward knowing that if I run into an issue again, I won't have trouble getting help. I was always able to get help on Etsy, but not always right away, and definitely not in a live chat format.
I do recognize that there are some downsides to making this move.
1. While importing all my products from Etsy was pretty easy, the formatting on my product descriptions did not carry over. So I guess I will have to go in by hand if I want to reformat them the way I like.
2. I also realize that all of the product pins from my previous site no longer connect to my new site. I am going to need to re-pin everything from this new site now that I'm moved over, if I want to keep my traffic coming from Pinterest.
3. I'm basically starting over on my blog. My blog actually brings a fair amount of traffic to my site so starting over without a huge archive of blog posts is a little scary. I do plan on transferring over some of my old posts but I'm not sure how easy that will be.
4. The cost. To be honest the cost was actually the least of my concerns when it came to moving over to Shopify. Yes, it is more expensive. The monthly charge is actually double what Pattern by Etsy is charging. But in the end, if this platform is better meeting the needs of my business, the extra cost is worth it.
One of the things I don't have set up here yet is the commenting. So I hope if you want to chat about this topic you will find me over on Instagram @mendezmanor. I always enjoy meeting fellow entrepreneurs and chatting about business!
Dropping in a little bedroom refresh inspiration for the coziest fall nights and mornings! With the season well under way, now is the perfect time to make sure your spaces are as cozy as they can be. Check out our tips for keeping your bedroom feeling fresh for the fall!
