Jewellery Business Week: Your questions answered (part 2)

More from Jessica Rose’s live business Q&A on Thrusday evening…

QUESTION: My jewellery business is in its (tiny, baby) infancy here in the UK and I just found out I have to to spend a few years in the USA. Since it’s on online business, that’s not too big a deal, but how best can I navigate the whole “jewellery/jewelry” conundrum in terms of SEO? Currently I list both spellings as keywords for my site, but on the site itself I use one spelling (jewellery, until I move). Has anyone else had any issues with this?

ANSWER: Ah the notorious jewellery vs jewelry question. Yes this is an issue and one that international businesses face. But there are a few options for what you can do…

I think you are right to optimize for both spellings and from an SEO point of view it is ideal to have both spellings in your keywords for any blog posts, social media, and in the text on each page of your website too. I know this can seem inconsistent BUT may be worth it for getting more visits to your site. And by that time, they love your jewellery so much they don’t mind how you spell it!

It can be best to choose one spelling type that you lead with, which is your main go-to spelling but dot a few of the other in their too. Goggle recognizes text, images, videos and more so you can name all your images with one spelling and write the text content with another.

Generally speaking USA is a larger market size and they will only ever type in jewelry so it is probably best for you to lead with that. It is a massive generalisation but seems that UK and European speakers are more aware of the two spellings so will understand what you mean when you say jewelry.

In short, I would say do both, that way your site is visible to all.

A final short point to make is to try to use other words as much as you can, like necklace, ring etc… as they only have one spelling so it is an easier process.

QUESTION: I have a jewellery website and a presence on Etsy, but would like to try selling face to face as well. Where is a good place to try selling without too many costs up front. I sell a mixture of silver clay and swarovski crystal beaded items at the moment.

ANSWER: As you say it is wise to start small when selling face-to-face to give yourself time to work out what and where is best for you to sell.

1. You can try local school fairs in the summer and Christmas which are usually quite inexpensive and a great learning experience.

2. Craft/ handmade fairs are a good bet too but can be difficult to get into as there are lots of jewellers. Apply early, start looking now for summer events and get yourself on any mailing lists from the organisers so that you can get in first.

3. Another option is sharing a stand at bigger/ more expensive jewellery show or gift events. This is great when you are starting out as you can share the costs as well as the workload. Either sharing with a jeweller that has a different style to you or someone else selling handmade goods.

4. Utilize the networks you already have; jewellery parties can be very lucrative. Get a friend to organize a party inviting all of their friends and you can show your jewellery, do a nice display, offer them advice on what they might like etc… and sell pieces on the spot. You then usually give the organizer a commission or some free jewellery.

Whatever event you choose you want to try to make sure it is well marketed – so that people will come to it, that the target audience are the same or similar to your target audience and that if it doesn’t go well for some reason you are able to work out why and learn from it for next time.

During business week, London Jewellery School is offering 20% off all day and taster business courses plus the Business Bookcamp if you book between 2 and 9 February 2014. To get your discount call 020 3176 0345 and book your class quoting BIZWEEK20. Find out more here.