ANALYTICS HELP YOU MAKE MORE INFORMED DECISIONS

I talk to a lot of business owners: Etsy sellers, digital product creators, surface pattern designers, & in-person service providers, and I’m always surprised when they tell me they don’t know their numbers. But even more surprising? It's most of them. So I thought I'd explain a little about the types of analytics and how they help you make more informed decisions in your business. I'm going to keep this simple and action-focused.

Why does paying attention to your analytic data even matter? Because your numbers tell you what’s working, what’s not, where your customers come from, what keywords they searched to find you, what they want more of, and where you can stop wasting time and energy. Once you know your numbers, you can stop guessing and start making decisions based on information instead of hope.

The two numbers that matter most are traffic and sales.

That’s it.

If you understand those two things, you understand almost everything you need to grow.

Traffic (or views) shows how many people are seeing your products or website. Think of it like a real store: If only three people walk in all day, you can’t expect many sales. You may still have a sales problem, but until you get enough traffic, you won't know for sure.

So when traffic is low, it means:

-Your SEO needs attention.

-Your keywords aren’t matching what customers search for.

-Your marketing channels aren’t bringing in enough eyes.

You'll hear me repeat all the time:

If your traffic is low → you need to fix SEO

Not the product.

Not the mockups.

Not the price. (not yet anyway)

You're simply not getting seen. And you won't be able to tell if you have a great product until there are enough eyes to tell you if it is.

Sales analytics tell you whether people want the product once they’ve seen it.

So if you have good traffic but low sales, this tells us something very different. The problem isn’t visibility. The problem is what customers are seeing once they arrive. (I say that in the sweetest way possible.)

When traffic is high but sales are low:

-Your listing images may need updating

-Your title or description isn’t matching what they expect

-The product description may need clarity

-OR the design might not be resonating with this audience

This is NOT bad news. It’s actually a gift. Because now you know exactly where to look.

High traffic + low sales = listing problem

Low traffic + low sales = SEO problem

One tells us what to fix.

The other tells us where to improve.

Knowing your data simplifies decision-making. You now know where to focus.

So how to get started? I'd choose 5 listings. Look at the view data and your conversion rate.

✔ If traffic is LOW → Your product is not being seen. It’s an SEO/visibility issue.

→ Improve your keywords (verify people are actually searching for what you're using)

→ Update your tags

→ Strengthen your title

→ Create some Pinterest pins

→ Improve your metadata

Don’t redo the product just yet. Start working to get more eyes on it.

✔ If traffic is HIGH but sales are LOW → Your product is being seen, but people aren’t saying yes so it’s a listing optimization issue.

→ Update your photos

→ Improve your mockups

→ Rewrite your product title or description

→ Clarify the benefit

→ Reevaluate the design or product

High traffic means there is demand; we just need the listing to match customer expectations.

When you combine traffic and sales data, you get crystal-clear answers:

Should you create more products like this?

Should you expand it into a collection?

Should you refresh the listing?

Should you improve SEO?

Should you focus on Pinterest more?

Should you stop stressing about Instagram?

Should you discontinue a product that’s just not resonating?

Your numbers take the emotion out of it. They help you make decisions that are calm, clear, data-supported, and aligned with your time and energy.

You don’t need additional tools or complicated spreadsheets. Yes you can track numbers over time so you can see which keywords still rank for a specific product, but in the beginning, just start paying attention.

You don’t need to track everything and you don’t need to spend hours analyzing.

You just need to understand what your traffic and sales are telling you because those two numbers alone can turn confusion into clarity, and overwhelm into confident next steps.

Your creative business becomes much easier when you know what’s actually happening behind the scenes. As always, reach out if you have additional questions. I'm always happy to explain more if needed.

Warmest regards,

P.S. I go over this in more detail inside my membership, Designed Simply, in case you want additional help or guidance.