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Cilla Crochets Business Update March 2022
Find out what happened in March 2022 for Cilla Crochets in this latest crochet business update and discover why my crochet website pageviews increased drastically.
Since opening up about my crochet business and why currently all of my crochet patterns are available for free, I was overwhelmed with the amount of support I received from crocheters (and knitters) in our yarn community. Thank you all so much. Seriously, you made my month!
For once, I actually had numerous comments on my blog. My unique website views skyrocketed. And in turn, my email list grew… a lot. It’s been an exciting month!
That’s not to mention the messages I received on Instagram from so many lovely crocheters who could also relate to what I wrote. Your messages honestly meant the world to me, and it made me feel like writing the post was so worthwhile.
Since my last crochet business update was so popular, this has inspired me to open up publicly about my progress on a more regular basis. Just so you can see for yourself how things change over time.
I also thought that if I continue to share the lessons I learn along the way of trying to build a crochet business it might help others who are trying to do the same or who are thinking about giving it a shot.
Obviously, I’d be lying if I didn’t say the fear is real of opening up when I know that not all months will have positive results. But, so be it! That is the reality of trying to grow a crochet business. It won’t always be sunshine and roses and it’s probably even more valuable sharing the challenges rather than focusing on the successes alone.
So let’s cut to the chase. Here are my crochet business updates for Cilla Crochets and what I’ve learned in March 2022. I hope it helps!
The rise in crochet website pageviews
The biggest change in March 2022 was thanks to my first ever crochet business blog update.
My unique website pageviews increased drastically. When I say drastically, I had more than six times the amount of traffic visiting my site in comparison to the month before. It was incredible!
This goes to show that I’m not alone when it comes to wanting to pursue my crochet passion for a living.
Thanks to my friend Google Analytics, I know that the majority of people visiting my website were mainly viewing my crochet business update blog post.
So this explains what content attracted the most people to my site, but it doesn’t exactly tell me where they are coming from.
So what led them to find my website or this particular blog post?
The three tools I use to track my website stats are:
- Squarespace – This is the website builder I use, and I totally recommend it if you are short on time. Squarespace is not free however (I pay approximately £25 per month for my site), but it is so easy to use and allows you to create a website simply. Squarespace also tracks website analytics which I do occasionally look at to get a quick snapshot of how my website traffic is performing.
- Google Analytics – Now, google analytics is completely free to set up. All you need is a gmail email address and you’re ready to go. Google Analytics is where I track the majority of my traffic stats. From how many people are viewing my website, to where they are coming from and how long they are staying on my site. It is the fountain of all knowledge for me when it comes to figuring out what blog posts are performing well and which blog posts aren’t.
- Google Console – Another free platform provided by Google which is great for figuring out how you are ranking in Google Search. It’s also great for discovering what people are searching in Google who are then visiting your site. It does take some getting used to, but it is well worth the effort to understand how your content is performing in search.
After a quick analysis of the statistics shown in these tools above, I know that the majority of traffic (more than 60%) that visited the Cilla Crochets website landed on my site after searching in Google.
Goals next month for my crochet website
Given the huge increase in traffic to my site thanks to Google, my goal now is to try and capitalise on this success during April 2022.
There are a couple of key marketing activities in relation to my website that I’ll be doing this month to try and keep my website pageviews up. Of course, a lot of this will be based on trial and error.
Firstly, I’ve decided to do a monthly crochet business update (like this one) to keep this basis of communication open with my audience. My thinking is, that if people are super interested in building a crochet business, that it would be useful for those people to also see the journey as it happens. Not only one blog post per year (or per target).
Secondly, I’ve decided to do a bit more research into what Crocheters are looking for online. Ultimately, with the goal of trying to provide more targeted content to help Crocheters find what they need and answer the questions they are asking.
The two tools I’ll use to do this are:
- Answer the Public – This is a great tool to find out what people are looking for online. All you need to do is to type in one search term, like ‘Crochet’, and loads of results will be returned helping you to find out what people are trying to find when they search online. This is a great starting point if you’re looking for some crochet blog content ideas. While it is a paid tool, I only use the free version which allows you to search 3 times a day for free.
- Google keyword planner – This is another great free tool to help you find the search volume of certain keywords. This means once you search for a keyword (for example, the keyword ‘Crochet’), the tool will show you how many people are searching for this keyword on Google each month. It will also show you how much competition there is for this keyword. By competition, this means how many other websites are trying to also rank for this keyword. If the competition is ‘high’, even if you focus on the keyword on your website it is unlikely that your website will be able to compete in search due to the high amount of competition. The great thing about Google Keyword Planner is that it also provides you with multiple keywords when you type just one into the search box. So if you enter ‘Crochet’, it will bring up a list of over 1000 keyword ideas related to this one topic. It’s really a great way to filter your crochet blog content ideas.
All in all, over the next month you should see a few more blog posts pop up on my website that are aimed at crocheters who are looking for certain things online. Essentially, I’ll be trying to create content that crocheters are looking for, and I’ll be figuring this out by doing a lot of back-end research. Fun times ahead!
Crochet Email List
As a result of my website views increasing, the amount of new email subscribers in March 2022 also increased a lot.
I normally have approximately 20 or so subscribers per month, but last month there were well over 100. I’m honestly over the moon!
I was also super happy with my open and click-through rates from my March 2022 newsletter which saw me release my latest new free crochet pattern, Kira the Koala.
Crochet Email List Plans
Keeping in mind that my monthly crochet newsletters are sent at the beginning of the month, the fear is real about how these stats will be impacted in April 2022.
My next newsletter went out on Wednesday this week, and with the huge increase in subscribers this may negatively impact my email open rate and click-through-rates.
In saying this, I do feel relatively confident that the people who have signed up to my mailing list are genuinely interested in the crochet content I’m providing. Since they’ve signed up thanks to my business update or for one of my free crochet patterns.
I also always make a big effort in offering valuable content in my crochet newsletters for subscribers. As such, I always offer a free crochet pattern each month (this month it was Pippa the Penguin).
Something else I’ve tried to do this month, which is a little different to the norm is run an exclusive giveaway for my email subscribers only. While also giving my subscribers a chance to be featured on my website. Afterall, I’m trying to build a community – this is not all just about me and my own crochet journey.
Lastly, I always try and promote other crochet designers, free crochet patterns, crochet events, and crochet resources that have sparked my interest throughout the month. I don’t see this as promoting the competition, but rather providing valuable information for people who are genuinely interested in crochet and may not be aware of these other things going on online.
It’ll be interesting to see the results of these activities at the end of the month, and I will definitely keep you posted on how it all goes.
Crochet Instagram Account
In March 2022, my crochet Instagram account (my main social media focus) did increase but not by very much.
I started with around 2600 followers at the beginning of the month and ended with just under 2700. That’s equivalent to around 3 new followers a day.
Now, while that’s not a high growth rate it is pretty consistent and it is better than my previous month. So all in all I am happy with this result.
However, the one thing I have noticed on Instagram which is not so successful is my engagement rate…
Now you may remember from my last crochet business post, that a low engagement rate means there is something wrong. While my engagement rate isn’t alarmingly low, I have noticed a drop compared to February 2022. But I do know why!
Thanks to the recent Instagram algorithm changes, reels have become a lot more visible and powerful than standard images. That’s why you may have noticed a lot of crocheters pumping out a lot more reels on the platform.
Honestly, while I have released a few reels, I’ve avoided doing them as much as I possible could mainly due to my own fear. I don’t feel like I’m very good at them at all, but I also know that practice makes perfect (and progress!).
So this month to try and build my crochet presence on Instagram, my plan is to up my reel game. This means I’ll be pumping out a range of different reel types that feel comfortable to me just to test how they go. Ultimately, I want to see how much they help me increase my engagement rate and followers on Instagram, and also see what type of reel content brings in the best results. It’ll be a month of experimentation, and I look forward to sharing what I learn with you all next month.
Crochet Pinterest Goals
Now as for Pinterest, you may remember that I said I wasn’t sure what metric to track as I’m still getting used to the platform.
One thing I have noticed during March 2022 on Pinterest however is that all of my stats/analytics have been on the rise. A great result!
I think this is really down to the fact that I’ve been spending a little more time on the platform, and like most social media platforms – the more you use them, the more likely it is that your presence will grow.
While I still need to do some more research on Pinterest, there is one amazing tool that one of my crochet pals pointed out to me to help.
Now this tool is Canva Pro.
I’ve been using Canva for years now as a digital marketer and for writing up my crochet patterns. But I’ve never used the integrations it has.
Canva now has the ability to schedule your social media posts (including Pinterest) after you create a design.
While I haven’t used this functionality for any other social media platforms, I have been using it for Pinterest in March 2022. And it sure has helped to get a bunch of content created in advance and scheduled.
You will however need to be signed up and be paying for the pro account, which costs around £8 per month. But honestly, it’s the best money I’ve ever spent for a digital platform. I couldn’t recommend Canva more – especially if you’re like me and are not a pro graphic designer!
Upcoming free crochet patterns
Of course, while I’m measuring all of my results on the digital marketing side of things for my crochet business, I’m still crocheting a lot and crochet designing a lot in the background. If I wasn’t, all of this crochet business marketing stuff wouldn’t exist! 😅
So I thought I’d also give you a little insight into the upcoming patterns I’ve been working on.
As I’ve already mentioned, Pippa the Penguin’s crochet pattern has just been released this week. If you’re interested – you can find the free crochet pattern on my website here.
I also have another not-so-secret design I’ve been working on in preparation for Easter – the Eggy Paw Pals. You can see what they look like in the image below.
This 5-in-1 crochet pattern is currently with my pattern testers, and my plan is to surprise my email subscribers with the free PDF pattern this coming week. Just in time for Easter. If you’d like to receive the free PDF crochet pattern for these cuties straight to your inbox, simply sign up to the Crochet Crew via the form in my website footer.
After the Easter fun is over, I’ll be focusing my efforts back to my Aussie Amigurumi. The first of course was Kira the Koala but I have five other cute crochet Australian animals drawn up that are on my to-design list. Stay tuned!
That’s just about everything that’s gone on in March 2022 for my crochet business.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and I hope that it’s given you some crochet (or crochet business) inspiration.
I’d love to know what you think! It really means so much to me when I see a comment or two on here because it feels a lot more real when I know people are actually reading what I’ve written. Even better, if what I have written has actually helped someone on their crochet journey – my whole goal of doing what I do. 😉
Until next time, happy crocheting,
Cilla x
