It is a difficult time to be a content creator and distributor, especially in the craft/DIY industry.
CraftGossip.com has been online since 2007, almost 14 years. In that time, we have been privileged to have had the support of many loyal readers. You have stood with us through 8 design changes, 45 editors, and different types of advertising. We have had the immense pleasure of working for you and bringing you the best craft ideas daily.
We have not stopped since we started in 2007. At last count, our editors had brought you nearly 100,000 hand picked ideas averaging nearly 20 posts a day.
All of this takes effort, perseverance and of course, money. Writing these posts requires that the editors (and us) do multiple jobs to keep the lights running. It’s a good thing that we, and the editors, actually enjoy working on the site and bringing you these original ideas.
In 2011 and 2012, we first encountered the effects of events outside our control that impacted our work on the site in a major way. Google introduced what was known as the Penguin and Panda updates, and the traffic to the sites halved. We slowly rebuilt and found alternate sources of traffic including investing in our Facebook presence. Facebook helped us, till Facebook decided to change their algorithms to only show posts to 1% our page likers (and asked for payment to show to the rest). We then abandoned Facebook, and switched to building on Pinterest. And so on to the next social media giant.
It is exhausting keeping up with the newest social media program to reach our audience.
So, why did we turn off the images in our newsletter?
In all this time, we seem to have grown a fairly large, and loyal, newsletter base, and we are thankful for that.
However, we have found a disturbing trend in our newsletter subscribers habits recently. While 20% of you open our newsletter, only about 1% of those 20% actually click through to the site. We find it gratifying that 20% of you actually read the newsletter, we truly do! But it is not going to help us if you don’t actually click through to go to the site. Because it is your clicks that drive advertising that pays for the running of this site.
We get it. You would only want to click through if something really interests you based on the image, right? After all, no one, reads the actual instructions or the review that our editors take time to write :). This is whole reason Pinterest exists.
For the last 2 months, we have been running an experiment called an A/B test. We created two groups of our subscribers. To one group we sent the daily newsletter with images. To the second group, we sent the same newsletter without images.
The results are clear. The click through rate for the one without the images is through the roof. Almost 10% compared to 1% for the one with the images.
We did receive some complaints. But the vast majority of you are happy with the extra click to see the ideas on the site.
So what can you do?
We need to balance our need for some revenue coming in for the site with the needs of our most loyal readers. We hear the complaints and we want to hear your ideas on how we can balance it. Reach out to us at [email protected] or leave a comment on this post.
Thank you for listening!
1. I hate social media and deleted all my accounts. 2 google is getting too big for their britches. 3. I will continue to click on the pictureless sites through email. What else can I do? Oh, I love you site.
I am an occasional clicker-througher and while I admit I miss the images, I understand the logic in your email format changes. I appreciate all your efforts and the inspiration you share. Thank you.
I love craft gossip. I look forward to your emails each day. I have started two new projects that I had never tried before due to your posts. Doesn’t make any difference to me whether you have pictures or not, I love your emails. Please don’t ever stop. A faithful reader.
honesty is ALWAYS! the best policy! (good grief! 45 eds??) – if you need us to click thru – easy peasy, I have loved u guys from the start; no images is fine w me if it keeps you running.
Thank you for the explanation. I’m ok with either way and feel bad you having been going through this. It may come down to costing all of us to use the internet before it’s said and done. I love craft gossip so much. You by far beat all the other sites.
Too bad I like images
I do look at the images…to see if I would be interested in the content. But you have decided to FORCE me to go into every image??? Not customer friendly
Not a fan of the No Images…not sure I will be keeping the newsletter. I understand why you did it but it takes more time for me to get through my emails and when I have to stop and check through something that sounds interesting and then see it, when it is something I wouldn’t have been interested in I am disappointed. I have enjoyed a lot of your sites in the crafts I am interested in, but more often there haven’t been but a couple a newsletter that I look at.
I want the images ON!!!!
Not reading the email through as I did before because of no images! Turn then back on, please!
I rarely leave comments on websites (unless I’m trying to win something) 🙂 I must say your honesty on why you removed the images is refreshing to read. Very rarely do you come across a site that tells you the truth on how their money is made. For that I thank you and will continue to ‘click thru’ – wishing you continued success
I really hate that you don’t show images anymore. It save me a tremendous amount of time as I am not interested in some of the items whatsoever! And it make your presence so much more pretty with the images in the email. Do what you have to do but I do not like it at all. Thank you!
I have followed this website for a very long time. I love it. However, not finding the images available makes it more difficult for me to view the page. I have to keep going in and out of the page. And that gets aggravating..
Thanks for explaining! I thought something was wrong with my laptop 😉
I understand your reasons for eliminating images, but for me it will mean less click through. The main reason I don’t now is that I don’t have kids at home, so many of the projects are not relevant. I also have so many emails to dig through, I can only give each one a small amount of time. Images allow me to quickly scan to see if there is a project or post of interest where text alone rarely conveys enough info to grab my attention.
I agree with Mary who posted that going in an out to view an image is aggravating. Frankly, without the visual stimulation to peak my curiosity, I wont have time or desire to visit the site anymore. I often click through to go to the originators post, however, even when I do land on a page more and more over the last few years there is a paywall or a paid project. Years ago when I began visiting your site you only offered free crafting projects or links to blogs. It is disappointing.
I understand what you are doing but without the images, I have less interest and it takes too much longer to view. I will probably unsubscribe.
Thanks for the explanation, but I usually would only click on an image if it interested me. Now, without the images, I just usually just read the text and to the the next email. I am probably missing some really good stuff, but I do not want to take the time to look at each and every image.
So after a few weeks of no images, I finally read the first line that explains why the images are gone because with no images, I became uninterested with the content but now I see why the images are gone. Though I understand your reasoning, without the images, it’s less interesting because I’m not sure what links are beneficial to me so most times I will just go to the next email. At first I thought there was something wrong with my emails not showing images but now I know why. Just seeing the links is boring to me. Maybe if you could show one or two images and the rest links might be better in my opinion.
Thank you for explaining with information you have provided
Agree. Letting us know while it transitioned would have been helpful. I too thought something was wrong on my receiving end of things. Unfortunately, I too find the lack of images way less enticing and way more difficult for me to select what interests me. Visuals are extremely useful to me. Thank you for the update though.
I miss your images as well as that did allow me to quickly scan to see if there was anything of interest. so it does frustrate me to only see words…if you are changing to this method please consider providing a very detailed description…that would be helpful.
I do click through less because there are so many emails that come through that I find it annoying to have to click to see…
But thanks for the explanation as I thought something was wrong with my computer
I forgot to mention, that often it was difficult to find the directions after one clicks on the link for directions…is there a way, if you are going to have no images, to have the next click take you directly to the webpage for the actually directions? thanks
Not a fan of the NO IMAGES at all. IMAGES are what get me to a site. I feel it is a WASTE OF MY TIME to follow those links only to end up with something I would never have clicked on in the first place.
I truly miss the pictures. They motivate me to try new things.
SOME of your “loyal readers” only have access via their phones. My newest phone – for undetermined reasons – flips me OUT of whatever email I am looking at when we one’s come in. This adds MASSIVE frustration beyond the having to click into and out of the email IF ON THE EXTREME OFF CHANCE the title alone grabs my attention, that I am intrigued enough to click through. I can tell you that I haven’t followed thru on a SINGLE story SINCE the removal of the photos! If this little experiment of yours continues YOU WILL LOOSE AT LEAST ONE LOYAL READER – ME! I don’t have time – being full time caregiver to my disabled husband between his daily needs, doctor appointments, procedures, and regular household duties I barely have time for restroom breaks much less WASTING MY TIME clicking on title only links for crafts that hold ZERO INTEREST to me!
I will admit that due to my circumstances, my crafting ebbs & flows, just as your newsletter content changes day to day, so some days, heck some WEEKS I didn’t open a single article even with the pictures, but I can GUARANTEE you that the PICTURES CONVINCE ME TO LOOK FAR, FAR MORE FREQUENTLY than a paltry (often EXTREMELY UNINFORMATIVE) Title EVER will!
AMEN SISTER!! I absolutely HATE this concept! This is the very FIRST craft related site I joined and have gotten MANY great projects from, but if this “No Picture” crap continues, I’m LEAVING!
Don’t like with no images, might discontinue, makes it easier to scroll with images
I’m not a fan of NO Images. Your reasoning makes sense but I am considering discontinuing. It takes me
too long to click thru and after all, you aren’t the only site that I subscribe too. I will being weighing what o find most important in the future. Thank for the explanation.
I am one of the folks that wrote to ask if something was wrong on your end or mine. :0)
I DO read the editorial comments and I DO click through to the page, IF it’s an item that interests me.
not having the images DOES make it harder to tell if I’m interested in something or not.
but happy to do it, if that’s what it takes to keep you guys afloat. never knew about the logisitcs behind it.
thanks for explaining, and thanks for all the content you all have put out over the years.
I understand why you’re not including images and I support it even though I do miss the images. I’ve been a long time subscriber and love your emails. I always click on the ones I’m interested in. I do the same even without pictures. As long as the description is clear about what it’s about I really don’t need the images. I hope things go well for you because I’d miss the emails and the crafts you tell me about.
Thank you for the explanation! I thought something was wrong with my e-mail! I agree with Dana! I miss the images but, when the discription is something that is of interest I click to take a look!! Now thar I know what the clicks mean to you I will click more!!! Hope you can keep up the work you do because I would really miss the craftgossip e-mail!!
I much prefer images. I haven’t found that I click more w/ or w/out images. I’ll click if the project interests me.
I guess I got into the group with no photos. The reason for not including photos sounds counterintuitive, but on thinking about it, there is a logic to it. I have been subscribed to your posts for a long time, and often click through to read about an item or to download or at least Pin something. I have been doing that since the
change, but maybe not as often. My names main way of viewing emails is on my phone, and the extra step to look at something that sounds interesting, but may not be, to me, is something I don’t bother with if I’m busy. When the photos were there, I could make that decision more quickly, and would flag a day’s post and go back to click through, sometimes a few days later. Without the photos, I don’t bother. I will try to be aware of the reason for this going forward, but probably won’t always bother to click through.
I do appreciate CraftGossip, and have gotten many good patterns and ideas because of your hard work. Thank you!
Sorry that you have decided to do this. I will no longer want to receive your emails
You know the saying, “A picture’s worth a thousand words.” Technology is focused on what we see (think about the ad placement on any blog page)…I have loved this craft website because of the pictures…thanks for the “why” no pictures explanation. Like many of the others who’ve posted comments, I’m not a fan of just words. Maybe have fewer DIY’s in one post, or a top pick with picture.
Your site is among my top ten favorites. Your editors cover a wide range of sites to bring us useful or just plain interesting info. So if “no images” is what it takes to keep the site going, then I’m OK with it.
Thank you for explaining the lack of images. I have followed your site for quite some time and find it very helpful. I do not mind a few more clicks to find what I am looking for. Keep up the good work and thanks for all your effort.
Thanks for letting us know. I too thought something was wrong with the site, but I still clicked on the link if it was something I was interested to read. I have always loved CraftGossip, and I will continue to read every email. It’s one I look forward to. Even before the issue was explained, I was still using CraftGossip just like I always had been. Click advertising is used on so many sites already, and if that helps pay for our FREE newsletter, then I will happily click away to the links. By the way, having to slow down and actually read the links isn’t a bad thing, and I really don’t think readers should be complaining about what we have to do to get a FREE newsletter.
I too do not like the site w/o pictures. I click on the items that interest me. I am a card maker. I thank you for your honesty and information about the changes. I do however read the directions and click on the how to make links on most of the card links. As much as I do not like the email w/o pictures I will continue to look forward each day to my email.
I also much prefer the pictures of craft projects. It’s the inspiration to try something new. Find a way PLEASE
I truly like the images in the email. I miss them. It showed what I was clicking on. It’s not fun anymore. I hate going through clicking here and there to view what I could easily have seen in the email.
I am one of the people who wrote to you concerning no images because I truly do miss them. I have followed you for many years and have gotten some very good ideas from the newsletter. I always clicked on the things that I was interested in, something that looked good to me. Now, without the images it makes it that much harder. I understand your logic and that you do this for free, but now the newsletter is not as appealing to me. I will follow for a bit longer, but I expect that I will probably unsubscribe in the future. The newsletter is not appealing any longer. I would like to see the images return because without them, I click on fewer sites.
Are you in this just to make money or are you providing a service to crafters? Sounds to me like all you care about is what you can make from people clicking through. Well you just lost a reader! I don’t click on things I can’t at least see a thumbnail, or a description. You need some lessons in online marketing!
I like with images becauae I have some difficult with English-language and the images help to understand what it’s about.
The images helped me decide whether or not to click. What bothered me was clicking on an image only to find that it was an Etsy ad. I wish THAT was in the description. If I wanted to look at things on Etsy, I would go search Etsy. But I would at least appreciate the warning.
I find that with no images, I am clicking less often. I just can’t be bothered clicking to see if something even interests me, especially when I half expect it to take me to an Etsy ad.
Hi, you asked for suggestions on how to make the click throughs more user friendly. I would suggest you remove the pop-up that asks me every time I back up from the actual page back to the main list. If I am going to click into each post and then back to the main page, it would be nice not to have the pop-up interrupt me each time. Thanks!
Like many others I thought something was amiss having had a problem last year through an update. Thank you for clarifying. I miss the images but understand the logic behind your actions but would appreciate a little more information beyond just a headline to assess if something is worth my while going further though it need not necessarily be an image.
I also am not a fan of the “no pictures” concept. I would call myself a general crafter. I don’t crochet or knit. I don’t scrapbook. I liked the pictures because I could look past those ideas and look at the ones that interested me. I have made several of those “general” craft ideas, including some in my Sunday School class. Please go back to pictures or I will unsubscribe due to no interest.
It is very difficult to know if I am interested in a project if there is no picture. There are some types of crafts I do not do. I find that I do not know what the projects are in the e-mails without pictures and click less often and I was about to unsubscribe. I do wonder if you will see a drop off of the click through once this becomes the norm for your newsletter. Did they click because there was no image and wanted to see what was going on? Or did they click due to interest? Long term effects are most important. Personally, if you decide to maintain no images I would think a link to view all projects listed on one page of your site so subscribers can still view them all at once. I am just one subscriber, but I sign up for many newsletters that I find inspiring and unfortunately having to click through multiple times in one newsletter will cause me to unsubscribe.
I’m afraid you might have seen more traffic on your website during your experiment as people wanted to check if there was something wrong with their email or if there were no images on the website as well… This is what I did – I went to the website to see if any images were there, but there weren’t… Many thanks for explaining the issue but I side with those who don’t like the idea. We’re talking about crafts here after all, where images tell so much more than words. For me, a craft’s name without an image arouses no curiosity, as most of the time I don’t even know what you’re talking about (I’m not an experienced crafter…). That said, thanks so much for sharing amazing content with me, but with this change, I’m afraid I won’t be a regular visitor to your website. Take care!
I’ve been a subscriber for years and years. I find it annoying that there are not images in the newsletters. I ready every newsletter and it’s the photos that draw me to whether I click on the links or not. Without photos, I find myself looking at the newsletter less and less.
**read** not ready
Thank you to everyone who has left a comment and sent us an email. We truly appreciate it. We are going to experiment with some ideas suggested by all the wonderful folks in the coming weeks. Please hang in there!
Shellie and Vikram
I already in subbed. I need the pictures first before I will click.
No images, no visits, sorry – as a hybrid model art educator, my time is far too precious to have to scroll through text instead of images.
While I enjoyed the images, I fully understand your decision and support it! If i am interested in the name or the type of project, I can click through. If there are no projects that sound interesting, I can hit delete. You do what you need to do! I’ll keep checking things out!