Grow your shed

Promote your shed online to bring in more traffic

Your storefront is open 24/7 — but only if people can find it. Here's how to point more of the internet at your shed, without spending on ads.

5 min readUpdated August 2026

A poster by your shed wins the people who walk past. Getting found online wins everyone else — the friend-of-a-friend two towns over, the person Googling "birthday cake near me" at midnight, the follower who's been meaning to order for weeks. The good news is that almost all of it is free; it just takes a little consistency.

Put your shop link everywhere you already exist

The single biggest source of online traffic is the link to your storefront. Every place it appears is another door into your shop, so don't make people ask for it — put it where they'll already see it.

Pin it in your Instagram and Facebook bio, and in the "link in bio" of any other platform you use.
Set it as your WhatsApp status and add it to your personal messaging signature.
Drop it into your email signature so every message you send quietly advertises your shop.
Add it to your Facebook page's "Shop now" or contact button, and to any local directory listing you have.

When you post a bake, always include the link or tell people exactly how to order. A gorgeous photo with no way to buy is a missed order — every single post should make the next step obvious.

Post so people share you

Social media grows your traffic when other people pass your posts on. You don't need to go viral — a handful of local shares reaches exactly the customers you want. Give people posts worth sharing:

Show the process, not just the finished bake — a quick video of icing a cake or pulling a tray from the oven gets far more reach than a static photo.
Post when your followers are online, usually early evening and weekend mornings, and post little and often rather than in rare bursts.
Use a few local hashtags and tag your town or village, so people searching your area find you.
Reshare every tag and lovely message (with permission) — real customers recommending you is the most persuasive marketing there is.

Help people find you on Google

Create a free Google Business Profile for your bakery — it's what puts you on the map and in "near me" searches, and it's one of the best free tools going.
Make sure your storefront is listed in the MyCakeShed bakery directory, which is a public page search engines can find (see "Get discovered in the directory").
Ask happy customers to leave a Google review. More reviews mean you rank higher and look more trustworthy to first-time buyers.
Describe your bakes in plain words people actually search for — "gluten-free brownies in Leeds" beats "artisan traybakes" when someone's typing into Google.

Go where your neighbours already are

Local Facebook groups, Nextdoor and community "recommendations" threads are where people ask for a baker by name. Being active there — helpfully, not spammily — sends warm, ready-to-buy traffic straight to your shop.

Join your area's buy/sell and "what's on" groups and share a genuine update when you've something new or seasonal on.
Answer the "can anyone recommend a cake maker?" posts with your link — these are customers actively looking to order.
Team up with nearby businesses to share each other's pages; a café or farm shop's followers are your future customers too.

Traffic is only half the job — a slow or unfinished shop loses the visitor you worked to win. Before you drive people to your shed, make sure every product has a clear photo and price and your shop status is up to date (see "Get the most out of your storefront").

Pick two of these to do consistently this month rather than trying everything at once. Online visibility compounds: a link in your bio, steady posts and a few good reviews quietly bring you traffic long after you've set them up.