How do you get ur comic to get more views? comic tips!

[nananana]

Hello! I have been publishing my comics both on tapas and webtoon since probably 2015! But because I easily get discouraged I tend to drop comic projects pre-maturely.. From what I noticed indie/self-published webcomics were more in demand before or it was easier to make a name for yourself, get views, and subscribers.

Now I noticed, my comic for sure is much more decent and I have improved a lot from back then but I struggle to even get half the views as I did back then. I barely even get interaction with my readers anymore. Which feels somewhat sad.

I've never been active on social media as well so never made a name for myself or was able to keep in touch with my old supports

[darthmongoose]

One easy thing you can do to get started is put a link to your work in your forum bio. It really does help!

Honestly the best thing you can do is just keep at it. Especially post images from your comic. The art is nice and in a fashionable style that'll appeal to Tapas' core readerbase, so I think if people see it you'll quickly start to pick up readers. Following people whose work has a similar vibe and commenting and liking their stuff can often get you return follows or signal boosts. Try to participate in art or comics hashtags on social media to increase your chances of getting spotted.

[nananana]

nice! good advice, weird enough that I haven't tried any of this.. I'll start doing these tips

[Llyrel]

Some stuff I did as someone who pretty much built an audience from scratch starting from a couple of years ago:

• Social media: make sure to have a recognizable "brand" for all art-related stuff. Basically, don't use a bunch of different nicknames for each platform you join, it makes it hard for people to find you/figure out whether it's actually you or someone else (note: careful not to overdo it, however. The more platforms under the same name you have, the more chances potential stalkers and doxxers can use them to find out personal information about you. Always be extra careful with the kind of personal information you share with others: once I read an anonymous confession of someone proudly admitting that they were saving on their computer all the selfies they could find of members of a fandom I was in. Without their consent, of course. The fandom included/includes several minors. Just to give an idea of the sick shit people online can come up with).
• Study the social media you're in, find out what works and what doesn't, find out the right times to post, use hashtags to your own advantage. A very important part of being on social media is knowing how it works. You can find several posts online explaining what's the right time to post on this or that social, but tbh the best thing to do is just experiment yourself and see what works for you (especially because most of the online articles you can find aren't very clear about the time zone they're referring to XD).
• As suggested above, follow people with similar interests and interact with them. Building genuine relationships with people goes a long way
• Fan art: although the great majority of people who will follow you for the fan art will only care about the fan art, there WILL be a minority of people who will stay for everything else you do as well. Some of the people who used to follow me for my fan art on Tumblr and Instagram are still following me nowadays, even though I've mostly moved on from fandom-related stuff. I'm not quite sure how many of them are actually reading my comic, but they -do- like all of my comic update posts, so there's that another thing you can do is... fanart for other webcomic artists! Artists will usually be very happy with the fan art... and who knows, maybe they could even share it on their social media and recommend your webcomic in exchange ^_^ (again, though, maybe don't just go around and make a dozen of fan arts in a row in an attempt to get noticed XD people will be able to tell if you're doing it just for the views or if you're actually doing it because you care about their comic).
• Participate to events: be it fandom events, webcomic collaborations, fanzines or whatever, try to join an online event and post your stuff. Fandom events are especially easy to join, since you really only have to post stuff that goes with a certain prompt during a certain period of time. If it's a fandom for something that allows OCs (e.g. Skyrim, Dragon Age)... throw your webcomic characters into it and casually point out that you also have a webcomic featuring that character! XD
• Bonus sketches, strips, character memes: use your social media to post them and generate interest around your characters. Even if people don't know who your character is yet, a pretty picture is still a pretty picture and, who knows, maybe they could also share it
• Challenges, DTIYS: Mermay, Drawtober, Huevember... social media are full of cool challenges you can join. Joining a challenge gives you a chance to be seen by other people who are also participating in the challenge and will give your art more visibility.
• Good ol' advertising: truth to be told, most of the points listed above require a lot of time and often bonus art you may not even have, especially if you're focusing all of your energy on producing new comic pages. In that case, if you have some funds to spare, you may opt for some low cost paid advertisement. ComicAd lets you upload banners for free and will show it on all webcomic sites that have free ad space available + it has a bidding system that lets you buy ad space on popular webcomic sites: you can find ad spaces available for prices as low as $0.02 a day. TopWebcomics also has low cost advertisement available, with prices being as low as $1 a day.

[iHateFridays]

Personally for me is just interacting with other creators. XD Read their comics, share them around and make fanart if you can and maybe they'll do the same for you too

[nananana]

Wow! thank you so much, very good tips and advice. This is very helpful, I wasn't aware of a lot of things you mentioned. I like how well organized and well written it was explained so I had no trouble reading through. I'm really grateful for you to share this!

As mentioned earlier I've never been highly active on social media, generally because it isn't a thing I'm so fond of but it really is an important factor in getting your work out there! I should really work on being more active and participate in online art communities...

[nananana]

Nice advice! Do you have any recommendations on platforms to interact with other users? I heard twitter is pretty good but I never made an account actually..

[iHateFridays]

Hmmm Twitter definitely has a community, and Instagram is good too!

[DarkChibiShadow]

Hey! Here's some tips I've found help:

-Updating is really important. Try to be consistent, and just don't stop updating. The most important aspect of a comic (even above plot or art quality, imo) is the fact that it updates. Even just once a week is good!
-Post on multiple sites. I recommend using Tapas, Webtoons, and Comicfury. You could look up some other apps if you like, but these are the ones I find most reputable in the English speaking sphere.
-Definitely try social media like Twitter and Instagram (please be aware the Instagram algorithm is horrible and you may have a really hard time with it, everyone does, Twitter's is a bit easier) but please do try art focused sites like Deviantart, Furaffinity, Newgrounds, or good 'ol Tumblr. These places are still where folks go to find art!
-Tag your comics carefully, and try improving your SEO with a strong summary for your comic and file names.
-Work on developing a strong thumbnail and strong story summary. These things REALLY help a lot more than most folks realize, I think!
-Do art trades/collabs/guest comics with fellow artists. Getting exposed to someone's audience by drawing their characters in a cute little comic is a tried and true method of cross pollination. It's worked wonders for me!
-Thank your audience when it's appropriate. Seriously! Just thank the people who are there, it encourages them to keep coming back.

Other, more general advice:

-Optimize your work flow and address any mental blocks that might be preventing you from making art as easily. Seriously, therapy can help a lot in terms of enjoying making comics more and having a better work ethic. This comes from experience!
-If you're having a hard time keeping up with a comic, or even finishing one, try thumbnailing out a 10 page comic, and then finish that. If you like the way that feels, do more. Try 20 pages, then try 30.
-If comics feel like they suck to work on and you don't like it... try making a visual novel. I'm serious. I make visual novels alongside my comics and it's very rewarding. They pull from a LOT of the same skillset and I've seen lots of folks make the transition from comics into visual novels and never go back. You could really enjoy them!
-Remember that comics and story making are for fun and your enjoyment. Getting comments back isn't always the goal, and sometimes having a dedicated, small fanbase, is better than a bigger one. Again, I speak from experience.

Good luck!