How To: Promote a Web Comic

There's a lot going on in your head when creating a comic book and it doesn't stop after it's done. There are other things that you have to do once your comic book goes online. You have to market it, introduce it to the right market, and find a way how to get it published. 

Web comics have been getting increasingly popular. There are dozens of comics, aside from scanslations and mangas (heavy favorites), on the web. There's a strong competition base online. It's a tough industry to break into. To help you get around the competition, here are steps in promoting your web comic:

Step 1 Promote your Web Comic, SEO style

Web comics are technically websites, too. There are tons of online guides and tips on how to promote and improve a website's traffic. Search for SEO tips online about promoting a website and share your web comic in different online bookmarking sites. Favorite bookmarking sites are digg.com, stumbleupon and reddit. Create an account in these sites and add some friends, share your web comic's link and see the difference. 

Step 2 Share it on Social Media Networks

Sharing your web comic using different social media sites can help provide exposure. Websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr are top choices. You can share a link or two of your web comic in these sites and let your friends decide whether it's worth a share, a re-blog or a retweet. 

Step 3 Join Online Comic Book Forums

Join discussions about different comic book titles. Share your comments about recent issues of well-known titles and let the people in that forum know who you are and what you do for a living. This can spark an interest in people. 

Step 4 Join a Local Comic-Con

Print out limited copies of your web comic and look for a comic-con around your area. Local comic-cons are great venues for selling your creative work. It's a convention full of comic book aficionados who are always on the look-out for fresh comic books. 

Step 5 Promote Your Comic Offline

You can give local coffee shops a printed copy of your comic book. Ask them to place it on their magazine stands or news paper racks. You can also use poster with stubs to promote your web-comic. Place your web comic's URL on each stub and so people can remove it and read your web comic once they get home. You can also do a mini guerrilla marketing by placing sticker art of your web comic in different places such as bus stops, waiting areas, train stations, etc.