1. Choose A Default Product

When you’re adding a new work to Redbubble, it’s important to select one product as the default view for that artwork.

When you add work, scroll to the bottom of the page, and choose from a drop down menu to select which product you would like to set as default. When you choose a default product, you are dictating which product preview image will appear on your shop page and in search results on Redbubble.

This is a good idea for a number of reasons; you gain control over how your work is first seen by potential buyers, and you can diversify what your default product is across different images so your work is seen in different ways. It also makes you stand out as many artists leave this option as “image only” and don’t utilize the option to have a default product at all. Furthering this point, choosing a default product adds to a comprehensive and curated portfolio — it makes viewers of your artwork and profile see that you are actively engaged in considering how your art is seen.

You can see in the example below that two artists have made their default products a phone case and a tote bag when I search the word “plant” in the Redbubble.com search box.

Plus, when we market your art throughout the Internet, we often submit a feed which pulls in product views, so if you haven’t chosen a product view, you could miss out some great exposure.

For more: 5 Ways to Design with Products in Mind

2. Tag Your Artwork Accurately

Properly tagging your work on Redbubble is one point I have been known to harp on and on about. Carefully looking at your artwork and choosing 5-10 select key words which describe it a practice to master. Try and make it as relevant and specific to your artwork as possible, and always tag while imagining it being used in our comprehensive search engine. Tags can help bring your images to the top of relevant searches, and are a great way to get new eyeballs on your work.

By selecting an artwork to be a certain product on Redbubble you’re allocating it that tag, so there’s no need to add it again. For example, if you set your default product as a mug, it will already have this tag, so there’s no need to add “mug” again. Try to stick to descriptives. If you’ve illustrated an image of a bulldog, tag it with “dog, bulldog, illustration” and the like. Never tag-spam.

3. Create SEO (Search Engine Optimization)-friendly Titles and Descriptions

When you add new work to Redbubble, you have the option to fill in a short description. This is very important to do, as it’s another way (like tagging) to get new viewers to look at your work.

Select 1-2 keywords that are also tags that you can add into your description in a natural way. Search engines will then be able to see the correlation between your tagging and description, and bump you up their rankings so it floats higher up in searches and gets more attention. This is pretty basic search engine optimization and requires very little work to make use of keywords that accurately describe your work. Remember, customers are frequently searching our site for products related to their interests which means their searches are pretty generic. Try to plug those magic keywords in where you can. Remember, like fizzgig above, if you create and upload an illustration of a zombie puppy, a zombie and/or puppy fanatic might stumble upon your piece after searching for their favorite things from our homepage or search engine.

Be sure to never abuse SEO descriptions as search engines are known to crack down and demote results on people they see as spamming or abusing this mechanism, so don’t overuse tags or descriptions, and never been deceptive about what might be in your image. Just the facts.

For more: 7 Ways to Effectively Use Tags in Your Redbubble Profile

4. Look Over Your Products

Once you’ve uploaded your new work, make sure you take a moment to check how your artwork appears on all products. This is especially important if you’ve made them available on a wide range of our products (which is great, because we do have a really nice wide range!). Take a moment to ensure that your artwork is displaying well, and disable any products where the image is obviously not working on the product before you come back and fix the images.

Mugs, duvet covers, and leggings are frequent offenders of this, so they’re important products to keep an eye on. Check them closely. It only takes a minute and makes a big difference to the overall quality of your shop page. If you’re images don’t look as great as they can, consider re-uploading a higher-res version of your work, using our tiling feature, or reworking an image altogether so it’s perfectly situated on every product.

Here’s an example of a messed up duvet cover from RB Blog Editor Eddie Wright (left) and a great looking one from the terrific Sophie Corrigan (right).

For more: 4 Reasons Why You Should Upload Different Images for Each Product

5. Say Thank You To Customers

Use our custom Thank You message feature. This allows you to customize your message to recent buyers. You can say thank you, explain how much the sale has meant to you, and talk about ways they might like to follow you (by clicking “Follow” on your RB profile page, for example).

To set up a custom thank you, click on your Account Details, and click “Promote” under “Artist Tools” on the lefthand side. Then, you’ll see the below:

Once you set up a custom thank you, your customers will get a special message in their order confirmation directly from you. It’s really important to try and reach out to buyers and remind them that the truly unique thing about Redbubble, is that we are built upon a foundation of real people who have the ability to reach out and connect with one another, and that is a wonderful thing.

For more: 6 Simple Ways to Make Your Redbubble Portfolio Stand Out

Share your tips and tricks in the comments below.

[Header image: “Pandas paint colorful pictures” by laurxy]