Originally published at: https://community.envato.com/behance-vs-dribbble-how-i-increased-traffic-to-my-profile-by-400/
Andrea Montini (nuccioclark) is an Italian digital product designer who creates custom interfaces and interactions for mobile and web applications.
As a freelance designer I have always based my work 100% on providing services to professionals, companies or startups. Yet, I had never considered working on a singular product to sell online, until the opportunity presented itself to work on a UI kit for mobile applications to sell on ThemeForest.
Having now become an author on Envato Market, I wanted to share some interesting insights about this experience and show you what can be achieved by using some simple tips and tools available to everyone for free.
Working on my first product took more time than expected to complete. Over the summer I worked around my normal workload, and the amount of time it ended up taking exceeded my expectations. In the end it took more than four months to complete the kit and make it suitable for ThemeForest.
I didn’t want all that time and effort to go to waste. So, from the moment the item went live, I worked hard to exploit every possible social channel at my disposal to drive traffic to the page, for free.
Behance
Behance is a really popular place to showcase your portfolio. I spent two weeks on my Behance profile which became a full project presentation. It worked pretty well at the beginning, a free and effective way of advertising my product. However, it didn’t prove to be the best source of traffic.
Dribbble
Dribbble on the other hand was a simpler job, as it allows you to post single shots like “work in progress” posts. I uploaded this image giving an idea of what the style and quality of the final product would look like. It proved to be the right choice as, compared to Behance, that single Dribbble shot brought more traffic and a greater conversion rate in terms of sales. On October 19, the date of this Dribbble post, visits increased by 400% and sales doubled.
Why Dribbble was more effective than Behance
I posted my portfolio on Behance in September before my item was launched, whereas my Dribbble post went up following the item’s launch in November. This gave me an indication as to how much engagement can be driven by social media.
But the use of social media itself wasn’t the only weapon I had at my disposal. The images, descriptions and overall product presentation also likely influenced user behaviour, resulting in more conversions.
How to get the most out of Behance and Dribbble
Here are some quick tips on how to get the maximum value out of social networks like Behance and Dribbble.
Add images into item descriptions
Adding images into your item descriptions is a good way to give the user as much information as possible at a glance. In the case of my UI kit, I have shown full screen images and all the materials included within the description, as allowing buyers to see as much information as possible with minimal effort is vital.
Use targeted descriptions
The temptation to use a long description describing all your item’s great features will usually be strong, but this may not be the best strategy to attract users' attention quickly and effectively. Describe your product in a clear, short and concise way.
Use these elements carefully:
- Paragraphs
- Bullet points
- and, Bold words
While surfing the web, people have little to no time and get tired of reading, so your job is to provide them with key information as quickly and as accurately as possible. Use only a few paragraphs of text, up to 5 lines (ideally 3 lines) followed by a text wrap, and use bullet point lists to describe the content of your item. Highlight the words that really matter in bold, such as "mobile ui kit”, or "65 high quality screens” and only include the most important features of your item.
Add repeated calls to action
Be sure to use clear and effective calls to action (CTA). Remember, the user on your page should be involved and encouraged to do something. In this case, you want the user to purchase the product and leave a 5 star review. If you’ve convinced the user of the item quality through the clarity of description and boldness of presentation, it makes their eventual decision to purchase your item easier. Now, all you have to do is convince them to leave a 5 star review, which can be achieved by repeating a clear, straightforward CTA within the description, at regular intervals (2 times, at the beginning and at the end, should be enough).
Treat your item posts as living, breathing things
Don’t limit yourself to composing these social pages once then leaving them as they are forever. Throughout the first month of sales I made at least a dozen updates, adjusting the way I presented products, changing images, messing around with the image order within product posts, altering descriptions, and, as I updated the product itself, updating the source files with additions to the quality/quantity of the screen included.
Collect feedback and quality ratings
I must admit that it’s difficult to get users who purchase the product to leave a rating. Therefore, it’s important to include two or more calls to action inviting users to leave a 5 star review if they find your product is really valuable. The star rating next to the product will appear in the products list page on ThemeForest, and work as a powerful magnet for other potential buyers, especially when the other items in your category still have no ratings at all.
Ask your old clients to add a rating
If you have clients with whom you have worked, ask them to buy and honestly evaluate the product. They may well be happy enough to leave a 5 star rating…
After testing out these tips I’ve seen the interest of potential buyers increase. Currently my product “Bolder” is the best item in the Sketch Templates category of ThemeForest, in terms of sales and quality evaluation, which is a very positive result.
So, try these tips out for yourself and find out how easy it is to increase your visits, and potentially your sales.
Thanks for this awesome article 
