I refrained from putting this in the Help Furom for a reason. You see, I am starting to think this is a patience issue. I have a whole bunch of ideas for my comic, and I can even put them into a storyline mentally.
You're probably thinking, "What the hell does this have to do with hits and visits?" Let me tell you: I only have three comics right now (which happen to be a combined prologue), and I'm wondering if any of the veteran Keenspacers have had a problem with getting visits.
I have three tactics to solve my problem, but they all require at least a month's worth of comics. >,< They are:
1. Make friends with comics that are relatively popular. I plan to do this by sending fanart.
2. Sign up on "Top 100 webcomics" websites and such.
3. Plead to people like you who read my posts to read my comic, even though you don't know who I am or how funny I really am in real life oh please will you come to my website I'm funny I can draw well even though I don't have Photoshop and I forgot how to riteohnoI'mgettingallhyperandwritingrun-onsentences!
*cough* *AACK* *gets slugged in the jaw by brother*
I'm sorry about that. If somebody actually read through this entire post, could you give your opinion?
1t \/\/0u|d b3 6r@t3fu|.
-MiniFoo
How does a comic get hits (or better yet, visits)?
I used to advertise at different oekaki boards.
But I'd have to draw something AMAZING to get more than 12 hits from an oekaki board.
http://www.oekakicentral.com
http://www.unixdaemons.com/~bakaneko
http://www.ackanime.com
http://the-protagonist.net/oekaki/
Back when I first started my webcomic, I used to get an average of 7 people a day
But after I started to draw on oekakiboards and advertise,
my site visitor number rose from that average of 7 a day to 89.
^^; maybe it's worth a try.. I guess.
Just try to reach a good audience that will like your comic.
But I'd have to draw something AMAZING to get more than 12 hits from an oekaki board.
http://www.oekakicentral.com
http://www.unixdaemons.com/~bakaneko
http://www.ackanime.com
http://the-protagonist.net/oekaki/
Back when I first started my webcomic, I used to get an average of 7 people a day
But after I started to draw on oekakiboards and advertise,
my site visitor number rose from that average of 7 a day to 89.
^^; maybe it's worth a try.. I guess.
Just try to reach a good audience that will like your comic.
I'M MAKING A GAME | GALLERY | The old webcomic:http://www.skimlines.com | [url=irc://irc.esper.net/keenspace]irc://irc.esper.net/keenspace[/url]
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THECapedCaper
- Regular Poster
- Posts: 158
- Joined: Wed Jul 17, 2002 5:46 pm
- Location: USA
- Contact:
You obviously don't read ELFTOR.MiniFoo wrote:0h h3||. I hate MS Paint. I don't have Photoshop. But I guess I could try. What exactly do you do in oekaki?
It would be a miracle if I drew with quality in MS Paint. ^.^;
<a href="http://highschoolrpg.keenspace.com"><img src="http://highschoolrpg.keenspace.com/imag ... <br><br>So then, I was like, DUDE! And, he was like, DUDE! And we were all like, Duuuuuuude...
ELFTOR...haven't heard of that. Is it drawn in a oekaki sort-of look? I looked around, and I know now what it is; I just didn't know it was called that.
Sorta off the topic, are we? Hmm...I guess I'm just gonna have to be patient
and m@k3 s0m3 <0m1cs. (If anyone's pissed off about l33t-speak, I'll stop.)
Sorta off the topic, are we? Hmm...I guess I'm just gonna have to be patient
and m@k3 s0m3 <0m1cs. (If anyone's pissed off about l33t-speak, I'll stop.)
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Chascraw4d
- Regular Poster
- Posts: 255
- Joined: Wed May 22, 2002 10:24 am
- Contact:
The best way to get visits, I think, is that if you have a really good idea, and don't give up on it.
Eventually people will learn about you, and enjoy what you do.
-Josh
http://www.stubblecomics.com
Eventually people will learn about you, and enjoy what you do.
-Josh
http://www.stubblecomics.com
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Ashess
- Regular Poster
- Posts: 116
- Joined: Fri Jan 01, 1999 4:00 pm
- Location: amsterdam, the neatherlands
- Contact:
how do I get more posts
hmm.. you could make a banner.. and MAKE more comics.
ppl looking at the list are likely to go. 'what, 3? that's not worth my time'
..and...
uploading them on a regular basis might help.
ppl looking at the list are likely to go. 'what, 3? that's not worth my time'
..and...
uploading them on a regular basis might help.
<A HREF="http://pesky.keenspace.com" TARGET=_PESKY!><IMG src="http://members.ams.chello.nl/amswart/ba ... banner.gif" border=0>
<br>Pesky! no aliens allowed.</A>
<br>Pesky! no aliens allowed.</A>
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Ashess
- Regular Poster
- Posts: 116
- Joined: Fri Jan 01, 1999 4:00 pm
- Location: amsterdam, the neatherlands
- Contact:
lol. I'm not angry. just a little rude. sorry. but I understand you being impatient. I was impatient too.. and I'm still impatient. 
oh boy.
I think I was actually going somewhere too, but I cut out a view months.
it's because I decided to put up my colour pages for the full comic version of pesky. they were almost done when I did, but I still had to text most of the pages. at 20 something I got sick of it, and quit (I hate lettering. drawing, I love. lettering. yuck) but I only have, like 4 to go now, and about 10 strips lined out after that. -the old stuff, that doesn't require lettering and aquarel coloring, thank god- so I'm gonna try again.
oh boy.
I think I was actually going somewhere too, but I cut out a view months.
it's because I decided to put up my colour pages for the full comic version of pesky. they were almost done when I did, but I still had to text most of the pages. at 20 something I got sick of it, and quit (I hate lettering. drawing, I love. lettering. yuck) but I only have, like 4 to go now, and about 10 strips lined out after that. -the old stuff, that doesn't require lettering and aquarel coloring, thank god- so I'm gonna try again.
<A HREF="http://pesky.keenspace.com" TARGET=_PESKY!><IMG src="http://members.ams.chello.nl/amswart/ba ... banner.gif" border=0>
<br>Pesky! no aliens allowed.</A>
<br>Pesky! no aliens allowed.</A>
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Ghastly
- Cartoon Hero
- Posts: 5154
- Joined: Fri Jan 01, 1999 4:00 pm
- Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
Yes the first thing to do is to ignore the "Hits". Under Webalizer a "hit" is anytime any file is accessed on your site.
Say you have a page up that has a banner gif, 8 button gifs, a background gif, and a comic image gif. That would account for 12 hits right there from one visit. What you're looking at is the "visits" to give you an idea of how many readers you have. Hits are meaningless especially if you use a small banner ad image in your .sig and an avatar to "advertise" (hey, if you're a productive member of a forum then having an avatar of your character and a link in your sig file isn't spamming in my books) in popular message forums.
Popular message forums are a good way to advertise provided you're in a forum that accurately reflects the target audience for your comic (it would not be a good idea for me to start posting to the forum for some kid's show as a way of advertising my comic). The key is not to spam the forum with messages just to get traffic to your page. You have to actually take part in the community of the forum and be a valued member and then you will get the visits.
Of course your best way to generate traffic to your webcomic is to simply not suck.
But I think everyone has probably figured that one out on their own.
Fanart is a good way to get traffic. Send fanart to a popular comic that includes links with the contributor's work and you'll get a steady stream of traffic from that (provided, of course, your fanart doesn't suck).
If you've only got three comics under your belt it's far too early in the game to be worried about visits. Just concentrate on your comic.
Other things that help big time:
1) Don't suck (I think I already mentioned this).
2) Have a well designed, easy to navigate webpage. Make sure your site is visually pleasing and does not distract attention away from the comic (which should be the focal point of your webpage). Horribly designed buttons, guady background images, poor translation across resolutions, huge rants before the comic will make people less likely to return to your site. Make sure everything is easily accessable. Also take it easy with the pull downs. Some people sign up for every pulldown going. This brings your page to a crawl. Refrain from using Java script whenever possible. People are less likely to return to a slow page.
3) Be consistant. Set a realistic shedule for your comic. If you're a busy guy with real work and a wife and kids and house to maintain (like me) you're not going to be likely to be able to update your comic every day. Start off slow and if you can manage it you can increase your publishing schedule when you start building up speed. Nothing puts people off more than a comic that is horribly inconsistant with its publishing schedule. If you're going to publish once a week or three times a week then publish once a week or three times a week. It's understandable that things will come up and you will, inevitably, miss a deadline but try like hell not to even if it means just putting up some character portrait art just so the readers will have something new to see. And don't over do it with the dead-artist days too because that pisses off readers too.
4) Although artwork is secondary to writing when it comes to comics it is still very important. Try your best to put forward your best work each week. Listen to constructive criticism but ignore those who simply flame you for your suckage. Make sure your artwork looks finished. If you're doing a pencil sketch strip then make sure your pencil sketches are well scanned and look like finished work and don't simply look like you were too lazy to ink your rough sketches (very few artists can get away with pencil sketched artwork. I think Piro is one of the few who really excells at pencil sketched images as a final product. Most people need to ink to clean up their images (either digital ink or real-world ink). Pencil sketched artwork is very good for conveying emotion but in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to do it it just comes off as either sloppy or lazy.
5) Writing is the most important thing. You should be able to write quality work without any illustration at all. If you can consistantly deliver quality stories in narrative form (for god's sakes people do not write fanfictions in screenplay format (and usually improper screenplay format at that)) then you should be able to write a good comic. If you can't write then you'll have to partner yourself with someone who can or take some writing classes. Without a good story or well scripted comedy your comic will be nothing but an art gallery that someone has defaced with word balloons.
6) Be original! Don't just copy another popular comic (web or print). Find your own story, your own character and very importantly your own style. There are certainly genres to work within. There's the anime/manga genre, the gamer genre, the superhero genre, the fantasy genre etc. Don't just emulate someone who is popular in your chosen genre, seek to create your own voice. Don't just copy another artist's drawing style and character designs. Don't just copy another artist's plot. Sure, a webcomic about a bisexual ample breasted teenage supergenius with a bionic arm and a sassy street smart equally well endowed partner will attract the attention of a few Exploitation Now fans, but over all you will simply be dismissed as another "clone" or "wannabe". You shouldn't be saying, "I wanna make a webcomic just like Penny Arcade" or "I wanna create a comic that's kind of like MegaTokyo". Why would you want to do that? You'll never be able to make a Penny Arcade or a MegaTokyo as good as their artists can. That's there voice. If you want to make a gamer comic or an otaku comic then find your own voice to make it with. The line between inspiration and blatant rip-off can be a very fine one indeed.
But like I was saying, don't be too worried about popularity at this point. Concentrate on the comic and if you're good the audience will find you. Word of mouth does a remarkable job of bringing visits. I make it a point to check my referrals every now and then and I get lots of traffic from other people posting links to my comic in forums or on their blogs.
Don't be discouraged if your numbers are low. I started out with only about 50 readers a day and it took quite a while for my readership to start to grow. Many artists with long running strips have told me it took them over a year just to get more than 100 readers per day. Judge each strip by the fulfillment it gives you as an artist not by wether it appeals to the masses or not. Popularity is not an indication of quality. Besides, some genres have a limited niche audience to begin with you could well be the top artist in your genre with only a few thousand readers at the peak of your popularity.
Say you have a page up that has a banner gif, 8 button gifs, a background gif, and a comic image gif. That would account for 12 hits right there from one visit. What you're looking at is the "visits" to give you an idea of how many readers you have. Hits are meaningless especially if you use a small banner ad image in your .sig and an avatar to "advertise" (hey, if you're a productive member of a forum then having an avatar of your character and a link in your sig file isn't spamming in my books) in popular message forums.
Popular message forums are a good way to advertise provided you're in a forum that accurately reflects the target audience for your comic (it would not be a good idea for me to start posting to the forum for some kid's show as a way of advertising my comic). The key is not to spam the forum with messages just to get traffic to your page. You have to actually take part in the community of the forum and be a valued member and then you will get the visits.
Of course your best way to generate traffic to your webcomic is to simply not suck.
But I think everyone has probably figured that one out on their own.Fanart is a good way to get traffic. Send fanart to a popular comic that includes links with the contributor's work and you'll get a steady stream of traffic from that (provided, of course, your fanart doesn't suck).
If you've only got three comics under your belt it's far too early in the game to be worried about visits. Just concentrate on your comic.
Other things that help big time:
1) Don't suck (I think I already mentioned this).
2) Have a well designed, easy to navigate webpage. Make sure your site is visually pleasing and does not distract attention away from the comic (which should be the focal point of your webpage). Horribly designed buttons, guady background images, poor translation across resolutions, huge rants before the comic will make people less likely to return to your site. Make sure everything is easily accessable. Also take it easy with the pull downs. Some people sign up for every pulldown going. This brings your page to a crawl. Refrain from using Java script whenever possible. People are less likely to return to a slow page.
3) Be consistant. Set a realistic shedule for your comic. If you're a busy guy with real work and a wife and kids and house to maintain (like me) you're not going to be likely to be able to update your comic every day. Start off slow and if you can manage it you can increase your publishing schedule when you start building up speed. Nothing puts people off more than a comic that is horribly inconsistant with its publishing schedule. If you're going to publish once a week or three times a week then publish once a week or three times a week. It's understandable that things will come up and you will, inevitably, miss a deadline but try like hell not to even if it means just putting up some character portrait art just so the readers will have something new to see. And don't over do it with the dead-artist days too because that pisses off readers too.
4) Although artwork is secondary to writing when it comes to comics it is still very important. Try your best to put forward your best work each week. Listen to constructive criticism but ignore those who simply flame you for your suckage. Make sure your artwork looks finished. If you're doing a pencil sketch strip then make sure your pencil sketches are well scanned and look like finished work and don't simply look like you were too lazy to ink your rough sketches (very few artists can get away with pencil sketched artwork. I think Piro is one of the few who really excells at pencil sketched images as a final product. Most people need to ink to clean up their images (either digital ink or real-world ink). Pencil sketched artwork is very good for conveying emotion but in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to do it it just comes off as either sloppy or lazy.
5) Writing is the most important thing. You should be able to write quality work without any illustration at all. If you can consistantly deliver quality stories in narrative form (for god's sakes people do not write fanfictions in screenplay format (and usually improper screenplay format at that)) then you should be able to write a good comic. If you can't write then you'll have to partner yourself with someone who can or take some writing classes. Without a good story or well scripted comedy your comic will be nothing but an art gallery that someone has defaced with word balloons.
6) Be original! Don't just copy another popular comic (web or print). Find your own story, your own character and very importantly your own style. There are certainly genres to work within. There's the anime/manga genre, the gamer genre, the superhero genre, the fantasy genre etc. Don't just emulate someone who is popular in your chosen genre, seek to create your own voice. Don't just copy another artist's drawing style and character designs. Don't just copy another artist's plot. Sure, a webcomic about a bisexual ample breasted teenage supergenius with a bionic arm and a sassy street smart equally well endowed partner will attract the attention of a few Exploitation Now fans, but over all you will simply be dismissed as another "clone" or "wannabe". You shouldn't be saying, "I wanna make a webcomic just like Penny Arcade" or "I wanna create a comic that's kind of like MegaTokyo". Why would you want to do that? You'll never be able to make a Penny Arcade or a MegaTokyo as good as their artists can. That's there voice. If you want to make a gamer comic or an otaku comic then find your own voice to make it with. The line between inspiration and blatant rip-off can be a very fine one indeed.
But like I was saying, don't be too worried about popularity at this point. Concentrate on the comic and if you're good the audience will find you. Word of mouth does a remarkable job of bringing visits. I make it a point to check my referrals every now and then and I get lots of traffic from other people posting links to my comic in forums or on their blogs.
Don't be discouraged if your numbers are low. I started out with only about 50 readers a day and it took quite a while for my readership to start to grow. Many artists with long running strips have told me it took them over a year just to get more than 100 readers per day. Judge each strip by the fulfillment it gives you as an artist not by wether it appeals to the masses or not. Popularity is not an indication of quality. Besides, some genres have a limited niche audience to begin with you could well be the top artist in your genre with only a few thousand readers at the peak of your popularity.
I've been around for 7 months so far (<--started off with 7 visitors a day)
But now I have an average of 150 :]
wait.. actually that's just a small group of my friends continually visiting my site... HAHA. (sweat)
But that stuff doesn't really matter: what matter is that you display QUALITY comics on your site
..which is another very effective way to "advertise" your site. ^^
Don't we all want to be part of this (grin)
But now I have an average of 150 :]
wait.. actually that's just a small group of my friends continually visiting my site... HAHA. (sweat)
But that stuff doesn't really matter: what matter is that you display QUALITY comics on your site
..which is another very effective way to "advertise" your site. ^^
Code: Select all
Abcd> Hey I found this real nice webcomic..
BCde> Yeah? What's the URL?I'M MAKING A GAME | GALLERY | The old webcomic:http://www.skimlines.com | [url=irc://irc.esper.net/keenspace]irc://irc.esper.net/keenspace[/url]
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ZOMBIE USER 11441
- Newbie
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