Many popular comic websites contain little extra jokes in the form of mouseover text; the little captions that appear when you rest the mouse on a link, image or even general text. xkcd is probably the most famous for this, given that it has at least one joke or comment on each comic (and sometimes they are funnier than anything in the main comic). Penny Arcade takes this in a different direction by having mouseover text on the end of Jerry/Tycho’s blog posts but nevertheless, it is there.

If you are using a WordPress system to run your comics, adding your own mouseover text is very simple. Because ComicPress is probably the most popular implementation of comics on WordPress right now, I’m going to use that as the basis for this example but you can quickly apply it to any WordPress-based comics system.

First of all, log in to the admin side of your website (it’s usually yoursite.url/wp-admin for those who aren’t sure) and click on the “Appearance” tab in the sidebar. Find where it says “Editor” and click on it. This will bring up the editor for your site’s code. If you have the site set up to allow code to be changed from admin part of your site, you will be able to edit your site code from here. It’s a useful setup but not everyone has their permissions set for it.

If you don’t, you’ll have to download two .php files from your site and edit them on your computer before uploading them again. The end result is the same, it’s just a slightly more cumbersome method of doing this. The two files you will need are “index.php” and “single.php” and you will find them in the directory where your theme’s files are stored (such as wp-content/themes/comicpress-3c).

From the editor, click first on index.php (called “Main Index Template” on my version of ComicPress but it may be different for you since I’m using a slightly customized version of ComicPress, so I’ve not updated in a couple of years now). Near the top of this file will be a section for displaying your comic. You can tell which piece of code this is because it will look something like:

<div id="comic">
 <img src="<?php comic_display(); ?>" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>"
title="<?php the_title(); ?>" />
 </div>

See the part that says title=”<?php the_title(); ?>” on the second line? The HTML code title, when used in conjunction with a tag (such as <a>, <img> or <p>) tells your browser to display a caption or “tooltip” when the mouse is hovered over the tag in question for a second or two.

By default, ComicPress sets your comics up so the name of the post associated with your comic is used as the title text. This is all well and good if you want people to see the name of the comic all over the place (remember that by default, Comic Press will display that same text below the comic, too) but sometimes you want to be able to put in an extra joke, comment or whatever.

So let’s make it so you can do that. It’s surprisingly simple.

WordPress has a nice function whereby you can use PHP code to search for meta tags and then use their contents to do specific things when certain commands are entered in a post; or display certain extra text if it is needed. This website is using meta tags to tell WordPress where to find the pictures that appear in the slideshow on the main page; and also where to find the smaller pictures used for the list of articles beneath the slideshow.

We’re going to set up a little code that makes WordPress look for a meta tag and display it as mouseover text on your comic. Let’s call this meta tag “titletext”. You can use a different name if you want but I’d recommend not using “title”, “mouseover”, “caption” or anything else that looks like a real HTML tag. It could confuse the site and cause problems.

The code you need is:

title="<?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID, "titletext", true); ?>"

Replace the title=”<?php the_title(); ?>” code we talked about above with the new code and click the “Update file” button to save the file. If you are working offline because you had to download the files to edit them, use Ctrl-S or File->Save instead (yes, I know I’m probably teaching Grandmother to suck eggs there but I don’t want to be potentially leaving someone behind).

Comics on your main page are now capable of displaying mouseover text but what about comics in your archive? When people use the “first,” “previous,” etc tags, the mouseover text will not appear. Your site will still be displaying the old title text, telling readers they are looking at “episode 7″ or whatever.

To change that, we need to go into single.php and do the same code replacement. As with the main index page, the necessary code in single.php is near the top. It looks like this:

<div id="comic">
 <img src="<?php comic_display(); ?>" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>"
title="<?php the_title(); ?>" />
 </div>

Replace title=”<?php the_title(); ?>” with title=”<?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID, “titletext”, true); ?>” and click the “Update file” button (or save the file if you are working offline).

Those of you working from your site’s admin section are now good to go, as they say in the movies. Those of you working offline should upload their edited files to your website now.

So you’ve got your site looking for a meta tag called “titletext” and when it finds it, it will display it as a mouseover caption for your users to enjoy. As of right now, you don’t have any titletext meta tags, of course. Let’s make some!

In your admin section, click on the “Posts” tab in the sidebar and select “Edit” (or “posts” again in newer versions of WordPress, because they love to change the name of things). This should bring up a list of all your posts to the website, including your comics. Select a comic post from this list and click the little “Edit” link underneath it. Any comic post will do but for simplicity’s sake, let’s choose your latest comic (because that way it’s on the main page, making it easier to remember which one you added the tags to).

When the Edit Post page appears for your comic, scroll down to the section called “Custom Fields”. There will be a section for adding new custom fields. Click on the “Enter new” link and the drop-down list above the link will turn into a text box. Enter “titletext” (without the quotation marks) into this box. In the larger box next to it, enter the message you want to appear as mouseover text. Click the “Add custom field” button when you are done.

You now have mouseover text on that comic.

The best part is, most versions of WordPress will remember that you have used “titletext” as a custom field and it will now appear in the drop-down list of meta tags for you to choose from, so you don’t have to try to remember what you called this particular field. Whenever you want to add a mouseover text message to your comic, just scroll down to Custom Fields, select “titletext” from the drop-down list of tags and enter the text in the box. Click on “Add custom field” and you’re done!

That’s all there is to it.

Getting your comic known and loved by the world at large is never going to be an easy task. The days when you could draw a few funny pictures and upload them to a Geocities site to create an instant fanbase are long gone. Before the first wave of ‘big name’ comics landed in the mid-to-late 90’s you could get people interested due to novelty factor alone but now there are tens of thousands of webcomics online, you need to work hard to climb to the top of the pile.

If that sounds disheartening, it isn’t meant to be. It’s just the truth.

The fact of the matter is you are going to be working against established names every step of the way. While it’s true that most people can add another webcomic to their morning reading list with little time lost on their part (it takes seconds to read and enjoy a comic, after all), you still can’t guarantee that people will add you. I have been a fan of webcomics since I knew they existed, yet I only read a dozen comics every day. In terms of webcomic readerships, I’m the average person.

So how do you get into that dozen bookmarks?

Setting out your stall

First and foremost, you need to have enough content online for readers to get an idea of what your comic is about. Drawing three strips, launching with a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule and beginning your ad campaign the day you first launch is probably the worst thing you can do. On launch day, you will have one strip available for people to have a look at (or three if you decide to post your entire buffer on day one – a bad idea in and of itself).

One strip is not enough to give people an idea of what your comic is about and where it is going. You need to realise that success means being in the game for the long haul. How many times have you picked up a new webcomic, read the current strip and then clicked back a couple of pages to get a feel for the comic? Your potential fans will want to do the same with you.

Based on conversations with readers, listening to podcasts where webcomic readers are asked about this very subject, and reading every book & blog post I can find, it seems the minimum you are going to need before people can get a clear idea of where you are going with your comic is 20 strips. If you have an intricate storyline with multiple interwoven plots, you can expect to publish a fair few more than 20 strips before your readers can get a real feel for the comic.

So either plan to have a small (but possibly growing) readership until you get to the marketing start point, or be prepared to blow 20 strips from your buffer on launch day. Either works.

Advertising with Project Wonderful

Webcomic artists love Project Wonderful. It is simple to use, inexpensive and a proven method of gaining readership. All that is required is that you have a Paypal account (as that’s how payments are made, both for paying for advertising space and also for receiving revenue) and a few images in set aspect ratios.

Once you have the required minimum number of strips to give readers a chance to decide whether your comic is something they want to read, you should sit down and create three differently-sized adverts. They can use the same image and text, or you can make different adverts to fit different ratios. It’s up to you.

The sizes you need are:

• Leaderboard – these are the big, horizontal adverts that usually sit at the top of a website. You will need an image 728 pixels wide and 90 pixels tall.
• Banner – these are smaller than a leaderboard and were really popular when average screen resolutions were lower. They measure 468 pixels wide by 60 pixels tall.
• Skyscraper – the vertical equivalent of the leaderboard and very popular on webcomic sites, since they can run down the side of a website without taking up too much space. They measure 160 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall.

Your adverts should be bold and eye-catching, otherwise readers will often ignore them. Above all, they should give the reader an idea of the type of comic you are producing. Don’t try bait-and-switch marketing unless you want to be lumped in with those awful, awful Evony ads (I’m sure you know the ones. They feature half-naked women and suggestive dialogue. They are advertising a resource-management game akin to Civilization and none of the women in the adverts are actually in the game).

It can be hard to explain your comic in one image so don’t be surprised if getting the right advert takes a little time. Trial and error are part and parcel of webcomic management but there are places where you can get advice, such as this thread on The Webcomic List Forums; which is well worth reading through.

Don’t get disheartened when you get only a few clicks from advertising. Most people will ignore your adverts and of those who read it, not everyone will be in your target audience. If you aim to get your cost per click (the effective price you are paying per interested reader, based on the number of people who see the ad and the number who click on it) down to around 2 cents, as this is generally a fair price to be paying per nterested reader.

Advert Targeting

So how do you get the cost per click down? The easiest way is to target websites that are in some way related to your comic. This can mean anything from a comic about bankers targeting financial blogs and banking news sites, to comics with black humour advertising on fan sites for comedians such as Frankie Boyle.

In essence, go where your market is likely to be because you won’t get clicks for Mutilating Death Bastard Kills Tokyo on the website of the Care Bears Fan Club.

Google Adsense

Most people I speak to do not generally look to Google AdSense as a method of advertising. Some will run Google ads on their own comics (especially around their blogs, where it works really well at targeting adverts) but will overlook using it to gain readers. This is a bad idea.

Google targets adverts to people looking at things that are similar to the keywords set for those adverts. In other words, Google will look for your readers for you. Spend a while working out what you want to say in an advert the size of a tweet, add some decent keywords and see how you go. I’ve found a couple of really good webcomics this way because their ads appeared in my Gmail account when I was talking to a friend about books and films I liked. This method works.

Community Spirit

Join webcomic communities, forums for people interested in the subject matter of your comic, and so forth. Don’t just sign up to spam the readership because that will make people hate you as a person and avoid anything you do. Get involved in the community and put your comic’s link in your signature, then make decent responses and become part of the community.

Taking the banking webcomic example again, websites about saving money; complaining about bankers and so forth would be excellent places to get to know people who are thinking along the same lines as someone who is making a comic about how bankers suck. If you comic is about Live Action Role Players, joining a forum for people who go to Maelstrom, The Gathering or their local/university LARP group is a great place to not only find potential readers but also find inspiration for your comics (just don’t blatantly rip off people’s anecdotes).

In a similar vein, get yourself onto Twitter; if you haven’t already done so. Twitter is fast killing off many smaller forums so even if you hate this microblogging phenomenon and wish it would die in a fire, you’re going to have to put up with it for the time being. If you don’t, you’re missing out not only on a massive part of the webcomics community but also on a massive fan base.

Most webcomic creators are on Twitter, sharing tips left, right and centre and also bitching about everything that is wrong with the world. It’s a great place to get yourself known in the community and find people who think like you.

Comments

Comment on comics you like. Again, don’t spam links to your own comic or people will get annoyed. Make decent comics and be a respected part of the community. Do the same with blogs that are to do with the subject matter of your comic.

This not only ingratiates you with fellow comic readers and other people in the community surrounding your comic’s subject matter but it makes people aware of you as a person. If it seems like you are posting interesting, thought-provoking or just downright fun stuff, more people are likely to check out what else you do; including your webcomic. I’ve built up a fair amount of traffic for this very website by commenting on writers’ blogs and other community sites, for example.

Again, don’t overdo it simply as a way to get your links out there. It annoys the hell out of everyone concerned and if you are blatant about it, you may find you get banned from posting. Don’t come across as a spammer.

Guest Art

Not only does guest art show you care about other comics but it gets you (and your art!) known to people who may not read your comic. Offer guest art to comics you enjoy, people like The Webcomic Beacon, comic blogs, and so forth. If they use it, the common rule is that they will link back to your site from it.

Guest art can be time consuming to produce but the effect of a well-produced piece can be amazing. The art will generally stay on the recipient’s website and become free advertising for you. If your work gets picked up and posted by someone with a huge readership, you can quickly find yourself doubling your own readership. It’s time well spent.

Marketing your webcomic is the only real way you can make sure more people get to know your site. Word of mouth is always going to be the ultimate recommendation for a webcomic but you can’t engineer that (unless you’re a dab hand at viral marketing and even then, the backlash for a badly-run campaign can be devastating). The next best thing is using these tried and tested methods, combined with anything else you can think of to get your work into the public eye.

Good luck!

Standing Out

You don’t get ahead by being lost in the crowd, as some business person or lifestyle coach has inevitably said at some time. It’s as true in the vacuous world of “lifestyle gurus” as it is in comics.

At the time of writing there are so many comics out there that you could not possibly count them all, never mind read them all. Your comic is going to be one of many in the genre and even in the artistic style you have chosen. If you want to be noticed, you have to do something different.

There is a lot of luck involved in getting your comic noticed and making it a success but luck is not something you just have to wait for. The phrase “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it” is attributed to many people, from US President Thomas Jefferson to professional golfer Gary Player but regardless of who said it first, it remains true. It’s a little like playing the lottery: there may be luck involved in picking the right numbers on your ticket but the more you work at it, the more tickets you have.

Standing out from the crowd is one of the best ways of making your tickets more lucky. There are many people who would say the best way to make a webcomic a success was to start before 1997 and that really comes down to the fact that back then there were fewer comics, so it was easier to get noticed in the huddle. Since we don’t all have time machines (and those that do are keeping them secret), we’ll have to forego starting before 1997 and instead work on being different to the other comics in our field.

What makes your comic different from every other comic in your genre? If you don’t know, it’s time to take a long, hard look at your comic. There has to be something you’re doing differently, or what’s the point? Maybe you’re doing a gamer comic but all your characters are fruit. Maybe you’re doing a supernatural comic where everyone thinks your main character is a vampire detective but actually they’re a human suffering from erythropoietic porphyrias (which no doubt causes all kinds of problems when real vampires come knocking).

If so, your comic stands out. Now it’s time to make the most of this difference.

It’s not enough to have your comic’s quirks as background detail. Your fruit gamers need to be fruits who game, rather than gamers who happen to look like a low-brow pineapple, an elitist grapefruit and a wisecracking pomegranate in an on-again, off-again relationship with one of the others (probably the pineapple, if most gamer comics are to be believed). Make fruit-based jokes. Create situations that are only dangerous to fruit, to increase the tension and provoke drama. Do comics and stories that no other comic could do because their characters are not game-playing fruit.

In short, make sure your comic delivers something other comics could not deliver in a million years.

I’ve taken some odd examples here but that was simply to make the point in an easy-to-spot manner. The differences in your comic may not be that extreme but they can still be enough to work with if you are willing to put in the time. Perhaps your comic is a slice-of-life comic produced in an impressionist style; be it hand-painted or digital art. If you do that well, you have a chance of being noticed by a different crowd to what would normally flock to a slice-of-life comic.

Similarly, if you normally produce a gag-a-day comic in the style of The Far Side (difference to other gag comics: high-brow but funny biology jokes and non-sequiturs) or xkcd (difference to other gag comics: high-brow but funny maths/computing/physics jokes), try throwing in references to farming, or making jokes that pigeon breeders will love. Expand your readership by being that genre’s comic which people who don’t normally read comics will read.

In short, the more you do to make your comic unique, the more chances it has of becoming a success. If you look at it from the point of view of the reader rather than the writer and really get to grips with what is different (or what could become different) about your comic, you can run with that to produce something that critics (and there will be many) can’t say just rips off Successful Comic X.

The further you get from the crowd, the bigger your chance of making it.