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!

Advertising Tips

When most webcomics start out, the advertising they look to will generally begin and end with Project Wonderful.  This site (problems with its hamfisted introduction of ‘regional’ advertising aside) is an excellent resource for creators of all kinds, both in terms of getting new readers and also in bringing in some revenue.

However, it is not the only way to bring traffic to your site, nor should it be the only site you focus on when starting out.  Other advertisers, such as the much maligned Google Adwords, can bring in revenue if you’re wanting to monetise your comic (and if you want to make a living from webcomics, you should be looking at monetising as early as you can, or readers may come to expect your site to be ad- and merchandising-free).

Bringing in Readers Through Advertising

As for bringing in traffic, advertising on Google AdWords can work as well.  In fact, any advertising system where you can get a cheap deal and get your adverts onto sites where people are interested in the topics your comic covers will work pretty nicely.  Of course, with advertising comes expense and when you’re starting out (even when you’re established), expense can be off-putting.

The Advantage of Commenting

So let’s look at some cheap alternatives.  Most, if not all, webcomic creators are also webcomic fans (if you’re not, how are you comparing yourself to other artists and improving your work?), and most webcomics these days have a comments section on their sites.  Commenting on the comics you like is an excellent way of getting your name out there, and thus bringing attention to your own comic.

That’s not to say you should just go and post willy-nilly on other peoples’ comics – that’s a big no right off.  Comment only when you have something worthwhile to say, either about the comic in question or something the creator has said in their blog.  Think about what you’re adding before you press send and if you’re not adding anything to the conversation, don’t post.

The last thing you need is to come across as a spammer who’s only interest is in dragging people to their own site by any means possible.  In short: you’re selling yourself when you comment, and you need to make youself look good if you’re going to get people to visit your work.

TV Tropes and Why You Need to Use it

Something a lot of webcomic artists don’t do is get themselves a page on TV Tropes.  This site collects humorous analysis of all kinds of media, from The Iliad to Count Duckula and everything in between.  Well, almost everything.  What’s likely to be missing is a page about your comic – and you can remedy this oversight.

Most people I’ve spoken to about TV Tropes think they can’t make a page on it; that somehow it has to be ‘the fans’ that will make a page, and anyone who creates one for their own comic is just wasting their time because an editor will come along, decide it’s ‘vanity editing’ and remove it.  Not so!

TV Tropes is not Wikipedia.  In many ways, it’s what Wikipedia should be, if it stuck by its “anyone can edit” philosophy to the letter.  Moreover, Wikipedia has a nebulous idea of “notability”, which generally comes down to whatever the current baying mob decides they do and do not like.  TV Tropes avoids this problem with one clear policy:

“All works are notable.” – TV Tropes notability policy

What does this mean for you?  Exactly what it says on the tin.  You’ve got a webcomic? You can have an article about it on TV Tropes.  You’ve written a couple of short stories and stuck them on a website somewhere? You can have an article about that, too.  You’ve created ten webcomics and blew your nose on Jo Cooldude’s tablecloth at Suttonly-on-sea Comic Convention 1997?  You need a page on TV Tropes about you, as well as about your comics!

But who will write this stuff?  To start with, you will.  It’s easy, too.  Just go to the page about your favourite webcomic, click on ‘edit’ and see how their page was made, then copy it mercilessly.

This not only makes sure you know how the (minimal and easy to understand) coding conventions work on the site (which is a variant on the PmWiki engine) but it also makes sure your page will look like other webcomic pages, and thus make the reading process easier for everyone who comes to have a look at what you’ve done.

Once the page is there, maybe fans will add to it later if you tell them about it.  It’s great if they do, but most won’t (most people on the Internet are ‘read only’, so don’t expect miracles).  Right now, fan editing isn’t your main concern, however.  Getting people to see your comic is.  So how do you do that?

Linking Your Way to Success

The first thing people generally notice about TV Tropes is that each comic’s page has a list called something like “This comic provides examples of:”, followed by a long list of links and discussions about how the links are associated with the comic.  Those are the tropes the site is named after.  They are the building blocks of storytelling, and each of those pages contains masses of links to works who use that trope.

By compiling a list of tropes your comic uses, you now have a set of pages into which you can add a link to your comic’s entry on TV Tropes.  Readers interested in examples of how a certain trope is being used will then see your comic’s entry and if they like what you’ve said about how you used it (see the other examples in the list for a guide to how to create your entry), they will click on your link and read more about your comic.  If they like what they see, they may even visit your site.

If this sounds like a lot of work to you, bear this in mind: TV Tropes has a large daily readership and those readers are often interested in webcomics.  Chances are they’ll come and have a look at your site because they like what they’ve seen on that wiki.  It is a large source of free advertising, and even one entry can get a significant number of hits.

Still not convinced?  Remember this: I put up pages for The Life of Nob T. Mouse and All over the house, and now fully 30% of my new readership comes from examples on TV Tropes every week.  All it took was an hour’s work.

Advertising does not have to mean paying for a graphic on someone else’s website, in the hope that their readership will a) pay attention to it and b) think you’re worth a look at.  For the most part, it comes down to getting the word out through alternative means.

I’ve covered just a couple here, but I’ve no doubt there are many more you can find if you put your mind to it.  Just remember not to come over as a spammer, and to make your work as interesting as you can, then the fans will come.