I'm very very new and I am learning as I go so please be gentle. I am interested in increasing my readership. I have noticed some Drunk Duckers on Buzz and Top Web Comics pages. Does that help? Does it require an HTML wizard to do? I hear noises like mirror site. and Web Rings. It's all a little bewildering to me. I'm not in this to sell t-shirts and coffee mugs plus Paypal donations,(although that wouldn't be bad either if it happened)I'm just a show off and I would like to run a popular comic. Any suggestions and help would be appreciated thanks.
http://www.drunkduck.com/Magical_Misfits/

comemnt on peoples comic and people will come to you and if you have a good comic, they'll stay

Networking is definitely the best way of advertisement, besides dropping dough at big name toplist sites and stuff.

The key is, the more people you know, the more people know you.

And speaking of which... hi everyone, I'm Squeegee, and I draw Mad World.

/end whore.

there is a command to stop squee from whoring?

*tries

/squee.com
/end whore
/end sys com list.exe


HUZZAAAAHHH :D

I've found the following to be a good way to spread the word on a comic (low budget version):

Comic Lists

Its two fold. Not only can people discover your site, but you can also guage how your comic is being rated. Buzzcomix.net is perhaps the biggest but that shouldn't stop you from finding the others.

Forum Posting

Here and other forums that might be interested in the kind of comic you toss out. The key to this strategy is to actually participate in a forum, be funny, witty, charming, THEN include a nice little link or banner in your posts for people to follow. Straight whoring is often distasteful and frowned at.

LINK EXCHANGE!

Depending on who you convince to link exchange with, this can be rather effective. A kind of cross pollenation of delicious comic fandom. If someone never gets back to you *cough*Earthsong*cough*, just shrug it off and go on to the next person. It helps if you actually like the site you're exchanging with.

Web-Comic Communities

Get involved! There a lot of webcomic related sites popping up and they're always looking for content and involved web surfers. Nightgig.com is an excellent place to chat with other creators, ask for reviews, and so on. Comixpedia is another good example. Just make yourself useful and people will recognize your name and what comic you represent.

Advertising

Ok, we're all strapped for cash. We're poor, you don't have the money to spare. Fine. But if you really care about your hobby you should at least be willing to consider some investment. There are a number of comics that offer very affordable advertising that is well worth the cost. I've had very good experiences with Liriel's comic Bad Blood and there are others as well. Just look around and scope out the forums, people will post.

The Basics

Keep a clean site with working links, appropriate colors, etc. Despite how your comic may look (and I'm assuming that a person who wants to increase their readership is ever and always trying to improve their comic), the website is key for a visitors experience. If it looks good, people will be more likely to return. Also, make sure you have snazzy banners and buttons of all sizes, prepared and ready. They will be useful.

There's probably stuff I'm missing but these steps will definitely help. Of course, there will always be other factors, like how good your comic actually is, what topics it covers, the whims of the unwashed masses. It's the eternal struggle for all of us but if you don't work at it, chances are you won't catch many people's attention.

.: MisterSpook :.

comic lists? how does that work? uhhh sorry quite new to some of the things in the web nowadays.......

Simple! Just go to http://www.buzzcomix.net, or any of the other comic toplists (a quick google search should yield a variety of results), and register your site through them. Then you add a vote button to your website, and as visitors come and go, they can vote for your comic if they like it.

As you receive more votes, of course, your place in the Top 100 or 1000, accordingly, will increase, thus allowing more people to find your link and view your site. It's slow to start, believe me, unless you've already a fanbase. But as you utilize those other methods, you'll find a positive correlation between toplist placing / votes, and the number of people drawn to your site.

Just remember that competition is usually more fierce the higher on the list you get, so sometimes you have to leave "vote reminders" on your site to let new visitors know that if they like your comic and would like to let others know of its existence, they can vote and help push you along. Just remember to be respectful about it, and be charming. Always charming.

Good luck!

i dont think buzzcomix exist anymore

But of course it does, silly Xombie King. My comic's been on it for aaaaages. And I still get like, two votes every other day.

I've never really been a big fan of the comic lists. I think they're good if you have the lofty dream of making money of your comic. But often times you'll find that other people are offering vote incentives... like, sketches you can see if you vote for their comic. This is all good and well, but I don't have time for that.

The first rule of growing your audience is to simply have a good comic. Good comics are talked about.

Aye Magicalmisfits, there's no harm in signing your comic up for the Buzzcomix or any other webcomic list, since it's free and relatively quick to do... I also imagine that even if it's just a bit, it'll at least get more curious people to come check out your comic! If you do go for Buzzcomix, note that it helps to correctly categorize your comic to go under the various subcategories listed there... it's very difficult to get into the top100 list, but not as hard with the more specific categories.

Now if only I wasn't clueless at designing my own website template... I could stick those damn vote buttons somewhere >_>