Building Traffic
Once you've started self-publishing on the Internet, you'll need to find a way to attract potential readers to your site. Don't get discouraged — the first couple of months can be devastatingly slow. The best use of your time during this period is in activities that help you drive traffic to your site.
Networking
The most direct way to get some traffic to your site is to convince an established Webcomic to link to your site. Exercise proper etiquette when approaching a fellow Webcartoonist for a link. In a brief e-mail, explain that you're launching a new strip. Provide your site's Web address and politely ask the Webcartoonist if he or she would consider linking to your site.
Often Webcartoonists will link to another comic only if they think that the comic would be appreciated by their readers. If they decide against linking to you, it is not necessarily an indication that they don't approve of your strip. They may have simply decided that it's not the right material for their audience.
Your mother may have told you that you should always bring a gift when visiting someone's house. This advice works well on the Web, too. Attaching “fan art” — your drawing of the other Webcartoonist's characters — will give that Webcartoonist some extra content for her site and a good excuse to link to your site.
Web Rings
A Web ring is a system of linking to and from other sites of a similar theme. In becoming a member, you display the Web ring's banner somewhere on your home page. The banner consists of links to other Webcartoonists' sites. In addition, a link to your site gets added to the banners displayed on the other members' sites.
Web Organizations
There are several online groups and organizations available to help Webcartoonists get more traffic. For example, at
There are also several sites that report Webcomics news. Many welcome a short introductory message from beginning Webcartoonists. Among them:
Comixpedia (
Digital Webbing (
The Comics Journal message board (
The Comicon.com forums (
The Keenspot public forum (
The Modern Tales forum (
When posting a promotion for your Webcomic in a forum or message board, it is considered good etiquette to begin the label of the post with “HYPE:” in all caps.
Search Engines
A great way to promote your site is to ensure that Internet search engines can find it. Luckily, it's not necessary to submit your site to each search engine. Rather, when you submit a site to the Open Directory Project (
