Getting repeat traffic to long format comic sites

[ragtag]

I'm starting work on a new comic and a new web site. The comics on the site will be mostly long format stand alone stories, 20 pages or more, and not part of a series. Since it takes me a while doing a new comic, I need some incentive for people to check out my site regularly. Some part of the site where there is something new.

What I want to try to do is have a sketch blog on my site, basically like a blog...except I'm not ranting on about my life, but posting sketches along with a few comments. Here I could post sketches for projects I'm working onm, any random sketches I'm doing and so on. It also gives people the option of commenting on any of the entries/sketches, so it will be a little interactive. If I update this regularly, which isn't too much work, I'm sure it would keep some people checking out the site regularly.

I'm interested in hearing your suggestions on things that can encourage people to bookmark my site and keep returning to it. Current list of options consists of:
- Newsletter - People can sign up for and get a mail when there is a new comic (though this gets a little too close to SPAM for comfort).
- Forums - Don't know how to set these up, and they might be more work than they are worth. Also, empty forums are not likely to attract any traffic and may make the site feel dead. A simpler version of this would be to just include a guest book.
- Regular strips - This is an option, but would take away time from actually drawing the long format comics...and to be frank, I'm no big fan of strips.

Cheers,

Ragnar

[Guest]

A mailing list that people sign up for to get the occasional announcement of a new long work certainly doesn't seem like spam to me. It's infrequent, and it's something they requested (not unsolicited email).

Another idea is RSS feed to announce changes. I am becoming quite fond of this. I have various RSS feeds on my livejournal friends page now. A handy way to keep up with a bunch of different sites in one place.

[losttoy]

My vote is for the e-mail notification method. Most people will understand about this and you can always add a remove option. Furthermore people who like your stories can keep in touch knowing that quality takes time.
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[Pumpkin Pie]

[Eric F Myers]

[ragtag]

Thanks for the feedback. Interesting to see totaly opposing oppinions on the sketch blog. I guess it's the kind of thing that doesn't appeal to everybody. Though the nice thing about it is that it will be at very little extra effort to me. I'm doing the sketches anyway, so putting some of them in a sketch blog is no more job than posting on a forum like this (plus some scanning for those I do on paper).

So I think I'll go with a sketchblog and a newsletter. I'll look into the RSS feed. I only have a sort of vague idea of what it is, but I'm sure some Googling will turn up lots of info.

Pumpkin Pie: I agree with you on the forums. If there aren't enough people, they just look empty and out of place and don't help make people come back.

Ragnar

[BuckBeaver]

Interestingly, Jim Zubkavich was commenting on his blog recently that The Makeshift Miracle still gets a decent amount of traffic (and presumably Bitpass revenue) despite the fact that's rarely been updated since he finished it and he has done almost nothing to promote it.

Worth noting though that he was an early sign-on to Bitpass and the comic was daily (I think) for quite awhile until he finished it.
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[janell]

Totally off topic - can anyone tell me how to read Makeshift Miracle through my Modern Tales subscription? I've looked all around but can't seem to find out where the link to the old MT archives are. Thanks!

(btw, I know you've already figured out what to do, but frequent updates are always a good thing - if people like your comic, they'll often be interested in what else you do. Plus then search engines like you better. And I personally love the option to receive a newsletter when there are updates because it means I don't have to keep checking back just to see if there are any.)
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Janell
www.baegtobar.com

[Greg Stephens]

[janell]

Bummer, thanks....
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Janell
www.baegtobar.com