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Qualities of an Amazing Webcomic Site
An amazing webcomic web site is multi-purpose. Some of the things it does include:
- making your comics shine
- helping people find you
- helping people read your comic
- inspiring people to become involved in your comic's life
- showing you are serious, and plan to stick around
- answering questions
- supporting deserving colleagues
- involving the reader
- telling people how to contact you
- making the location distinctive
Let's go over those, but add a bit of commentary. We can dive deep into specifics in articles that are coming up:
- It makes your comics shine
Your site design is your entry into the world of graphic design. You will be creating image elements and decorations that enhance your message, convey an atmosphere and do not clash.
Many wonderful comics artists are not good graphic designers. No crime there -- but it means turning to a graphic designer for helps.
Here's a site that is designed with incredible complexity. I don't want to enter the debate as to whether this is really a comic, but note how sophisticated some sites are with their graphic design. You've seen plenty with budget graphics, so I won't link to any. But how many have you considered kind of shabby without knowing exactly why? Often, those are the ones with poor color schemes.
The best idea is probably to start very, very simple, unless this is one of your skills, and develop it with pointers from colleagues
- It helps people find you
The reader sees one part of the site, the coder sees the other, and they do not look anything alike. Inside that coder section is terrain many people miss: title and description tags, and keyword optimization. The majority of sites I examine are deficient on these issues, and the amazing site is not. Like graphic design, you can get help, or you can go minimal, or you can learn what to do and why. Se our sections discussing SEO and SO, or search engine optimization and site optimization.
Two sites may look identical, but one gets traffic and one just drifts. This is why.
- It helps people read your comic
The right colors, atmospheres, font choices and decorative touches help people plunge into your comic. It's like matching the painting to the frame. Hard to do perfectly; striking when done well.
- It helps people become involved in your comic's life
Whatever extras are on your site, like forums, chat boxes, blogs and supporting detail pages need to be properly organized and planned to make a site amazing.
- It shows you are serious, and plan to stick around
Slapdash sites attract some readers. Especially if the comic is good. But sometimes it is not always clear if the comic is good until you read it. A messy site may drive people away.
- It answers questions
FAQ, links, bios, cast, about the author: There are pluses and minuses to each of these, but if you have them, you must do them right. People must find the information they expect under the heading they expect or they get impatient and leave.
- It supports deserving colleagues
It's up to you whether you link to others. I recommend rotating links to give more people some exposure, but whatever you do, plan it. Banners? Text links? A featured link? A linkroll?
- It involves the reader
If negative interaction has readers fumbling around, trying to find navigation or help, positive interaction rewards the reader with more than they expected.
- It tells people how to contact you
When I wear my webcomic journalist hat, I am astonished by how many sites lack clear contact information. Many have missed out on reviews or favorable coverage because the owner could not be contacted without using junk like chat boxes.
Their loss.
- It makes the location distinctive
If you're serious, remember that word: distinctive. It is one of characteristics of successful webcomics that came out of our study in 2008. We'll talk elsewhere about making your comic distinctive, but making your site distinctive is a different type of challenge. Don't look to my sites as models, because this is a weak skill of mine, and I want to improve without Pug helping me too much.
A distinctive site stands out from others in unique and memorable ways. Here are a few examples:
Robot Factory
Brainless Tales
The Process
Every home page you visit is a chance to assess what other people have done.
If you look internationally, you'll find differences among countries. The French seem fond of splash pages -- which precede the home page, for example, while in America, they are considered very out of style.
Look at the components of pages you like. See what are separate items. Often, a swoosh of color is assembled from multiple parts.
My philosophy is that sites are constantly evolving. I'll be thrilled if people reading this merely do a less bad job the first time out, gain some confidence, and attack it again soon.
Want one good web resources to read about design ideas and see what others are doing? Try Smashing Magazine, which makes a point of including useful links whenever they can.
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