Readers Like Confidence, Balance and Attractiveness
When a reader arrives on your site, they compare it to other sites they have seen, and the experiences they have had on them.
Here is what they like to see:
Confidence
- No mumbling blog posts about why the comic is late, or other things aren't done
- Evidence of clear navigation, which speaks of professionalism
- The familiar array of help pages: about, links, contact, and perhaps archives, characters and others
- No false dates. Many people make a blog post under their comic and don't update it for a long time. Since this is usually the only date showing, it fools people into thinking the comic is dead.
- WordPress is a great tool for many people, but less experienced designers tend to use its default settings as page design elements. Most commonly, these are left and right column text items. WordPress can be so much more. Try to escape the defaults. If you must have them, quiet them down with smart font and color choices, like Rachel Keslensky does in her comic, Last Res0rt.
Balance
- No jumbles of information barrages, or too many images or ads
- A color scheme that gives the site a pleasing look (For many of us, this is a high-level skill. Try using these color scheme tools.
- Straight columns and good positioning (though some artists, like Jennie Breeden, use a jumbled look to good affect)
- Carefully considered backgrounds are often attractive but must contribute, not distract
- Keep it fresh. Some people like to put links on the front page for maximum exposure. Fine, but mix them up and alter them so they don't because tired and boring.
- Don't use ugly fonts. Typography design is another highly advanced graphic design skill that can get you in trouble quickly, and typography experts like my wife are rare. Start cautiously and don't mix too many fonts. When you have a rough design, see if you can get a font expert to offer some advice.
Attraction
- Every reader needs a reason not to leave immediately. Attractive art is often the first one noticed
- Humor is often noticed
- Clear navigation (We use First/Previous/Next/Last) in a style they've seen encourages exploration. (Another is First/Back/Next/Latest).
- Provocative design may attract exploration. See The Process for a great example. (A drawback of The Process is that it is slow to load and navigate and no one seems to read it.)
- Eyes and faces draw the eye, as do *ahem* other body parts. Do you have a good repertoire of eyes and mouths, or do you just draw bubble eyes with dots and mouths with the same sneer?
