...And now, for Traffic

It's a common dilemma, but hopefully I can help. Here are some suggestions based on what I've seen on your site

1) Total makeover in web design

2) Instead of 1 videos on the homepage, have multiple videos on your homepage, and make people click "next" (all the way at the bottom) to view more. (think of it as a blog. you're looking to create a community, right?)

3) There is a lot of interest in satire online. You should invest into some paid advertising because the results and traffic that you're looking for won't come instantly with just social media and free marketing

4) Don't ask people to "support your website" by donating. Have an offer and make them pay for it - even if it's an offer that you created.

5) Have an opt-in email newsletter form on your site so people can subscribe to your "humor" newsletter, and return to your site continually.

By the way, how is the traffic from Youtube going?

Buy some facebook ads, i see you have a facebook page, when you sign into your facebook page there is an option to promote your page. You can try it out because facebook has hundreds of million of users on there.

Love it!

Suggestions off the top of my head:

1. Life Drawn Well would likely have a drawing board for the main background and high GSM art paper for the content background, perhaps with the old familiar, trite, bland cup of coffee and pen lying about. Life Drawn Badly should be just the opposite. Lose the white BG for content. Instead, transform everything into a realistic scene. Be creative. Maybe we have a napkin on a grubby diner table. Go wild.

2. Usability is poor. I need to see your menu, slogan, logo.

3. Lose the donate button. No one will give you money, you have to earn it. When the design is complete, concentrate on integrating monetization. And integrate it into the scene. Be original, because your competition is still stuck in 1990.

4. Make this sucker viral. Better social integration for one. BUT . . . the big one is this: your angle. I'd need more than 3 minutes in a forum post to give it to you, so the onus is on you. I actually really like this site, and I almost never have the opportunity to say that. Strong recommendation: figure out what you can do here to give this viral potential.

5. Lose Adsense.

6. Get yourself a premium theme. Something high end and very customizable. Avada, for example.

7. Ensure we're mobile friendly.

8. Concentrate on 1 traffic method at a time. This is super important. Don't make the common mistake and spread yourself across multiple networks, not while you're learning. I'd recommend FB and target the student crowd.

9. Oh, afterthought. Lose the shop. No one will buy.

Huge potential. Love the domain. Creative. Love it!

- Tom

Everything which I wanted to suggest has already been said by Randall and Tom. I agree that the 'concept' is extremely well put. I kept hitting the 'next' button and had to stop reading post after post. The website layout needs your solid attention. I would not suggest losing your font (it goes with the concept), I would definitely use another fast loading responsive theme as this is important for any engagement providing site.

Are these hand drawn creations? If yes, can you draw them on cups or t-shirts too? The purpose to ask these questions is to give more weight to your creativity by making you showcase it like anything. I LOVE the title - A Webcomic, but Just Barely.

Now, coming back to the traffic question, here are some insights:

1. Forum participation with like minded individuals will definitely give you more eyeballs. Here are some of the forums I found worth looking:

TWCL :: Index

The forum - Comic Fury Webcomic Hosting

Giant in the Playground Forums



2. I don't know, but I think you web comic guys are obsessed with 'dirty' fonts lol! or I should say playful

Some of the websites I found interesting of similar webcomics creators through which you can get some inspiration from:

Brian McLachlan - Cartoonist < Introducing himself + adding a personal touch with real-life photos + presenting his creations

The Duck Webcomics < Simply attractive because of the color choices

Sketched Moments Home Page | Webcomics, art, hand drawn portraits, entertainment. Original Art. < Introduces himself and showcasing his creations on Pinterest largely.

Q2Q Comics | A Webcomic About Theatre Tech. Updated Mon Wed Fri. It's Tech Week Somewhere < I know your style is different, but you get the point. The layout is clean and easy on the eyes.

The Webcomic Overlook | Webcomic reviews are serious business. < Interlinking posts and directing visitors to other pages helps minimizing the bounce rates.



3. Why don't you teach people how to do it? Do you know Instructables?
Here's the link: Instructables - DIY How To Make Instructions

In fact, I digged more and found a webcomic instructor on the site: Making a Web Comic: Drawing the Comic



4. Since the webcomics on your website are all based on life, why don't you create categories accordingly?

In this website, this person has actually divided his creations into categories which he feels passionate about. There is 'Pop culture', 'Pokememes', 'Celebrities', 'Animal Comics' and many more:

Web Comics - hand drawn - Comics from around the Web - 4koma comic strip, webcomics, webcomics - Cheezburger

You can do that as well. Something like 'Parents-be-like', 'Male morning sickness', 'Intruders', 'Friends cum enemies', 'GF crisis' - hey, I am just throwing out there, you can do better than me...



5. Do you meet people with similar interest like face-to-face? I don't know where you are located but I just randomly chose 'USA' in the drop-down list and found some meet-ups:

Comic Artists Meetups - Meetup



6. Are you interested in selling out your services as a comic creator? Introduce yourself here: ComicsAlliance - Comic book culture, news, humor and commentary.. They actually are doing it for you. For example(s):

Hire This Woman News

Hire This Woman: Cartoonist Jessica Garvey


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I don't want you to get overwhelmed. Concentrate on one thing at a time. I usually take more time in doing one thing than most of the warriors out here.

P.S., I just bookmarked your website for daily visits

I agree with a website makeover. You don't have to change everything but you should have all your content show on a page at least. Do it like the site 9gag. The reason why I used that as an example because it's pretty similar. Look at their site and model yours after theirs. You can have the same main page, but you need to have an archive that's more visual than what you have. It would help if you have a blog on that page as well.

As for traffic, keep up the social media. Have an instagram page for your comics and short insights of your videos. Run FB PPC instead of whatever paid marketing you're doing. This is higher quality traffic and targeted. You can try stumble upon ads too. You have a good site with a good future if you stay persistent and keep working on this. Nothing is instant. Go on a 90 day run just driving traffic and creating content on your site. Focus on those 2 the most and you will get your results.

You came to the right place to ask your questions. Look at all the responses you got!! This community delivers and I learned a lot from the posts from everyone.

I hope to be able to deliver the same type of contribution to this forum as my IM experience grows.

Thank you everyone!

Leilani