Please consider, if you are a new reader checking out this AWESOME-LOOKING comic and you go straight to the first page….and it’s some sort of “hey I’m new at this and I’m talking to you and aren’t comics great these are my scribbles but I thought you’d like to see them anyway.” What would you think? A: “LAME.”

Your first pages in your archive are a make-or-break experience for a lot of readers. Many new visitors will just LEAVE if they have to click through 5 or 6 diatribes of your “experience.” Never, ever, interrupt the reading experience for sketches or “page is late” or “page in process” announcements. Once that “page in process” is finished, that notice had damn well VANISH completely.

Fan art is no different! If I’m reading this intense action scene that is interrupted quite suddenly with fan arts due to “unplanned hiatus” from a year prior, do you think I’m going to be happy? NO! It’s the equivalent of a commercial in the middle of a movie. Does anyone here LIKE watching movies on a TV channel with commercials every 15 minutes? Are those interruptions not the most annoying thing on earth at that moment? YES JUST ADMIT IT.

Okay, okay, I’m a bit incensed about this, I admit. So, when IS it acceptable to have filler in a webcomic archive? Never, unless it’s the most recent update(s). Yes, if you have fan art, I’m all about showing that off. I personally really love to send people to the sites of those who spend the time making me a gift. But does that fan art stay in the archive? No! Never more than a week or two, tops. Then it is taken out of the archive and given an appropriate place on a gallery page.

What about “announcement” filler? Again, only your most recent update(s)! If your page is late, do indeed inform your readers that you haven’t shirked your responsibility, you haven’t died in a car crash, and a page is on the way. But once that page is up, that filler comes out of the archive! And even better, this notice should be in the “news” area of your site, not in the archive at all!

And finally, the case of “I’m so excited to make my first webcomic that my first pages in my archive are about my excitement and NOT my story”? Such a thing is done right <0.1% of the time. Breaking the fourth wall is something to do so very rarely it’s probably best not done at all except by expert, much like a demolition.

This same rule applies to side-stories in archives as well. Two separate stories should NEVER be in the same archive. If page 1 is “Amish Space Conquerors,”  page 2 is suddenly the side-story introducing the adventures of “Penny the Penguin, Best Friend of Amish Conqueror,” and these two stories go back and forth in the same archive…how is anyone supposed to enjoy or even follow either story (disregarding the absurdity of the stories used as examples here). Archive each story separately, with again, the only exception being the most RECENT update. Please note, this power should be used rarely.

If you are guilty of polluting your archive with commercials/filler, please, go clean it out now. There won’t be a single reader who will complain…except the one whose fan art you have just moved to the gallery. ;)

I am hesitant to put these two pages in my “webcomic website must-have’s” category because really, they are not necessary.  They can be highly desired however, and powerful tools at your disposal.  Often, the first thing mentioned to people asking about “how do I increase my audience?” is “do a link exchange” or “make fan art.”   The reason these ideas are the first thing mentioned is because they require the least amount of time and effort for the best results.

I will begin first with reasons why should have these pages.

The Links Page:

the most important reason is so you can participate in link exchanges. It’s rather amusing to me that sites who forget [or do not realize the importance of] the cast, about or archive page remember to have a links page.  I would theorize this is because the importance of the links page is already paramount in the webcomicker’s mind: “I want more people to read my comic, so I will have a links page to participate in link exchanges.” Never mind that your audience wants the other WWM-H’s.  Please understand, this isn’t a bash on anyone, I think it is just important to realize there can be differences in what you [the webcomic creator] want, and what your audience wants.  When you take care of your audience, they will often do the leg-work of networking for you, but that is a discussion for a later time, and I’m getting off topic.

Another reason for a links page is to pre-emptively link other comics. When you are already a large and established comic and you link a smaller, this is sharing a good thing, “paying it forward” perhaps, or simply pointing out a comic you think deserves more attention. When you are a small comic linking a [much] larger, it is often with the hope of the larger comic realizing “hey, the little comic is linking me! I am flattered, and in a good mood, so I think I might reciprocate.” There is nothing wrong with this, and quite often it works out well for the little guy.

Next, having a links page shouts “hey, I have banners, so link me!” If you don’t have one, how are other people supposed to link you? Should that person have to go through the trouble of scrounging up your email to ASK for one? For example, I spent 2-4am reading FreakAngels, planned to promptly link it, and guess what! No links page, at least, not that I can find! Gah! (Ellis/Duffield, if you read this…wanna send me a banner?) I don’t list the links page as a must-have page because not everyone places their OWN banners on this page. For example, Gunnerkrigg Court lists its banners at the bottom of the homepage and archive pages.  Having your own banners available is of COURSE a must-have, regardless of the page it’s on. I recommend the links page myself, because that is the first page people look when they want a banner.

Another important reason is Google PageRank and Alexa.  If you google your comic, or keywords related to your comic, is your comic listed on first page of results? There are a lot of factors involved in what order search results are displayed, but a main one is how many other [non-link-farm] sites (and the traffic of those sites) link you.  The more link exchanges you participate in, the higher your pagerank, and the more search referrals you get.

The last reason for a links page involves pure curiosity.  If your audience likes your own comic, they might come to wonder what else you read, and having a links page satisfies that curiosity.  Many people discover new comics through other comics’ links pages, and indeed, direct referrals from webcomic to webcomic is the main way for webcomics to get more readers (as opposed to search referrals, if you remember)

The Gallery Page:

Some people like to include this page in a smushed, disorganized, non-committably-named “extras” page. I don’t like pages called “extras,” because it says nothing about what is there. Always have your page names describe the actual content of the page! So, when I say “gallery,” what I mean is YOUR art, and FAN art.

This page can display your own extra art, and  SHOULD DEFINITELY display any fan art you have received.  One of the greatest slights you can give online is to NOT appreciate fan art you receive, regardless of the artistic abilities of the fan in question.  Webcomic etiquette is ALSO another discussion entirely, so I won’t mention more on the topic until necessary. If you have fan art, you need to give credit in the form of an artist’s name or handle, and a link back to that person’s gallery or comic.  This can function much in the same way as a link exchange, just on the gallery page instead. Like the links page, it also increases your pagerank.

The gallery page should also contain any stand alone pieces that you may have put into your archives. Never ever ever put unrelated pages, splash art, non-canon 4-wall breaking one-shots, etc,  pages into your archive.  Doing so is extremely disruptive and confusing to webcomic readers, not to mention, extremely annoying.  If you have them, take them OUT of your archive and place them in your gallery, or create a new archive for these things.  These pieces are things readers like to look at on their own time, on another page. Extra art is something you should be making, it just needs another home than the archives, and the gallery page is there for that reason.

The main reason I don’t include a gallery page as a must-have page is because oftentimes, it is simply far easier to use a service like Deviant Art instead of making your own gallery page. However, I vouch having one  of your own for networking and link exchange reasons!

Now that I’ve exhausted the reasons to have these pages, I’ll move on to how to use them properly.  Your links page should be under a “Links” or “Affiliates” heading, not something ambiguous like “Friends” or “Dudes I Like” etc.  Your links page is a tool, it must be organized and aesthetically pleasing (put the same size banners together, ja?). It should not be hidden by a number of clicks off the main page, rather, it should proudly appear in your main on-site navigation menu.  Like all important information about your site, it should be ONE click from your homepage.  Ideally, it should contain banners (with image alts and titles) rather than text links simply for better results for the person whom you are linking.  Comics are, after all, a visual medium foremost!  It should also contain your OWN banners for link exchange purposes, or at the very least, a link TO where those banners can be found (even if you have a page titled “banners” or “link me,” most people will check your links page first for your banners).  If you have a link exchange “policy,” it should be politely stated here (for example, “I prefer to link with 200×40 banners, and I don’t link to M-rated sites).

When interested in a link exchange, do NOT be afraid to email to inquire about it.  The worst that will happen is a reply saying “no.” You really must get over your shyness. HOWEVER! Always be sure to already have a link to the comic in question up on your own page BEFORE emailing (you of course may take it down if the other person isn’t interested), always be polite regardless of the answer, be sure to spell check your email, and for goodness’ sake, have banners ready and available on your site (do not make someone else wait because you weren’t ready)! Don’t attach them in an email before the other party has already agreed to link you (that just smells of being desperate.)

Your gallery page, like your links page, should be in your main, on-site navigation menu.  It needs to be clearly organized too, with thumbnails of images.  Some people prefer to have the thumbnails link to an embedded image in a new webpage, which then includes a link to the fan artist’s site. I prefer to link to the image directly, and include fan artist information on the gallery page itself (less work).  Having a gallery page, and displaying fan art with links back will increase the amount of fan art you will receive. Giving exposure GETS you exposure. Don’t hedge on this.

When you receive fan art, either put in your archive to give the person maximum exposure until the next update (when you promptly will remove it and place in the gallery), or at the very least, provide a direct link in your news area to the piece AND the fan artist’s site.  Mentioning it in your forum does not count. Mentioning it in a old news post does not count. It needs permanent exposure on its own page.

When sending fan art, please don’t ever include anything that even sounds like, “and oh yeah, this is my website and here is a banner to me.”  You have created FAN art. Once you make it, it is the reciprocant’s prerogative on what to do with it and how to display it.  Sure, it is very easy for me to say, “appreciate every fan art you get and give it maximum exposure,” but when it is quite obvious that the only reason the fan art was made was to GET that exposure, well, subtlety has its place, even on the net.  I suggest tactfully including a link back to your site in your email signature.

This article touched on far more than I wanted, and grew far too lengthy. I need to practice my own rule: brevity.

Moral of the story: have a links page and a gallery page to maximize your comic’s ability to network with other comics.