How many readers do you have?

Ayame Ex_Goddess · Post by **Ayame Ex_Goddess** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 5:41 am

cortland wrote:I try not to compare my own stats with other comics because I have the unhealthy habit of equating a comic's level of traffic to its value as an art form, which is totally wrong.

Sage advice. For example, I know this one girl who checked back on this thread and now totally devalues her own comic and her artistic prowess. Tragic.

someone kill me

Rosediamond · Post by **Rosediamond** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 5:46 am

Wooo! Pie! I'll bring the dip! For the chips . . . Not the pie . . .

I guess this thread could be disheartening to some . . . But I think my skin has gotten to the point where it's so thick not much affects me anymore, short of someone going to my site and telling me "My GOD, woman, why are you wasting your time? It's never gonna happen!" Then again, I really, really, want this, and I'm fairly competitive by nature. . . . ^^

RemusShepherd · Post by **RemusShepherd** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 5:46 am

I used to get 'Average Daily Visits' of 50. After advertising in March and April (and *not* advertising in May or June, to see how many readers would stay), that score went up to about 180 and has stayed there.

I'm not sure how to interpret 'Average Daily Visits', though, since I only update twice a week. Theoretically the actual number of people visiting is 180*(30 days in a month)/(8 updates per month), which is 675. My actual number of dedicated readers is probably between 180 and 675, probably on the low end of that range, with spiders and new people making up the rest.

Second ad campaign begins in July, and then I intend to do an advertising analysis sometime. I'll post it for y'all.

(edit: I said 'hits', I meant 'visits'. Whoops.

)

Black Sparrow · Post by **Black Sparrow** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 6:59 am

Stats have a lot of factors. I only update once a week, so my hits double on update days, then lag the other six. It messes with the average something awful.

But I can tell you one thing.... advertising in any form helps. I simply signed up for OnlineComics.net and my hits doubled. It's enough to have me considering paying to have in spotlighted.

Although "hits" doesn't necissarily mean "readers". I have my shoutbox and forums for that.

K-Dawg · Post by **K-Dawg** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:03 am

200-300 visits a day.

Dotty · Post by **Dotty** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:41 am

1900-2500 a day, depending on updates or not.

Prettydragoon · Post by **Prettydragoon** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:47 am

What are these "ree-durz" you speak of? Are they something good to eat?

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 8:09 am

I get about 120 on an update day and 80 on a non-update day.

Dr Legostar · Post by **Dr Legostar** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 8:25 am

about 2000 a day, a little less according to my independant sitemeter, a little more according to CG itself. but it's increasing slowly, i get more hits on average every week.

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 8:36 am

I really hate you. I love ya, don't get me wrong. But I really hate you.

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 8:41 am

In the webalizer there are really only 2 numbers you need to look at: pages and visits.

Pages are the number of potential ad views you would get in a given day or month. That would determine approximately how much you would make if you went independent and ran Google ads.

Visits are the approximate number of readers you have. There's no way to determine how many constant readers you actually have, though. This is just an approximate number. Also, if the same reader comes back twice on different days or comes back with a different IP address, it will read as 2 visits. So, it's possible you only have one reader who is totally obsessed by your comic and MUST read every day.

The number of updates you make in a week or a month affects your pages and visits too. If you update 5 times a week, the same person is likely to come back 5 times and show up as 5 visits and probably 5 page views if they don't go back through your archives. A single new person could be responsible for 1 visit and 200 page views if they read through your entire archives.

If you aren't getting a lot of page views or visits, it's not because your comic isn't good. It's because your comic isn't known. As Remus did, advertise. Get the word out on your comic. Make people want to read it. If they keep coming back, awesome. Read Joel's article on how to advertise your comic if you want readers. You can work your butt off for years and never have any readers if you never tell anyone about your comic.

Most of the popular webcomics became popular because they were in the right place at the right time. You can't do that anymore. The best you can hope for is a modest following and to gradually build your readership over several years with regular updates.

Mvmarcz · Post by **Mvmarcz** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:10 am

i'm hovering at about 700 something a day, get about only 500 or so that check on the weekend.

Dr Legostar · Post by **Dr Legostar** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:17 am

rkolter wrote:I really hate you. I love ya, don't get me wrong. But I really hate you.

with good reason.

Warren · Post by **Warren** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:21 am

faub wrote:If you aren't getting a lot of page views or visits, it's not because your comic isn't good. It's because your comic isn't known. As Remus did, advertise. Get the word out on your comic. Make people want to read it. If they keep coming back, awesome. Read Joel's article on how to advertise your comic if you want readers. You can work your butt off for years and never have any readers if you never tell anyone about your comic.

Most of the popular webcomics became popular because they were in the right place at the right time. You can't do that anymore. The best you can hope for is a modest following and to gradually build your readership over several years with regular updates.

Word. And the whole "numbers" thing is crap anyway. This should really be something you do to make yourself happy.

In my time here, I've seen literally hundreds of people give up because they weren't getting "enough" readers. What a stupid way to look for validation.

Just create, dammit.

Dr Legostar · Post by **Dr Legostar** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:25 am

Warren wrote:
faub wrote:If you aren't getting a lot of page views or visits, it's not because your comic isn't good. It's because your comic isn't known. As Remus did, advertise. Get the word out on your comic. Make people want to read it. If they keep coming back, awesome. Read Joel's article on how to advertise your comic if you want readers. You can work your butt off for years and never have any readers if you never tell anyone about your comic.

Most of the popular webcomics became popular because they were in the right place at the right time. You can't do that anymore. The best you can hope for is a modest following and to gradually build your readership over several years with regular updates.
Word. And the whole "numbers" thing is crap anyway. This should really be something you do to make yourself happy.

In my time here, I've seen literally hundreds of people give up because they weren't getting "enough" readers. What a stupid way to look for validation.

Just create, dammit.

i'm still creating my comic for about five people, always have, always will. the rest is just icing on the cake.

Jac · Post by **Jac** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:27 am

Warren wrote:Just create, dammit.

Wiser words have never been said.

ANYWAY, I have just started, so I'm not expecting any readers for a month or so. But if I get 30 people to read my comic eventually, then I'll be way happy. I mean WAY HAPPY.

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:42 am

Warren wrote: And the whole "numbers" thing is crap anyway. This should really be something you do to make yourself happy.

In my time here, I've seen literally hundreds of people give up because they weren't getting "enough" readers. What a stupid way to look for validation.

Just create, dammit.

Now to be fair, there are no absolutes here.

I for one, have no great story to tell in my comic. My characters do not drive me to create, nor do any of their stories compel me to put them to paper (or bits, in my case). I am not an artist, or don't consider myself one.

What drives me is the urge to inform people. It all started with some misinformation from the media on a question a kid asked. It drove me up a wall. So many people don't like or care for science. If I can get people to care about science by submitting it to them in a different format, then yay me!

(to be fair, doing this for a while has gotten me to like drawing... somewhat begrudgingly, and to appreciate art a lot more. But those aren't my driving reasons for continuing)

So, to me, readers are FAR more important than satisfying any creative impulse, and my reader numbers are therefore legitimately important.

Linkara · Post by **Linkara** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:50 am

If I may ask, what was the question the kid had and the media was stupid about? ^_~

And ditto here for creating. Mostly it serves as an outlet for my desire to be a comic book writer while also giving me something to do with my spare time during breaks at work or other such free-time things. I'd continue doing Lightbringer even if I had less than ten people reading it. ^^

Starline · Post by **Starline** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:51 am

Since my "Hypno-Butt" newsbox, I've been getting 10,000+ visits a day.
Sexy tushies sell!

RemusShepherd · Post by **RemusShepherd** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:52 am

faub wrote:If you aren't getting a lot of page views or visits, it's not because your comic isn't good. It's because your comic isn't known. As Remus did, advertise.

Just as a footnote, I advertised on two sites -- one fairly big (but niche) comic, and one small webcomic review site. The ads ran for about 3 weeks. Total cost was about $150. These two sites let me use the random banners that I use on this forum. So this was a minimal effort ad campaign...and it almost quadrupled my readership.

The next campaign, in July, will be designed to blow peoples' socks off.

But I'll echo the sentiment that numbers do not matter. I'm pulling out the stops on my comic because I have sort of a wager going on with myself. But I wouldn't be doing the comic unless I loved it, and because I love it I'd be doing it even if I only had my initial 10 readers dragged over from my livejournal.

Don't let the numbers encourage or discourage you. Do your comic for your own reasons.