Category Archives: WCO Poll
The TopWebComics.com poll
In the comments of the Google Penguin results for “webcomics”, there was an interesting discussion about TopWebComics.com. Reader DaveB (of Grrl Power Comic) noted the following:
To answer your question about why play the vote game on Top Web Comics, if you can get into the top 100 (meaning hitting their front page), it’s worth several thousand referrals a month. If you can get into the top 10 (which shows your banner – top 3 puts you above the fold on a monitor with reasonable resolution) then it’s worth (to me at least) 41K referrals a month. That’s second only to direct links, even beating google organic searches, and if you google “grrl power” I’m the top hit (yes, even if I turn off personal results, hah)
I’m still blown away that I’ve managed to get ranked that high, (I’m #1 at the moment even) though I do have to remind myself that it’s not a real measure of success – after all I’m not making a living off the comic… yet.
It’s still cool to see after spending 10 years reading webcomics, thinking “I should do one” and now seeing my little project anywhere on the same page as Girl Genius, Questionable Content, Flaky Pastry, Freefall, etc.
The reason that “truly successful” webcomics don’t rank as highly on TWC is simply, they are successful and they’re not trying to build their audience as aggressively as the comics that are up and coming, so they don’t provide vote incentives or even a link to TWC. If they did the top 20-30 comics would be a virtually static list starting with Penny Arcade, then PvP, The Oatmeal, XKCD, etc, and those guys just don’t care about an extra 40K hits a month. When you’re getting 5 million+, you probably wouldn’t even notice it.
I’ll probably look at this in-depth at some point. Still, I’m putting out there: how often do you, the readers at home, check out TopWebComics.com?
Poll: How many digital comics do you buy?
According to a recent finding by Robot 6, we finally have an idea of how much money digital comics made in 2011. The total value is around $25 million, with $19 million going to Comixology, the main provider of digital comics. Let’s not forget that this was a pretty banner year, with DC Comics and their rebooted universe leading the way by providing same day digital — and then Marvel Comics soon following suit. Things are even looking better for 2012, with forecasted sales of around $70 million.
So, dear reader, how many digital comics do you buy? (And, just so it’s not confusing, by “digital comics” I mean comics you download through an app like Comixology, not webcomics which are viewable mainly through a browser.)
Poll: Which webcomic makes great material for a new animated series?
Back in the days when Matt Wilson was creating the webtoon series, Bonus Stage, he threw in a joke where the characters were getting excited about webcomics getting their own shows. The characters excitedly gab about Queen Of Wands and Penny Arcade.
Well, that day is finally upon us, as Axe Cop got the green light on Fox’s Saturday Night animation block. So, heroes, I bring the question to you: what other webcomic would make for a good animated series?
Webcomics: how do you read them?
As an Apple zombie, it is my duty to inform you that the new iPad is out today. Continue to support the ill-treatment of Chinese factory workers by buying one today! The tablet is starting to stretch beyond its niche market as a toy for adults. According to BGR.com:
Global tablet sales into channels exploded in the second quarter of 2011 to surpass netbooks for the first time of the emerging category’s young history. Market research and intelligence firm ABI Research determined that shipments of media tablets ballooned 112.5% in the second quarter to reach 13.6 million units, up from 6.4 million tablets in the first quarter this year.
In the world of webcomics, though, it begs the question: which technological medium do you primarily prefer to read your comics on in the year of 2012?
The Girl Genius Poll
The big news earlier this month was that Agatha Heterodyne of Girl Genius had finally stepped out of the castle… that castle that she had entered on February 2008. Unless Agatha locks herself back in the castle again, I’d say that this is the end of the arc.
Soooo… what did you think?
