How do you read your Dashboard stats?

[eslameldeeb]

simply as the title says

which numbers you care about the most? and why?
what do you think would boost the sub/views numbers?
what kinda changes you consider alarming if took place?
also, does anyone know when the day cycle starts/ends? i find it so bizarre

'am kinda curious to know how experienced creators (who've been here for quit a while) read their numbers

[J.Z.Castillo]

I only care about the money lmao! I really don't look at the other stats because I interact with my subscribers quite often so I have a general idea of how the series are doing. What would work for me to increase viewership would be content posted more often... also, maybe revamping the older chapters because they are not very appealing compared to what I am churning out now haha (wtf was I thinking???)

[eslameldeeb]

What would work for me to increase viewership would be content posted more often... also, maybe revamping the older chapters

doesn't that increase subs too?

[Wandercreature]

I care most about my Followers. It shows that people think the story is worth seeing on a daily basis, and that they're interested enough to pursue it. I think participating here on the forums is huge, as it should be - it really encourages a sense of community here. At the onset of a comic, each follower is really appreciated on an individual level, and I'm always checking to see what they're doing with their work.

[keii4ii]

I'm concerned that I keep gaining subs, but losing views per episode. Binge readers would only account for maybe 10% of the view loss. I'm wondering if people are losing interest, and what can I possibly do about this situation?

The day cycle probably begins/ends at pacific time (California) midnight.

[ahkwardkat]

I VERY much read my numbers, I actually have multiple X-sheets to keep track of stats.

• which numbers you care about the most? and why?

I care a lot about the number of subscribers and views I'm getting. If I can at least get views that tells me people are at least interested in the visuals. If I'm getting subscribers, that means my story and art is doing well together. However I am careful to keep my self worth and "worth of comic" separate from that. Just because it does poorly doesn't mean anything. For example, I have more subscribers on Webtoons, 330 but 2700 views. On Tapastic, I have 299 subscribers with 11,000 views... so I have no freaking idea what's going on there! XD I just make my comics and try to think of numbers, but not let it determine my feelings or worth.

• what do you think would boost the sub/views numbers?

Posting more often would be the best way I think. It'd put you in the fresh section more often and give you more views. The longer you can stay on the front page somewhere, the best bets for more people finding you. Also, people featuring you on their profiles. If I find a comic I like, I tell people about it! I make a post on my wall about it and tell people to go check it out. I don't expect people to do this for me, but I certainly do it to comics I think deserve more readers.

Now, that being said, that'll only help your views. If you want more subs, your story and art has to be good together. So if you aren't getting subs, it could be your comic is the sort of thing for that website. I mentioned I have about 300 subs here, on smackjeeves, I have 11. On popcomics, I have 1. So it's likely not the sort of comic that does well on that website, you know? Maybe I need a different format there, or maybe more time. I dunno. Some websites work better for some than others. So put your comic on as many places as you can handle. I have my comic on: DeviantART, Tapastic, Webtoons, SmackJeeves, PopComics, and its own Website.

• what kinda changes you consider alarming if took place?

If subs started going backwards... which I've seen a few times. u_u Usually when I ended up with a late update due to my freelance work bogging me down.

• also, does anyone know when the day cycle starts/ends? i find it so
  bizarre

California/Pacific USA time at midnight is when it starts over.

[J.Z.Castillo]

doesn't that increase subs too?

Not necessarily... maybe? There's really no way of knowing what will increase subs other than being featured by the staff or genuinely having a story that people like. Everything else is just plain ol' luck. I could redo all my older chapters but that only slightly increases my chances of getting more subs, since it makes the comic more appealing and what not.

[AnnaLandin]

which numbers you care about the most? and why?

I worry most about the ad impressions/ad revenue.

The number of overall views is, of course, important. Measuring which pages get the most attention is neat, and I do like to keep an eye on the daily view-stats, because they tell me when the most people are reading my comic. I update Mondays and Fridays, usually around 10.00 PST, and so far it seems Mondays are the most popular day, for example. I still see a spike in views on Fridays, but it drops off quicker, possibly because people have other things to do than read comics on the weekend.

But in the end, what I pay attention to most is the number of ad-impressions and the ad-revenue they result in. Those are the numbers that directly benefit me.

I track subs, too, because I like to do milestone celebration-pictures - I've missed out on a couple of those now due to Kickstarter-business, but I'm hoping to get back to it soon.

what do you think would boost the sub/views numbers?

Boosting subs/view numbers is a matter of updating consistently, as often as you can, and alerting people about it outside of Tapastic. Tapastic-users get a notification in their inbox, or see the comic pop up in the feeds, as soon as you update. If you want to get non-Tapastic users to head over here, you need to announce updates on social media.

what kinda changes you consider alarming if took place?

Well, I got pretty worried when my share-stats flatlined and went right down to zero overnight - but it turned out that most of my shares were happening via Twitter, and that it's nearly impossible for the Tapastic-staff to track shares on Twitter.

[eslameldeeb]

@Wandercreature, agree.. i noticed as well that members of the forums are golden subscribers if they subbed to your series

@ahkwardkat @AnnaLandin, wow!, that was so useful, thanks a lot!

[TACOBERTO]

When I check my dashboard I only check for subscribers and new comments.
So I cry alot
I figure being more active and friendly could boost these numbers, as well as upping the quality of my writing.
I would go in to full panic mode if my sub count plummeted or skyrocketed since it's what I focus on the most.
Far as I know the cycle is set on a monthly basis

[mappypaint]

Whenever I check my dashboard stats for my main comic, U-Speed:

which numbers you care about the most? and why?
I check the comments because I care about the interaction between my story and characters to the readers. Also because comments is the strength of my comics.

what do you think would boost the sub/views numbers?
I don't think about subs and views much since i'm very happy with the activity i'm getting here in Tapastic from the current readers I have. But i'll welcome a sub boost because that can get me new readers. I think just continuing updates regularly and being active here in the forums can boost subs and views.

what kinda changes you consider alarming if took place?
when comments starts to go down then i'll be alarmed. Maybe the part is boring the readers or the comic gets too complicated for them to follow. I want everyone to be able to understand car racing terms (that's why I make it as easy to follow as possible) and keep my characters interesting to my readers. So if this changes then I might do a bit of tweaking in the comics.

does anyone know when the day cycle starts/ends?
I also don't know.XD

'am kinda curious to know how experienced creators (who've been here for quit a while) read their numbers

hehe, just kidding. I check the graph and see the spikes on the views, likes, and comments. Might be starting updating in different days of the week to see if there's a pattern on what days are best to upload. I will also check which pages got the most likes and comments. For subs, I don't care so much because it don't get some most of the days of the month.

[indagold]

Idk I'm still trying to figure out how to navigate this site. Sometimes I think i'm getting a subscriber or comment and instead it's a notice that someone editing their comic.

[Shanny8]

I like the day that I'm uploading new pages on...my only issue is I need to find a way of sustaining views throughout the week. My numbers are great on the upload day- and then dwindle down by the weekend.

At the same point though, I've noticed my shares have been on the rise, which is good!

I think one of the main factors to me probably getting a few more reads/views, is hitting double digits. Right now, folks read my series and it's over in XX amount of pages. Once I get 10 pages or more then it may seem that I have more for readers to invest in.

The funny part is I'm not too worried about subs right now. Dont get me wrong- I appreciate the ones I have, but I'm not going bonkers in trying to do everything in the book to get more.

As for ad/revenue, I cant even bring myself to worry about that right now. Yeah, I'd like to get more money in my pocket, but that wont happen without the reads/views...I'm trying to get that issue rectified first..!

And- as always- I love getting comments & having discussions with my readers!

[eicue]

I avoid checking my dashboard stats as much as possible. I'm not a known creator, and I don't want to be depressed about the lack of action. Everytime I'm curious about it, I say to myself: "hey, if you want to have good numbers, go draw right now".

[ahkwardkat]

I don't think that's fair to do to yourself. Checking your stats is a great way to see what works for your particular audience and how to work for them as well as yourself. For example, I've noticed that while I typically post on Tuesdays, my followers are more active on Wednesdays or Fridays, so I might consider changing the days I post. The reason why I care is ad revenue. XD

So I wouldn't think about it as a way to make yourself feel bad, it's a way to see, ok, I know I can do this, how can I make it work best for me? Plus comparing yourself is the fastestg way to murder your own motivation and career or hobbies. Do for YOU first of all. When you are ready to start working WITH your audience, not for them, then look into your stats and see what works best for them and see if you can adjust your schedule to work with that.

Also, I have some pages that have no color, and some that do. The pages with color got more views, which I expected. XD So my readers obviously like color! I won't change though that my comic is a limited color, but it tells me that if I make my covers in color, I'm likely to get more views on them. ouo

So try to see who you can use them as a business strategy vs a way to tear yourself down. Optimism bro. ouo

[eicue]

Thank you. The bad thing is, if I don't get pageviews, likes or comments, I can't know if they dislike my work, or they simply don't even know it does exists. It seems like only the 30% of my suscribers are active now. Anyway, I agree with you in many ways. I like very much that phrase of yours: "start working WITH your audience, not for them."

[vanillios]

I mainly pay attention to the views to likes ratio of each episode. Ex 1:10 is pretty good for me, 1:15 something might be wonky with the page and 1:6 means that they loved it. I also look at my monthly ad revenue and how that correlates to the amount of pages I pop out per month; more pages means more views and thus more $$.

[eslameldeeb]

yeah it's true that comparing my stats would burn me to the ground, but i always manage to calm myself because i draw to be happy after all
also, how do you work with your audience?

[ahkwardkat]

Not all audiences are the same. Slice of life people tend to prefer shorter comics and updates. Long form comic readers tend to prefer longer episodes. However I can only update one or two pages a week. So I have a page by page version and a long form longer episode version. So far I have more readers on the page by page. I only added the longer episode version after people were saying I should have one. I personally don't like reading vertical form comics, but people seem to be liking it so far. So I work with my readers instead of changing how I work. With the multiple versions I have, I'm seeing now which work best for my readers. Which get more activity or responses. Granted the vertical version has been out for only a week or two, so it'll obviously have smaller stats, but over time I'll be able to see proportionally if it'll do better than my page format.

Also, I originally updated on fridays, but noticed a lot of activity happened on Tuesdays, so I switched days to Tuesday. Now I'm seeing more activity on Wed and friday, so I might change my update day to match the days with more activity. Do your best to figure out how your readers think and if you can, work WITH that instead of stamping your foot down and say it's being done ONLY this way. you know?

[NickRowler]

Um, I don't really understand the pageviews because they are lower then my subs. Does that mean people sub me and not read it?

I know having low stats can be depressing but your doing a lot better then some people on this site (add the fact that your comic is fairly new and already has 100 subs)