Dave Kellet returns from Alaska Comics Camp once more rejuvinated, recharged, and reinvigorated! He shares his joy-filled experiences from a week in Juno, Alaska, with about 60 other cartoonists sharing knowledge, friendship, and happiness. In the second half, a cartoonist shares her feelings of depression after losing a couple of cartooning contests.

Today’s Show

• Alaska Comics Camp
• Susan MacTaggart’s personal affirmation
• ComicLab LIVE at the NCS conference, Aug.14-16
• Rejection stories

If you’re writing a longform comic, you know the challenge all too well. You’re telling a continuous story, but many of your readers are coming in at the middle. Every day, someone is reading your comic for the first time, and that might mean they’re discovering you on Page 12. If you’re going to build an audience successfully, you need to include two things in every update.

Today’s episode is sponsored by Dreamhost. The first step in owning and controlling your own work is building a website, and Dreamhost is there to make that simple, painless, and inexpensive.

The life of a comic artist is often a solitary one. Brad and Dave discuss ways of maintaining social connections for mental health and creativity. Later, they discuss the dangers of setting an artificially low Kickstarter goal.

ON TODAY’S SHOW

• The lone life of a comic artist
• UPDATE: Susan MacTaggart’s affirmations
• Dreamhost.com/comiclab for special offers on web hosting for listeners
• An artist is reminded of the importance of art
• Setting an artificially low Kickstarter goal

A few years ago, a lot of cartoonists moved away from their own websites and started putting all their energy into social media. It seemed like the smart move — after all, that’s where the people were. But now, after watching their posts get buried by algorithms and their audience growth hit a wall, more and more creators are heading back to something they can actually control: their own site.

The good news? Running your own site gives you complete freedom. The bad news? If you want people to find it — especially through Google — you’ve got to think about SEO. And that’s tricky when your content is mostly made of images. Don’t worry, though — there are some solid, doable ways to get search engines to notice your comic without turning it into a blog

There are several strong strategies a webcartoonist can use to significantly improve SEO…

Now that comic creators are returning to websites, SEO (search engine optimization) is once again a hot topic. We’ll talk about methods to help search engines index comics. Also, if Brad and Dave were to design a four-year degree for cartoonists, what classes would be on the curriculum?

Today’s show

• SEO for webcomics
• Should you use alt text on social media posts?
• Susan MacTaggart’s personal affirmation
• UPDATE: Comiclab Live stage show at the NCS conference, Aug. 14-16
• UPDATE: Apple loses its 30% cash grab
• UPDATE: Superfan Ray Michaels does it again
• What would Dave and Brad’s comics BFA degree include?

Summary

In this episode, Dave Kellett and Brad Guigar discuss the importance of SEO for comic creators, particularly in 2025, highlighting best practices for optimizing webcomics. The episode concludes with practical tips for improving website performance and audience engagement through effective content strategies. In the mid-show updates, Dave Kellett and Brad Guigar promote their upcoming ComicLab LIVE stage show at the NCS convention in August, examine the implications of Apple’s recent court loss, and thank superfan Ray Michaels for updating Dave Kellett’s Wikipedia page.

In the second half, they explore what an ideal art degree for cartoonists might look like, emphasizing the balance between craft and business education. They discuss the ideal curriculum for aspiring comic artists, focusing on creative writing, business skills, art techniques, and the importance of real-world experience. They explore various classes that would benefit students, including humor writing, long-form storytelling, digital tools, and color theory. The discussion emphasizes the need for a well-rounded education that combines artistic skills with practical knowledge to prepare students for a successful career in comics.