Is it the hits/visits? The collection and the collector itself? Presentation? Style? What do you... [autonamed]

People who pimp themselves and their gallery seem to have "popular" galleries.

For me, when I visit a gallery, I look for:

(1) series
(2) characters
(3) design of site (there are some I won't visit due to horrific animated backgrounds and blinding color choices)
(4) description (I like reading descriptions!)

Well, I do pimp my gallery in lots of ways, for instance by participating in the enjoyable "Something fun" game on Beta. (You look at the gallery of the last person who posted and call out a cel or sketch that you liked, and then the next person does the same, and so on through 680 pages of posts on the thread.) A more web-savvy friend is encouraging me to go solo with my own website dealing with issues of collecting animation art, and she's not bashful about the strategies used to generate tens of thousands of hits, especially if you accept advertising and generate income through these hits.

But I do try to give visitors something that makes the visit worthwhile. Yes, as others point out, a collection of significant pieces that are relatively easy to spot. And also descriptions that say something beyond just what is in the image, but tries to use it as a way to understand the series or the animation strategy used in it more fully. I was flattered when one visitor commented that she always learned something new by visiting my site.

So it's really a market issue: do you sell something more with a well-designed, aggressive advertising campaign or by building something worthwhile? I'd say the second is essential, but as people aren't going to find out about it just because it's sitting out there on the Web, the first is increasingly necessary as well.

Don't forget: free Viagra samples for the first 50 visitors to the next update (coming soon!)

wow, i'm glad this thread still generates interest. :) i'm all for "pimpin," Rei and Sensei. lmao

I've given this a lot of thought since I posted this thread. I really do agree with you that what you have in your collection and how often you update that determines site traffiking. Tagging blogs does help, but can be overused if not gaged appropriately.

I've had the opposite experience when posting on Beta that I've updated-- less visitors. Tagging a blog actually increases my gallery traffic depending on the series that were updated. I guess being tagged on other sites helps too?? Not entirely certain in that area.

Sensei did you see a traffic increase after I noticed you were linked on Anipike with me and few other RS collectors?

Yes, actually I've seen about a doubling of my normal hit count from about 30 a day to more like 50-60. It was surprising to see how quickly I went from 64,700 hits to over 65K. Can 70K be far behind? (My more savvy friend, who wants me to start my own website, thinks these totals are anemic, even though they're still a surprise to me.)