Who? What? When?

I removed a decent number of webcomics from the list a few weeks ago. Some were mistakes on my part--I had added a webcomic with 4 pages and the author lost interest soon after. A couple were ones that didn't hold my interest any more (at no fault of the author's). But the bulk were webcomics where I no longer had any idea who the characters were or what the plot was.

The foremost cause is slow updates (or no updates at all). Many of the webcomics I removed updated only weekly to begin with, and had fallen into sporadic updates. Each new strip require correlation with its predecessors and reinforces the memory, but an unupdated comic has no such benefit. Keeping a steady flow of material is important, even if it's nothing more than character pages and other related filler.

It is never a good idea to place a comic on hold before a solid archive is developed. Not only is there insufficient material to hold old readers (or attract new ones), but it gives the appearance that you've abandoned the work. Look for alternatives; can you reduce update frequency (provided you stay at least weekly)? can a full page per update be reduced to a third of a page? can sketches and filler replace an update? In the unfortunate event that you can't make any progress comic-wise, at the least reaffirm periodically that the problem is temporary and you intend to continue.

Uniqueness also helps. You can name dozens of webcomics that fit the description 'college roommates,' it doesn't help to remember the details of a particular one. Thinking of 'homicidal bunny' will bring Sluggy Freelance to mind. Because it updates frequently and has a long history, I recall it more readily than say The Bunny System. Sharing a concept with a better know comic isn't deadly, I still recall The Bunny System because it has a number of other unique and memorable points. It doesn't even need to be a character or part of the plot. Dinosaur Comics stands out because of its artwork (or lack thereof).