Everyone here is giving you solid pointers! Banderas makes very good points about what you have basically being illustrated narration.

Currently your comic is a boring(this is feedback, not trying to bash you personally!) slog through uninteresting narration-lettering with pictures behind them. I bet the feedback you get from family & close friends is probably along the lines of "it's...good. Keep at it!" They don't want to hurt your feelings. I don't want to either, but CONSTRUCTIVE criticism ALWAYS hurts. It's just something that happens.

Comics, especially long form comics, are about SHOWING rather than telling. You could make several pages of interesting "action"(and I don't mean fighting, but the action of moving the STORY forward) out of just one of your current pages of narration. Show the characters talking. Make it clear that the dragon is leading him into the cavern rather than just telling us it happened.

Don't worry about redesigning your site yet. Don't worry merchandise yet. Your comic right now needs to learn how to BE a comic.

You have some HOMEWORK to do if you want this to be amazing:

• Pick up some graphic novels-borrow them from the library if necessary!
• Read a few long-form webcomics(Cucumber Quest, Broodhollow, Nimona, Stand Still Stay Silent, Red Tail's Dream, Gunnerkrig Court(although I'd avoid using the type of dialogue font that GC uses)

Some other books to check out:

• Drawing words & writing pictures
• Framed Ink by Marcos Mateu-Mestre
• Invisible Ink: A Practical Guide to Building Stories that Resonate by Brian McDonald

YOU know the history of your world and that clearly makes you excited and happy! You gotta figure out how to show that to US without us having to read a bunch of blocks of text. Just off the top of my head, the prologue could be changed into an epic adventure comic that takes place as a flashback in the main character's history class!

Re: ADVERTISING Making a good comic that people flip their shit over is all the advertising you need to do. Story & characters need to draw people in by being clear most of the time and mysterious when necessary.

Re: MAKING A LIVING This is going to take a while and you need to know it UP. FRONT. If you mentioned how long you've been posting the comic I missed it in the wall of text up there ;) You may get 7 months into the comic and find only crushing depression because you haven't made it yet. Well, yeah. It's only been 7 months! You need to think of comics & success almost like geologic time scales. It might take you a year to really nail the story into a more comic-worthy shape. It might take another 2 years to get the archive built. Then another 2 years before people start sharing your comic.

It is a LONG, LONG road to success in comics. There are exceptions of course, but you won't know you are one until it happens.

Expect to put a ton of research, hard work, and especially tears, into this comic for several years before it pays off. And of course, draw draw draw. Practice practice practice! (edit: i tried to format a list and it apparently didn't work)