Filmmakers: Do you have websites for your movies?
When you're in the filmmaking process, getting a website up and running is one of those things that filmmakers oftentimes forget. Please don't. Given the ways in which distribution is changing, having a great website for your movie is probably one of the most important aspects of your eventual movie marketing campaign.
If you're not technical, that's OK. The following tips will help you:
The first step in your movie marketing campaign involves reserving some domain names. For example, once you have a title for your movie, you need to go out and reserve your website address names. These addresses are called domain names. And the names you pick will be influenced by the name of your movie.
For example, our first feature was called special dead – so we reserved the domain names www.specialdead.com and www.specialdeadmovie.com. (You'll notice the sites are very simple. There is one objective – sell the movie. Anything that doesn't help us achieve this objective has been cut.)
You should write down some names for your movie websites.
You can get domain names through sites like UltraCheapDomains or GoDaddy. But when it comes time to set up a website, in addition to your domain names, you will also need hosting. So I prefer a one-stop-shop.
Luckily, most hosting companies also sell domain names. I use MovieSiteHost (WPEngine) (I get a commission when filmmakers use this link.) You can get hosting for your website there. But if you do your research, you will also find a few other places as well.
The nice part about MovieSiteHost is they give you one domain name as part of your hosting package. And the prices are incredibly affordable. Then once you're set up, you can buy additional domains there too (not additional hosting – all of your websites can be included on one hosting account).
Once you get set up with your hosting and your domain name, the next step is actually creating a website for your movie. This is still open to your creativity. Just make sure you cut all the fluff. You website should have one purpose. You need to collect the name and email address of each visitor. These people will become your fan club and your most important asset.
