When used properly, Pinterest can become a new source of referral traffic for your website and a new way to communicate what your site has to offer potential visitors and clients.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is

a pinboard-style social photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies and more. Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, ‘re-pin’ images to their own collections and/or ‘like’ photos. Pinterest’s mission is to “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting” via a global platform of inspiration and idea sharing. Pinterest allows its users to share ‘pins’ on both Twitter and Facebook, which allows users to share and interact with a broad community.

Why Pinterest should be of interest to a Movie Webmaster

Here is what I found intriguing about Pinterest thus far: Anything you “pin” from your site onto Pinterest is automatically linked to your site. If a person wants to see a larger version of a pinned photo or image, they are taken to the site the pin originated from.

That’s traffic for your site, new traffic, an augmentation to the traffic you already receive from Google, Facebook, Twitter, et cetera. This recently happened to ProMovieBlogger.com when the infographic housed in this post: The Brain of the Beginning Blogger Infographic was pinned onto a “board” within Pinterest by one of its users. We continue to get referral traffic from that pinning.

As a webmaster, you post and publish what movie studios’ produce:  posters, set photos, official movie stills, movie trailers, and movie clips. “Pinning” the images and videos (only YouTube videos right now) to Pinterest that you have posted on your site is a another means of drawing attention and traffic to your website and your YouTube posts.

As you can see, there is an interest for movie, film, cinema, and movie trailers on Pinterest. ”To find other [like-minded] Pinners, access the Everything drop-down menu and filter Boards by category.” If not, type in a specific site you like from the Internet. When I did so, I found that other people had already been sharing photos from our movie website. Pinterest catalogs the sites where images come from onto one, convenient source page. Example: a Movie Website Pinterest Source Page.

A Visual Aid

Since Pinterest is all about the visual, this is more than appropriate. The Power of Pinterest Infographic:

The Power of Pinterest Infographic

One downside to contributing to Pinterest

Time. Each and every image or video has to be contributed manually (there is no pin automation on Pinterest yet).

Pinterest has thought of this and has made pinning very easy through Google Chrome.

Drag and drop Pinterest’s Chrome browser extension onto your Bookmarks bar. That way, every time you come across a cute pair of shoes or a kickass motorcycle, you’re able to click “Pin It,” choose an image (left), attach a description and add the Pin to one of your Boards.

You can also add their social button to your posts so your site visitors can click on it and share your content more easily. Certain share button containers like Share This already have Pinterest integrated so adding a specific Pinterest button isn’t necessary if you are using one.

In Conclusion

Pinterest is new, brand new. Getting your foot, your brand, a few pictures, and videos in the door (you can not simply join. You have to ask Pinterest for an invitation) will not hurt.

Pinterest is pretty addictive. Potential visitors to your site through Pinterest feel the same way.

 Source: Wikipedia, Skande, Mashable

Content

Without content, no one will come to your website and no one will stay. Your content is housed on pages that also house your ads. Writing constant, interesting content is key (some articles on the subject: 5 Strategies for Writing and Publishing Website Posts Consistently, The 5-11-4 Rule for Posting Content on a Website, and Movie Content: Finding Movie Content to Write about). Interesting content will eventually draw people’s eyes to that page’s ads, if they are the right ads.

Relevant Advertisement

Ads that having nothing to do with the theme of your website will get very few clicks versus ads that are closely related to its subject matter.

If you are running a movie website, a Lexus car advertisement will get dramatically less clicks than a new movie release advertisement e.g. The Five-Year Engagement.

The Five-Year Engagement Google Adsense Ad

I previously wrote about the right movie ads here: Google AdSense 300×250 Ads are a Movie Website’s Best Friend.

Choose ad providers that send your site relevant ads. There are numerous, better ones out there besides Google AdSense. Some of them are listed here: Make Money Online and some new ones I found are listed here: 4 Ad Networks: Technorati Media, Value Click, Tribal Fusion, FOX Audience.

Traffic

Without traffic, there is no one to click on your site’s ads.

Traffic supplants even ad relevancy. If your site is getting tons of traffic, even non-relevant ads will eventually get clicks (its stands to reason that somebody will be curious or use one of those non-relevant advertised products and will click to get more information). A case and point of this would be Collider. They get tons of traffic during the week and have a gaggle of divergent advertisements, ads that have nothing to do with film yet the site makes middle triple figures everyday. Why? Great traffic.

Keep in mind, there are other ways to monetize your website besides clickable ads, such as Cost Per Impression ads and Direct Ad Sales.

Good Advertisement Placement

I see ads all over the place on websites, at the top, middle, and at the bottom of them.

Good ad placement begins with placing your ads above the fold of a webpage. It has to do with line-of-sight. Most people look at the top of a webpage first then move down. If your ads are at the top of the site, they will be one of the first things a site visitor sees.

I read in Website Optimization: Speed, Search Engine & Conversion Rate Secrets (talked about here: A Professional Web Designer’s thoughts on Websites, SEO, SERP, HTML, and Search Engines) that people (studies were conducted) scan a page in an F pattern: the top of the page from left to right, then down, then back across from right to left.

Placing your ads across that path will properly be beneficial to your ads, your ad clicks, and the revenue you derive from them.

The F pattern is one of the reasons why you see a 728×90 ad at the top of some sites and a large right sidebar with a 300×250 ad on top of it. The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an example of this (highlighted in red).

IMDb F Pattern

Some of the most effective ad placement I have seen has been in a post itself. One such ad placement can be found on Screenrant. They have an ad right in the middle of the article text (highlighted in red), completely blended into the page mimicking the text, its color, and the hyperlink color present on the page as well.

Screenrant In-Text Ad Placement

Another site, Slashfilm, uses 300×250 ads in the middle of their  articles, no matter what. This ad can be a little off-putting because it sometimes appears on top of embedded trailers but it is directly in the line of sight as the viewer reads the post. If the ad is interesting, they might get a click.

Slashfilm Middle of Post Ad

Since that ad placement has been there for years now, it must be working.

Conclusion

Content is king but site traffic trumps advertisement relevancy to your site.

Doutzen Kroes, Nova Zembla

What is Dmoz?

The Open Directory Project (ODP),

also known as Dmoz (from directory.mozilla.org, its original domain name), is a multilingual open content directory of World Wide Web links. It is owned by Netscape but it is constructed and maintained by a community of volunteer editors.

ODP uses a hierarchical ontology scheme for organizing site listings. Listings on a similar topic are grouped into categories which can then include smaller categories.

Why you should get listed on Dmoz

Getting listed on Dmoz just might help with your visibility in Google and other search engines. Here is why:

its data can be freely downloaded, and any website, however small, can use it. One not so small website that downloads and uses DMOZ’s data is Google. In fact, Google’s directory is nothing less than the downloaded DMOZ directory.

This has some significant effects for websites that are listed in DMOZ. PageRank [written about here: How to Increase Your Google PageRank to 5] is an integral part of Google’s ranking algorithm, and higher PageRank helps towards higher rankings. The PageRank within a website is increased by pages from other sites linking to it, and the higher the PageRank of the pages that link to it, the better it is for the receiving site.

A listing in DMOZ creates two significant links into a website – one from DMOZ (Google spiders DMOZ just like any other site) and one from the Google directory. Both of these usually have decent PageRank. Then add the links from the thousands of small sites that have downloaded and use the DMOZ directory, and you can see why it is usually quite beneficial for a website to be listed in DMOZ. Simply being listed in DMOZ can take a website from a Toolbar PageRank value of 3 to 4, and even from 4 to 5.

The Open Directory Project has a global Alexa rating of 742 (February 2012). To put that into prospective, Google has an global Alexa rating of 1, Facebook has an global Alexa rating of 2, IMDb has a global rank of 37, et cetera. As you can see, for a directory, Dmoz does fantastic when it comes to traffic.

DMOZ’s differences from other website directories

By contrast

the ODP has maintained its policy of free site submissions for all types of site—the only one of the major general directories to do so.

One result has been a gradual divergence between the ODP and other directories in the balance of content. The pay-for-inclusion model favors those able and willing to pay, so commercial sites tend to predominate in directories using it. Conversely, a directory manned by volunteers will reflect the aims and interests of those volunteers. The ODP lists a high proportion of informational and non-profit sites.

Something to be mindful of

Another consequence of the free submission policy is that the ODP has enormous numbers of submissions still waiting for review. In large parts those consist of spam and incorrectly submitted sites. So the average processing time for a site submission has grown longer with each passing year. However the time taken cannot be predicted, since the variation is so great: a submission might be processed within hours or take several years. However, site suggestions are just one of many sources of new listings. Editors are under no obligation to check them for new listings and are actually encouraged to use other sources.

Who gets in and who gets rejected

Keeping in mind the slow review process (expanded upon in Part 2), there are other issues you should be aware of.

DMOZ’s policy is to include sites that have unique content, which means that many sites don’t qualify for inclusion. Among the sites that are likely to be rejected are those that have too much content of an affiliate nature. Some affiliate content is acceptable but when it occupies too much of a site, then the site will probably be rejected.  Another reason why a site may be rejected is because of the submission.

If the Title and Description provided in the submission don’t follow DMOZ’s guidelines [for example].

The Steps to Submission

Dmoz has created a list of suggestions that a webmaster should look through and consider before submitting their site to Dmoz. Here is that Dmoz url. Note: “There is no need to re-suggest [re-submit] your website if you have already done so…[D]oing so could be counter-productive because a later suggestion overwrites any earlier one.”

Tips

Submit your site to the right category.

I found more than a few movie websites listed under Arts: Movies: News and Media by typing in that website’s name into Dmoz’s search engine. You might want to do the same for sites in your field. If you are running a movie website, Arts: Movies: News and Media or Arts: Entertainment: Reviews or Arts: Movies: Reviews are probably where you should submit your site.

From Dmoz about the Arts: Movies: News and Media category:

Please submit only sites dealing with movie news and media. Sites that deal with news and information on one specific movie, should be submitted to the appropriate letter or subcategory under Arts: Movies: Titles. Please read the Category Description for further information.

This category is for movie news services, newspapers, books, magazines and e-zines, articles, interviews, and journals. Please view the subcategories to assist you in correct placement of sites that deal with only one of those specific topics. It is NOT for news or media on the people associated with films (i.e., actors and actresses), just for the movies or the movie industry.

Note: this category has not been updated since Saturday, July 10, 2010 12:21:29 AM EDT so there is most certainly a backlog of submissions that have not been looked at in years.

From Dmoz about the Arts: Entertainment: Reviews category:

Please suggest only sites that focus on reviews of films, television programs or other forms of entertainment, including material recorded on digital versatile discs (DVDs). Sites that focus on computer games or software on DVD should be submitted to the appropriate subcategory under Computers. Sites that focus on the sale of DVDs should be submitted to an appropriate subcategory under Shopping.

Sites in this category have reviews for more than one medium, such as movies and television.

Note: this category has not been updated since Monday, July 19, 2010 12:24:07 AM EDT so there is most certainly a backlog of submissions that have not been looked at in years.

From Dmoz about the Arts: Movies: Reviews category:

Please submit only sites that deal with movie reviews. Individual film reviews should be submitted in their relevant subcategories in Movie Titles. Please do not submit sites that are under construcion.

A review is a critical examination of a film, with remarks. Reviews can focus on a variety of angles. Reviews are different from theoretical criticisms, because reviews are the result of the critic’s subjective opinion rather than objective evaluation. This category is for sites dedicated to reviewing modern feature films, including Hollywood blockbusters and independent features.

For objective evaluations of films based on their merits in modern film theory, see Movie Theory and Criticism.

Note: this category has not been updated since Sunday, April 24, 2011 11:34:28 PM EDT so there is probably a backlog of submissions that have not been looked at in little over a year.

The last time a category has been edited can be found at the bottom of the category’s page.

Click “Suggest URL” at the top of the category page and follow the directions to submit your site to Dmoz.

Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, The Artist

Writing your website description

I recently re-submitted all of my sites to Open Directory Project (if those submissions weren’t previously rejected, this has overwritten them and placed me at the bottom of the submissions’ pile). I looked at other sites in my fields and used their descriptions as a baseline to write my own. Your elevator pitch (“a short summary used to quickly and simply define a product, service, or organization and its value proposition.”) for inclusion in Dmoz begins with a well-written description for your website.

I made my descriptions similar to the others (since they had been approved) but also unique, singular so that they stood out i.e. they show differential advantage. The Dmoz description is “intended to give people an objective statement of what can be found in [your] site, and not to promote it.” Keep that (and that bad grammer) in mind when writing your description.

Source: DMOZ, Wikipedia, Webworkshop

Each film critic has his or her own sub-page on Rotten Tomatoes where all the reviews they have had published through eFilmcritic are listed. These Rotten Tomatoes sub-pages also contain all the other websites these film critics write for and publish on. By publishing movie reviews on eFilmCritic, you become a publishing film critic on Rotten Tomates by default.

EFilmCritic also sends a select few and qualified to “film festivals and on press junkets and to media screenings”. If you are an aspiring film critic (and like ancillary benefits as well), eFilmcritic may be a step in the right direction but that path is not open to everyone.

The following is the admittance criteria for eFilmcritic:

So if you would like to become a reviewer for us…we need you to prove yourself first. In order to best gauge your critiquing ability, we’d like you to write two reviews — one positive and one negative.

1. Write your reviews. No, don’t write them in the boxes below, write them in Word or Notepad or some sort of word processing program, then spell-check them, grammar-check them, read them over a few times and be sure that they represent your best work. If we find spelling errors, spoilers, or we’re totally bored by the reviews, we’ll probably reject the submission.

2. When you’re done writing (and rewriting) your reviews, cut ‘n paste them into the boxes below, fill in your details and send off your application.

3. We’ll review the application and your submitted reviews, and if you impress us as an able addition to our fine stable, you’ll get your account details emailed to you within a week or so (give or take a few days). If you didn’t impress us, on the other hand, we’ll probably not bother letting you know. Rejection tends to somewhat annoy people.

Once you are an official “reviewer” you will have access to our “members only” section, which allows you to review at will, have access to our reviewer’s message board and keep a personal profile on the site. The reviews you submit will be seen on both Hollywood Bitchslap and the Australia-specific eFilmCritic website, as well as other location specific sites that are still in the planning stages.

Let your personality shine through and, all things considered, maybe you’ll be a movie critic in a week or so.

What’s your real name?

What’s your preferred email address?

What’s the title of the movie you’re reviewing?

One Positive Review, One Negative Review

What username (nickname) would you like to review under?
(We recommend using your real name.)

Enter a statement about how cool you think we are.

This is where you can apply to become an eFilmcritic. Remember, if you do not hear anything from them in a few weeks try, try again with different film reviews. You may also want to peruse these two articles before proceeding: 7 Movie Review Writing Mistakes a Film Critic Should Avoid and How to Write a Movie Review.

Here are the steps, from the beginning for the uninitiated:

1. Make sure you have oodles of film or TV show reviews published and easily found on your website (or wherever you had them published) before contacting IMDb.

2. Go here: IMDb/Help Desk.

3. Contact IMDb and ask to be allowed to submit External Reviews.

4. After you have been approved, log into IMDb with the log-in information supplied to you.

5. Go to a film or TV show page on IMDb where you want to submit a review.

6. Scroll down to the bottom of the page where it says “Contribute to this page”. Click “Edit Page”.

IMDb, Contribute to the Page, External Reviews

 
7. Scroll down to where it says “Links to Other Sites”. The sixth entry down you will see “External Reviews”. Click “No Change”, scroll down and select “Add 1 item”.

IMDb, Links to other SItes, External Reviews

8. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click “Continue >>”.

9. Under “Action” then “URL” paste in the URL for your review. Under “Description”, type in your website, your handle, whatever you want to use to identify yourself on IMDb. If you need help, there are instructions above this section in yellow with all the information you need.

IMDb, External Reviews, Submission Page

10. Once your information has been input, click “Check these updates >>”.

11. Now you will be on a screen that tells you that “Your updates are ready to submit to our data-editors.”

IMDb, Submitting Updates, External Reviews

If the information you entered is correct, click “Submit these updates”. You will now see a message containing this:

Your updates have been sent to the IMDb data editors for review. If they’re approved, they will normally appear on the site within the next few weeks. For specific details about this and a more current estimate of processing times, check the processing times page. For questions on the submission process we recommend visiting the Contributors Help message board. There are also a number of helpful resources at our Contributors Zone.

12. An email will be sent to the email address you used to sign up for External Reviews informing you of your submission. The email will also contain a submission reference number.

That’s it. You’re done. Now you just have to wait for your review to appear.

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