This might seem elementary but every movie website owner should have a Twitter account for their website so fans of the site can follow its up-to-the-second activities. You should also post a Twitter icon or logo on your website so that your audience knows you are on Twitter and include your Twitter address by some means e.g. a hotlink. How will people know you are on Twitter much less your URL there unless you tell them? I went onto this particular movie website yesterday (I really want to call him out, I really do) that had a Facebook Fan Box on it but no Twitter icon anywhere. I looked on the site’s About and Contact pages, looked on their Facebook Fan Page for a Twitter Application (they have those btw), manually searched on Twitter, nothing. Upon recollection, I realized that this site never had a Twitter icon of any kind and the site has been operational for years. In this day and age, why would you dare sleep on and neglect the power of Twitter?
Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the author’s subscribers who are known as followers.
Twitter allows you to market yourself freely across the globe. It allows you to research, gain quick insight into new trends, see what’s hot. Twitter allows you to advertise your products and services (e.g. the ad place you have available for purchase on your movie website) to people, groups and organization that would otherwise be out of your reach but I digress.
If you have not already, join Twitter here, use the name of your movie website as the URL for your Twitter account, and when the account is setup, pla
ce a Twitter icon, badge or image prominently on your website and make it easily visible. We spoke of Twitter icon positioning previously in this post: How to Set Up a Movie Website Sidebar: For Content. Get creative if you like and use a graphic that draws the eye, provokes a smile, a laugh or curiosity. Twitter also offers ready made Twitter icons and badges here.
Its up to you, the point is, let it be known you are on Twitter on your movie website homepage. Also test the link and make sure that it is working and linking to your account once it is installed and visible.
If you can not figure out how to get icon to appear on your website page, try using this:
<a href=”The Twitter URL you are linking to” target=”_blank”><img src=”The image or icon you wish to display, loaded on the back-end of your website or from somewhere else”></a>
Place this into the HTML of your page where you want it to appear and/or if you are using WordPress and want it on your side bar, place it in the text widget and press Save when you are done.
Join Twitter today and advertise the fact that you are Twiiter to your movie audience. Chances are they are on Twitter as well and they may become your followers if your site and content are compelling enough. Hay, that reminds me, follow ProMovieBlogger on Twitter.
