Editorial

When I started Savage Cinema, I wanted to share with the horror web community my love and knowledge of this genre. Over the course of the 3 years I was in limbo with this site I discovered some of the secrets on how to make your site successful. I had been complimented on my product several times already…so I knew it wouldn’t be hard to build a fan base. My motto was always, if you link it…they will come. No matter what web site, big or small, the more web sites your linked to…the more spiders you will get from search engines like yahoo and google. Every time I would link up with anyone horror web site I would always ask them…what tips would you give to an up and coming horror web site. This article is a compilation of all the feedback I got from over 50 different horror web masters.

-Get linked on every horror-related site you can find, no matter how big or small.

-Post your link on a lot of message boards, and put you link in your signature. I find that always brings in a lot of people as well.
Gorezone
Upcoming Horror Movies
Cinema Nocturna
Pages That Drip Blood
Tombs of Horror
Zombie Keeper

-Work out some deals with webmasters. Specifically to get your banner displayed free of charge on their main pages.

-Next, partner up with some film companies, have them send their films in to you for review, this brings in people and also gets you free films.

-Keep expanding your site, keep the updates coming on a regular basis and people will catch on.

-Join some "Top 100" lists. These are lists that
list horror sites and fans can vote for them, moving them up the ladder towards the top.

-If you have a lot of money to invest, I would say that advertising is the way to go. Get a very successful horror page to put your banner up there and your traffic could increase immensely.

-Here are some sites to go to about advertising and Link exchanging too
http://www.morbidmortuary.com
http://www.joblo.com/arrow/index.htm
http://www.upcominghorrormovies.com
http://www.creature-corner.com
Those are some of the most successful horror sites on the net, use their links pages to find more.

-Plug web site in horror chartrooms

-It's so cost effective to print flyers and go to local music shows and put out the word. That's a great way, plus you get to meet tons of girls.

-Talk to independent film companies about reviewing their films, or projects. They can put the word out you, and you them in return.

-Also try and get into touch with people who do conventions and see if they will put out flyers there as well. That's how I've come to find tons of online companies and zines. Try www.cinemawasteland.com and www.frightvision.com

-Also submit the site to http://dmoz.org/ - it's a
directory that Google uses and also loads of other sites use too. Submit the site to as many search engines as you can that accept free submissions.

-Also go to http://www.ezboard.com/ and do a search for horror movies / cult movies etc. You'll get lists of Bulletin Boards - check the BUSY ones out some of these boards have forums especially for people to announce their new
sites. Don't piss people off by advertising where you shouldn't.

-Also, another way is to register with a BUSY Bulletin Board and post a topic/question - but make sure you have a signature (containing your web address etc) on the foot of your post - this is a subtle way to advertise your site. I did this once and got LOADs of hits. Just don't piss people off
- they don't take kindly to new members joining and blatantly spamming the boards. Be aware that it does take a good few hours to do this type of advertising.

-Find forums where you're allowed to post about your site and make some posts. You'd be amazed how many hits you'll get from doing that. I'll give you the address of one right now that should bring you lots of traffic. Not only are they in line with the context of your site, but it's a very active forum.
http://www.zombiekeeper.com

-Here's some sites that send tons of hits:
Eccentric Cinema
http://www.eccentric-cinema.com
Badmovies.Org
http://www.badmovies.org
Unknown Movies
http://www.badmovieplanet.com/unknownmovies/
Stomp Tokyo
http://www.stomptokyo.com
and hit up my fellow Rogue Reviewers for links as well:
http://www.monkeyhouselounge.com/rogues/

-Fourthly, get your site on the major search engines. Not just Google mind you but Rottentomatoes.com and mrqe.com, and join the links list at www.badmovieplanet.com and
www.trashcompactor.de . On top of that, if you build up a fan base, encourage word of mouth.

-Keep adding content on a regular basis, so visitors will return to your site to see what's new. And encourage visitors to e-mail you (with questions, comments, or information).

I followed this guide to a T, and after not updating for 8 months I can still bring in a solid 50 hits a day. I’m not bragging about my lack of updating…because it wasn’t something I had any control of. Around last March my computer was hit with the “Love Letter Virus” and I lost over half my articles and picture database on my computer. I thought their wouldn’t be any reason to continue the site since I had lost every bit of data I had spent months and even years working on. But over the past few months, I’ve had some successful business ventures and extra time and money…I decided to continue the site. I re-designed the February issue which was never released and titled it Summer 2003 Issue #2. I hope you all enjoy and look forward to future issues. Thank You
-Savage Cinema

---