By Annelise Larson
If you are online and want yourself, your brand or your work to be found, then you need to worry about SEO. Search engine optimization or SEO is a jargony, awkward term, but it is really just about making your online content and presence findable.
Search, Search, Everywhere Search
While there is much that has changed about the Internet over the years, one of the things that has remained consistent is that people search. It is how we deal with the information overload and find our way through the overwhelming amount of content online. The latest studies show that search remains the second most popular online activity. The 2012 PEW Internet Project Survey showed that “91% of online adults use search engines to find information on the web, including 59% of those who do so on any given day.” And the great thing about search is that is crosses all demographics. Everyone searches.
It is also important to note that Google is not the only search engine in town; any site with a search box is a search engine, from Facebook to YouTube to blogs like this. Search really is everywhere and offers content creators like filmmakers an amazing opportunity.
The Power of Search
In the past, filmmakers had to go through gatekeepers to reach their audience. In the digital age, you can go directly to the people. And search gives you an opportunity to catch them in a moment of actively looking for…something. If that something matches the topics, themes, genre and other elements of the story you are trying to tell, then don’t you want to connect with them? It is a powerful moment. You will never get a more qualified audience then if you can connect with them when they are searching for what you are offering.
Search also offers you, as a filmmaker incredible insight into the minds of your audience. Keyword research provides information about the words and phrases people are typing into the search engines. You can actually get a sense of how people think and talk about the space you want your film to occupy. It provides you with the language you need to use in order to connect with your audience, and the data associated with that language can actually be used to show the size of your potential audience.
Leveraging SEO for Your Film
Hopefully you now have a better sense of why it is important to be search friendly, to have an online presence that is optimized for discoverability. This is what SEO is all about. It can help you own your own audience, have direct relationships with them and build a viable direct to consumer business. In Part 2 of this series, I will take a closer look at five very specific ways you can leverage the power of the language and data around search for your film.
Annelise Larson is a recognized leader in search and digital marketing for indie film and other media. She teaches and consults regularly throughout North America, and writes the blog From Search to Screen: A Filmmaker’s Guide to Digital Marketing.
