Hey Gang,

So, I'm close to getting a website for my scripts. Just wanted to get opinions of peeps who currently have their own sites...

- How much did you spend on it?
- Is it worth it?
- How has it benefitted your Screenwriting?
- Are you better with it than without?
- How do you promote it outside of SS?

And anything else you can think of. I've got about a grand to play with and I want to spend it wisely. Thanks!

Steve

Hey Steven

Well you certainly don't need a grand, save that for competitions entries, pitching and coverage!

My site is http://www.anthonycawood.co.uk it's built using Moonfruit, costs me about £70 a year, plus I renew my domain every 2 years for about £10.

The site is easy to use and you can choose from a range of templates so there's no coding to do or anything overly complicated.

And I genuinely feel that it's worth every penny.

There are other site building services out there, e.g. Wix, Godaddy etc... many have trial periods so have a play and see which you prefer.

Benefits
- It makes me look professional and that I take my writing seriously.
- I can keep all my work together.
- I can promote myself and my successes.
- I'm visible in search engines, and have optioned one feature because a producer found me via Google.
- Producers looking for scripts can be pointed at it and see the breadth of my work.

Outside of SS I promote it via
- Facebook and Twitter.
- I include it on my email footers.
- I mention it to every producer/filmmaker I talk to
- I list it on other sites like Stage 32 etc

Hope that helps.

Anthony

Thanks, Anthony. I'll check out some you mentioned. I notice on your site you don't make your features available for viewing. Do you keep a treatment available for those, or do you send out the script to whoever asks?

Hi Steven

Yep, I send out the features to people who ask, though it tends to be more me identifying opportunities and sending them out if requested.

Anthony

Gotcha.

Hi Steven

Free Wix site, super easy to build, I think it looks pretty good. They have lots of templates. You have the Wix ad if you don't pay but who cares.

I receive a lot of emails through my site. I only have it up here and on script revolution. I also throw it out on reddit every once in a while.

Don't think there is any reason to spend large amounts of cash on a website.

My two cents.

I used WIX for free - very intuitive. You can build it yourself.

I have had one real hit from it - someone Googled the title of a PAGE script I had and found it on my site. Nothing else really.

To me - the best thing is that it essentially gives you a free back-up on all your work should you ever had that inevitable computer catastophe

Thanks, guys. Good points on the free ones. Will definitely look into it. Didn't realize how many website builders there were - seems to be a whole bunch.

Hey Steven,

I can't really answer your questions as such, but I'm in the process of upgrading from a basic Webs site (too slow and clunky).  I spent the best part of a day playing around with various site builders and found Wix to be the most user friendly - but there's not much in it with the other brands.  

Like Warren says the free version just carries the ad banner, but it's fairly minor and they've some pretty reasonable rates for the upgraded package.  More than enough storage to host a few pdfs and it's easy to use.  Like Dave says, it serves as a form of backup.  

My site is below....

https://deftonesaresuper.wixsite.com/website

I used Wix to build it. I THINK that's regarded as the best web builder to use. Or at least, the best free one.

- How much did you spend on it? - Nothing. Customer support was also free, and my page was easy to set up.
- Is it worth it? - Yep, it's free.
- How has it benefitted your Screenwriting? Maybe my stylish looking site makes me want to write more for it, I suppose.
- Are you better with it than without? Yes, instead of having to send people a whole bunch of files, I can just show them my site. It's a huge timesaver and it makes me look much more professional.
- How do you promote it outside of SS? I share it on a range of comedy websites and on Facebook.


Also, if you have some money to spend, you can use Wix's more advanced services. Some tell you how many hits you're getting and stuff like that, and I think you get detailed demographic information.