So, you’ve got your acting resume, headshots, demo reels, social media accounts and a page on IMDB. That means you’re done promoting yourself, right?
Wrong.
You should also have an actor website. Think of your acting career as a business and you as the product. Like any business, you must market your product before you can sell it. Word of mouth and disconnected marketing materials can only take you so far. When consumers research products, they invariably look at company and product websites before they buy. Your actor website is your business website and your best marketing tool.
Why You Need an Actor Website
Nearly every type of business has an online presence and a marketing strategy to help build and grow their brand. Your online presence is equally important to your acting career. The more visible you are, the more you can connect to agents, casting directors, and auditions. You must be seen online to take advantage of the connections you can make online. A website helps you do this.
Sure, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media are important, and you need to make use of them as part of marketing yourself. But social media is limited. It cannot share the details you need to present as part of your brand, and you are at the mercy of the rules of the social media platform.
Robert Pierce is one actor who has benefited from his actor website. Some of Pierce’s feature credits include supporting and leading roles in such films as The Aviator (1985), Alone Yet Not Alone (2013) and Suburbicon (2017) directed by George Clooney, starring Matt Damon and Julianne Moore. He has also performed in over 190 television commercials.
“A large part of the business and a lot of the jobs I get is the result of having a great website,” says Pierce. “In the last ten years, it’s made an unbelievable difference.”
Benefits of an Actor Website
Here are some of the benefits of having your own actor’s website:
- It establishes and markets your brand. A website helps you to promote yourself and communicates your brand to the world. Your website serves as the central hub for all your marketing materials, including links to social media and your IMDb page, casting profiles, headshots, resume, and demo reels. Agents and casting directors like this material to be in one place.
- You’re in control. If you have your own website, you are in control of what people see. You shape perception of you, instead of letting social media shape it for you. Use social media to boost your online presence but remember, you are not in control of the platform or its rules. Plus, social media is always changing. What will Twitter be like in a couple of years? Will it be replaced by the next popular platform? You can’t control that process, but you can control your website.
- It helps improve referrals. To get work as an actor, you must be easy to find. Casting directors often ask friends and colleagues for suggestions when casting a specific role. They then search for the suggested actors online. If you do not have a website, they won’t find you and you won’t get the call. So much for your online presence. Having an acting website gives you control over your Google search results, and it helps people contact you directly.
Building a Better Actor Website
How do you build an actor website? There are a few options available, but only one option will give you the best results.
You could pay for a pre-built website, but then your website will look like every other actor using the same actor website template. If you want to modify your pre-built website, your options may be limited, and you’ll need web programming skills to complete the task.
You could use a platform like WordPress, but you’ll need WordPress skills to configure and modify the website. Then if something goes wrong that needs to be addressed by the website hosting company, you may spend hours communicating with tech support.
The best option for building your website is to hire a professional website designer who specializes in acting websites. A professional can build an acting website tailored specifically to you and designed to promote your brand. Professional designers who specialize in acting websites not only have the experience to boost your online presence and make you easy to find online, but they also have the skills required to deal with any technical issues that occur.
David Cosgrove Los Angeles Web Design is the designer of choice for many actors and celebrities. In addition to Robert Pierce, David Cosgrove’s clients include Jennifer Taylor, Eugenia Kuzmina, and Traci Lords.
According to Jennifer Taylor, David was the ideal designer for her actor website. “David really stood out. He walked me through, step by step, he answered every question, even my stupid questions,” she says. “He can help you with your website, with your digital marketing, social media, and so much more.”
Pierce gives credit to his actor website for helping him land roles. When he’s on the job, he says he asks why he got that role. “Often, that website comes up.”
Learn more and get started on your actor website today at David Cosgrove’s Websites for Actors, Celebrities, And Filmmakers.
