Create a Successful Website

From humble beginnings, Johan De Silva has turned his web design project into a critically acclaimed movie review website. I caught up with Johan to discuss his success.

Q. What made you decide to produce a movie website?

A group of friends wanted to raise awareness of movies and not just popular movies in the press but also cult and independent. Many of them already worked in the industry and a few were simply starting out. We wanted to review good films and also meet and get an insight into the creators and actors.

Q. How does your site differ from other sites?

We give more detailed reviews written by clever and humorous editors and backed up with related interviews from directors and the cast as well as interviews and trailers. We also keep our navigation as simple as humanly possible.

Q. How long did it take before your site became a success?

We didn’t have much of a budget to start with. Our PR model was simple; we put back any revenues straight into promotion. We made noise about our Future Movies and developed relationships with other websites swapping news information. It took at least two years to begin to get the recognition Future Movies deserves including a positive comments in the press and a spot on ITV’s Web Review by Jason Bradbury.

Q. What films would you recommend from the past couple of years?

Everyone has individual tastes and if I had to generalise I would have to say “Whale Rider” is a mighty fine movie which I enjoyed immensely and would appeal to a wide demographic. It’s a New Zealand made film based around one girls struggle to be accepted in the native religion of Kiwi’s. My personal tastes would point to film’s based around real events such as in the Brazilian gangster film City of God or clever films like “Memento” but you can’t please everyone be it a too complex story line or having to read subtitles.

Q. What tips would you give to someone who wants to start their own website?

You have to find the correct niche; have something different yet something interesting that people want to know about.

It is important to develop relationships within other websites loosely related to your niche especially content sites.

It is important to keep up with technology but at the end of the day it is your content is what really matters. The web is still new and opportunities are arising so create something engaging and be prepared to spend some money wisely looking at return on investment (ROI).

Be patient because Search Engines like Google prefer established sites over new sites.

You also can’t do everything yourself. If you need editors like I did then get the best you can get and reward them. You will become friends but know where to draw the line on performance from the beginning.

Visit Future Movies to see what all the fuss is about.