Hey everyone, it’s Kernook here. I’m back with a particularly quick post and a few little tips. This is just a write-and-toss, but I promise it’ll be of help to you.

So, you need eyes on your reviews, right? If you write reviews for the media that is already listed on IMDb, you’ve got to post it up in the critics section. I’ll show you how to do it.

First, let’s talk about why you should.

The Value of Trusted Databases

If you don’t know, IMDb stands for Internet Movie Database. A database means links and searchers. These are two critical things any blogger wants. You will find all kinds of shows, movies, and streaming media there. You can leave a linked review that takes a reader directly to your review.

The best part is, the approval process doesn’t take too long and the barrier to entry is particularly low. The big pros use IMDb to leave critic reviews, but you can too. This is important, you want to have your name up there with the bigger names. You want to be noticed and taken seriously.

When you share your links over on IMDb you give yourself a tiny edge in the analytics game too. People will search for things on Google and IMDb. Even if you can’t top the google charts just yet, this gives you another way to get your name out there.

Beyond that, you can use the database to find other bloggers like yourself. You can try to form friendships and network with them. Go read a few other critic reviews, leave a constructive comment on their post. Put yourself out there, get known.

All in all, IMDb does two things for even the most novice blogger…

Firstly: You to find people who’ve written content directly in your own niche. If you’ve both reviewed the same piece of content, you don’t get more direct than that. It hands you fellow reviewers on a silver platter, this makes it easier to find people working with similar genres.

Secondly: More links help you. IMDb is a trusted website by the masses.

With a little bit of research, we can see that IMDb has a global ranking of #58 at the time of this post. That means it is a very highly used website, and that makes it perfect for all of us. Pros and novices alike should be leaving our reviews in the critics section.

After you’ve written your review and shared it around, post it up there.

How To Do It:

This is super easy, anyone can do it. For this guide, I’ll be doing it with an anime. You can do it with all kinds of shows. If the media is on the site, you can leave a review.

Step 1: Go to IMDb. Make sure the media you’ve reviewed is on the website to begin with.

Step 2: Scroll all the way down until you see “edit page” button, and then click on it.

Step Three: It may ask you to make a “contributor account”. Go ahead and do that. It doesn’t cost you anything, totally free. I’ve already got a one, so I’m good to go.

Step 4: If you’ve got a contributor account, you’ll see a page like the one below with a lot of categories. Go all the way down to “Links to Other Sites”. There you’ll see “External Reviews”. Click on the drop down in that section. You’ll want to switch it from “no change” to “add 1 item”.

Then confirm the changes.

Step 4: Then you’ll be taken to the that you can leave your review. Put the link in the URL spot. For the description use your pen name, or the name of your website. Then click “Check these updates”.

It will take you to another screen asking you to confirm the updates you’ve made. If you’re good to go, then submit them. On their end, there will be a quick overview process. I don’t know what that is exactly, but as long as you’re not being completely disingenuous, you’re in the clear.

It should put your review through fairly quickly. On average it never takes me more than an hour to see my review posted up.

After it’s been posted, you’ll see your critic review added in that section along with all the others. Sometimes, you might review a series that doesn’t have any critic reviews at all. You can be the first one, just like I am here in this image.

See? It really is that easy.

Hip Shot: Don’t know what to write about? Here’s a prompt for you. Find a series with no citric reviews. Watch that series and then write your own. Share it on IMDb like I did with my review of A Little Snow Fairy Sugar. Yes, I know that was a completely shameless plug. No, I don’t care. My point still stands.

Following Trends: If you click on the search menu for IMDb, you can find “Most popular movies” and “Most popular TV shows”. You can also see the top 250 movies and top 250 television shows. If you’ve suffered writers block, you’ve probably seen at least one of these. Find a short series or a movie, watch it and write your review on it.

Many of you can benefit from writing reviews. Even if they aren’t your main form of content, don’t overlook them. A review can provide a tangentially tied experience for your readers.

More importantly, a review can bank upon your larger backlog of content and bring in new readers. Reviews provide entry level content and simple accessibility, we need to remember that.

A few key demographics can really benefit from this.

Gamers:

Plenty of games are actually tied loosely to anime or live action movies. Sometimes you can get both. You can diversify your content by writing reviews about those series. This is particularly true for horror and the RPG/MMORPG/ARPG genres. Brawlers, you guys are in the clear too.

RWBY, Halo, World of Warcraft, Resident Evil, Walking Dead, Final Fantasy, Dragon Ball Z, Inuyasha, Naruto and even Mortal Combat has a movie.

Take advantage of these titles. There’s even more too, like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It released just this year. I promise you there’s plenty more where that came from.

Use them…

Newbies in Celebrities/Politics/Sports/Hobbies:

When we love a hobby, we are likely to watch content based around that hobby. This is a no brainier. There are movies, shows and documentaries based around these things. Use them to gain early attention. If you’re new and unknown, grasp onto this kind of media with a vengeance.

This is a key aspect of diversifying your content. When you’re new this can be difficult.

Nero-divergent/Otherwise Able:

If you are a lifestyle blogger with a disability, see if there might be media based on that. You can review that series and provide a personal perspective as well. There’s something to be said about providing insight to these important topics.

Final Thoughts:

At first, blogging can be hard. Getting your name out there requires thinking outside of the box. Many people don’t realize how easy it is to get onto websites such as IMDb. They see the word “critic” and quickly become intimidated. It’s okay though, you don’t have to be.

Use all of your tools to get your name out there. Use every advantage. This is a free one, and it’s easy to do. Go ahead, give it a try and let passive views slowly flow in over time. In the meantime, keep putting your best foot forward. Work to get better and continue your endeavors as a content creator. In time, you will succeed.

That’s it for today. Was I of any help to you? If so, drop me a follow. You’ll be getting more tips and tricks for bloggers soon enough.

This has been Kernook of The Demented Ferrets, where stupidity is at its finest and level grinds are par for the course. I’ll see you next time!