Do you know how many people are playing online games? Twitch, a well-known gaming platform, had a 50% increase in users’ hours spent watching other people play in only one month, from March to April 2020. This percentage increased to 101% after the year.
Creating a game website might be fantastic if you adore gaming and want to join the trend! You may profit from your gaming website by running affiliate marketing campaigns, displaying adverts, and drawing new players to your gaming community. If you concentrate on a single game, you may create servers for others to play on.
Technology makes creating a gaming website more straightforward than you think. After reading this, you’ll understand how to make a gaming website and server for multiplayer games. This post will walk you through 11 simple steps to getting started. Let us begin!
How to Make a Gaming Website in 11 Easy Steps
Let’s learn how to make a gaming website! Follow these 11 steps:
1. Decide on your Style of Gaming Site
You can make different kinds of gaming websites. One type can share the latest news and reviews of games you like. Another type can be Addicting Games, offering lots of fun flash games. You can also create a website for people who love gaming.
It’s important to decide what you want your website to do initially. A website for playing games will differ from one that talks about games or helps gamers meet each other.
2. Determine Your Gaming Niche
Once you’ve decided how your website will look, it’s time to choose what it will be about. This is called your “niche.” Picking a niche is essential. Choosing a smaller niche will make it easier to become well-known and stand out. This is especially true when big sites like IGN, Gamespot, GameFAQs, and PCGamer are already prevalent. You can become an expert and start talking about other related things by choosing a specific niche.
3. Choose a Domain Name
Once you’ve decided on the type of gaming website you want to create, you’ll need to select a name. The website’s name corresponds to its internet address.
Website names consist of many elements. For example, our website’s domain name is “game.co.my“. “co. my” is the top-level portion, “co” is the second-level element, and “game” is the third-level part (the name). Some popular top-level domains include .com, .net, and .org.
Choosing the appropriate name might be difficult. Based on the name of your website, people will have certain expectations. So, think about what your gaming site is about when you choose a name. A domain generator can help you think of ideas. You can buy your ideal and cheap domain from any well-known company like VPS Malaysia.
4. Purchase a Web Hosting Plan
First, choose a hosting type and strategy for your brand-new gaming website. Whether creating a multiplayer gaming server or a gaming blog, choose a hosting plan that works for you. Gaming blogs or news sites only need a few server resources in their first year, so shared hosting is a good choice. It’s affordable and accessible for beginners.
Dedicated server hosting is ideal for websites that require many resources, such as streaming or server sites. Unlike shared hosting, which allows several users to share a single server, dedicated hosting provides one user with a whole server. This implies improved performance and greater customization, but it is more costly.
A virtual private server (VPS) is an outstanding shared and dedicated hosting hybrid. It uses technology to split a physical server’s resources so users perform better than with shared hosting. VPS hosting can also grow with your site’s popularity.
You can buy the perfect name from a domain registrar once you have the ideal name. Some web hosting companies like VPS Malaysia also give you a free domain name when you purchase hosting from them – so check if your hosting plan includes this.
5. Pick a CMS or Site Builder
A content management system (CMS) is a tool for creating and managing websites. You must be technically adept at building a gaming website using a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress. There are several ways to create your website.
You can utilize website builders or entire content management systems. What you choose will be determined by the goals you have for your website. To begin, you must select the appropriate website builder, and if you are reading this, you are on the correct path.
Make A Gaming Website Using HTML
If you want to use HTML to make your gaming website, you can create a simple one. HTML lets you define game parts like buttons and images. You can also use JavaScript to make a game where people click buttons to score points.
Make A Gaming Website With HTML and CSS
You can use HTML and CSS together to make your gaming website look better. CSS helps you design the look of your site, like colors and fonts. You can also style buttons and other parts of your game.
Make A Gaming Website On Google Sites
You can also make a gaming website on Google Sites without coding. It’s easy, just create a new site, add pages for different game types, and put in games using links or HTML codes.
6. Create A Gaming Website Using WordPress
You should use WordPress. However, two types of WordPress use the same name, which might need to be clarified.
First, there’s WordPress.com, where you may create a blog. Second, there’s WordPress.org, which you can host yourself. You should utilize the self-hosted WordPress.org version since it provides greater independence and control while allowing you to access all of the WordPress features.
Select a WordPress Theme
Choose a WordPress theme that looks good and works well for your game. WordPress has many free themes for gaming websites. Here are some popular ones:
- Astra: A light and easy-to-change theme with many gaming designs. It integrates nicely with major page builders like Elementor and Beaver Builder.
- Hestia: A modern theme that can be used for many things. It looks sleek and works with different page builders, making it great for gaming websites.
- Zillah: A stylish and easy-to-use theme with big headers, custom widgets, and live customization. It’s perfect for showing off your game.
- Godlike: A theme for fantasy games, great for fans of role-playing games (RPGs).
Install WordPress Gaming Plugins
Next, it’s time to improve your website with WordPress gaming plugins. Plugins are like unique apps for your WordPress site. They let you add cool features to your website. There are over 59,000 free plugins for WordPress!
A. Adding Game Reviews to WordPress
If you write about video games, game equipment, and game systems, you should improve your website by adding special review tools. This way, when discussing different products, you can give them star ratings and make your reviews look nicer. This will help your reviews look unique and easy to find when people search online.
The best way to do this is by using the WP Review plugin. It helps you manage and show game reviews on your website. The plugin lets you add things like good and bad points, pictures of the game, star ratings, and more to your reviews.
Special tools also let you show what people think about things, create charts to compare things, and add extra information so your website looks better on search engines.
B. Creating a Game-Related Forum in WordPress
Another cool thing you can add to your website is a forum for your gaming friends. A forum is like a giant message board where you can discuss games, share tips, and ask questions.
Forums let people who visit your website feel like they belong. When they join in and talk to others, they will want to return to your WordPress blog and do more things there. The easiest way to add forums to your website is by using a WordPress plugin like bbPress or BuddyPress. These two best plugins can help you easily add forums to your site.
C. Adding Streaming Functionality to WordPress
If you like to stream or want to add fantastic Twitch and Esports video streams to your gaming site, you can do it quickly. The best way is to use a WordPress plugin. The Twitch TV Easy Embed plugin is excellent. It helps you add Twitch.tv streams to WordPress and change how they look.
To add the plugin, follow our simple guide on how to install a WordPress plugin. After you install and turn on the plugin, go to Settings » Easy Embed for Twitch TV (Rail). Here, you’ll see the ‘Main Settings’ where you can set up the streams you want to show.
With the free version of the plugin, you can pick the game or channel you want to show live. Remember to click ‘Save Channel’ before you leave. This is how it will look when you choose the Twitch game ‘Hearthstone.’
1. Yoast SEO
Many people think YOAST SEO is the best WordPress plugin, and it’s easy to see why! For your gaming website to appear well on search engines, ensuring it’s easy to read and has the right keywords is essential. Yoast can help you do this.
2. Elementor
You may include specific pages for selling and displaying products when constructing a website. Elementor tool allows you to generate these pages rapidly, even without expertise.
3. Ninja Forms
Ninja Forms is another excellent tool. It’s a free plugin that allows you to construct various forms for your gaming website, including sign-up, upload, and contact forms. Ninja Forms is simple to use, and you may build any form you like!
7. Website Design and User Experience
A visually beautiful and user-friendly website is critical to attracting and maintaining visitors. Here’s how you can do it.
Homepage Design
- Hero Image: This is the large image or video that appears at the top of the page. Use something fascinating to get people’s attention.
- Latest News: Show the newest articles or updates.
- Popular Games: Highlight the games or topics that are popular right now.
- Call to Action: Use the “Read More” or “Join Now” buttons to encourage people to explore more.
Page Hierarchy
- Navigation Bar: Include links to major sections such as Home, News, Reviews, Forums, and Contact to make navigation easy.
- Breadcrumbs: It help users navigate your website and determine their location.
- Footer: Provide links to important pages, social media accounts, and contact information.
User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX)
An excellent website must be both visually beautiful and user-friendly. Here’s how to make sure both:
- Make sure your site works well on all devices. Tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test can help.
- Use grids and flexible images to fit different screen sizes.
- Find things easily with clear labels and organized content. Ensure everyone, including people with disabilities, can use your site.
Visual Appeal
- Choose colors that match your brand and are appealing to gamers. Avoid using colors that clash.
- Use easy-to-read fonts. Stick to just a few fonts to keep things neat.
- Use good-quality pictures and icons to make your site look nice without being too busy.
8. Customize Your Gaming Website
First, choose where your gaming site will be. Then, make it unique by changing the name, short message, and About page. If you’re using WordPress, pick a style. After that, add the speed and safety tools.
W3 Total Cache and LiteSpeed Cache make your site faster, and Sucuri Security and iThemes Security Pro keep it safe from online attacks. Lastly, use Yoast SEO or Rank Math to make your gaming blog appear more in search engines. These tools help more people see your stuff!
9. Download an SSL certificate for your website
If you have never heard of an SSL certificate, it is like a secret code on your website that keeps your messages safe. When someone visits your website, the SSL certificate protects their information. So, why does your gaming website need an SSL certificate?
- Keeps your information safe
- Proves your website is real
- Meets important standards
- It helps your website show up in searches
- Makes people trust your website more
10. Set Up Your Gaming Server
This section is for those who wish to create a gaming server. Here’s a quick tutorial for doing it:
- Get the right hosting: You can choose from two types of hosting: VPS or dedicated hosting. Both are good for gaming servers because they ensure smooth gameplay. Some hosting providers offer unique hosting plans for games like Terraria, CS: GO, and Minecraft.
- Install the game’s stuff: After configuring your server, you must install the necessary components for the game to function. For example, if you wish to run a Minecraft server, you must install the most recent version of Java and a file named server.jar.
- Set up the server: Every game has its way of setting it up. You can follow the instructions on the game’s website or ask your hosting provider for help.
- Test the server: This confirms that everything works properly before asking others to play.
- Invite friends: If the test goes well, ask your friends and family to play alongside you.
11. Community Building and Engagement
Making friends and having fun together on your gaming website is essential. You can add chat rooms where players can discuss games, share tips, and discuss new developments.
You may also hold exciting contests and give out rewards. For example, you may run weekly or monthly contests where users can submit their best gaming images, drawings, or reviews, with winners receiving small rewards like game tickets or toys.
You may connect with new players using social media channels like X, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. You may post news, interact with gamers, and promote your website. Posting fun things like game news or funny pictures can keep players interested and make more people want to join.
12. Monetization Strategies
Making money through your gaming website might turn your interest into a source of income. One way is to display advertisements. You may utilize Google AdSense or another ad network to show advertisements on your website. However, avoid placing too few advertisements or putting them in difficult spots.
You may also make money by selling direct adverts to businesses or acquiring sponsorships. This means working with gaming companies or related industries to make more money.
Another way is through affiliate marketing. This means joining programs with companies like Amazon and GameStop or digital marketplaces like Steam. You can earn money when people buy things through your unique links. To do this well, you should include these links naturally in your content, like in-game reviews or equipment recommendations.
Conclusion
How to make a gaming website requires a significant amount of effort, although it is similar to creating other websites. You need a name for your site, a location to store it online, and a method to build and administer it. Sometimes, you might need a particular server to host games other people can play.
We hope this helps you create your gaming website. If you need help, there are many communities you can ask, and your web host’s customer support can also help. Good luck!
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