3. OK, so you want to build your own gaming
website, now what? how do you start?
âThe problem weâre trying to solve is that
there are rich teams and there are poor
teams, then thereâs fifty feet of crap, and
then thereâs us.
Itâs an unfair game. And now weâre being
gutted, organ donors for the rich.â
(Moneyball)
4. There are hundreds of gaming websites on
the market, offering the same service as
you offer, only they are way ahead of you:
⢠They are big
⢠They are rich
⢠They are Experienced
⢠They are already branded
6. âIf we play like the Yankees in here, were gonna lose to
âem out there.
Boston has taken our kidneyâs, Yankees takinâ our
heart and you guys are sittinâ around talkinâ the same
old good body nonsense, like weâre selling deeds.
Like weâre looking for Fabio.
We got to think differently. â
(Moneyball)
7.
8. Like any website, there are basic questions
you need to ask yourself before you begin:
1. What is your target audience?
2. What content will you have on your
website?
3. What is the level of competition?
9. This is the basic research you need to perform
before start working on your website.
This research will tell you if starting the website is
worth it, if your site can have original and unique
content that users will find attractive,
AND, if you can monetize your website.
10.
11. When it comes to free online games, there are
plenty of option to breakdown the audience.
I mean, games are being played by 4 years old
and by 65 years old.
- What does it mean?
- How do I breakdown the audience?
- How should I choose my target audience?
12. The answer to that question is a
combination of several things.
13. Establishing a well-defined target audience is more
Important today than ever, especially in the Gaming niche.
You need to understand that no one can afford to target
everyone, no matter how big he is.
You can still compete with the big companies and look
them in the eye by targeting a niche market.
Targeting a specific market does not mean other markets
Are excluded. It just mean you focus your effort on
specific niche, and anyone else that arrive is a nice bonus.
14. To define a target audience you need to ask yourself a few
questions:
1. What are they looking for?
2. What can I offer them?
3. What is the audience my competitors target?
4. Analyze your audience â demographics, gender, surfing
habits, online social behavior, playing time etc.
5. Financial evaluation â after everything I know, is it financially
worth it? Can I monetize my website?
Once you define your target audience, itâs easier to proceed to the
next step.
15.
16. Free online games is probably the most competitive niche on
The Internet.
There are hundreds of flash games websites in every gaming
category, which makes it extremely difficult to stand out.
Also, due to the nature of âfreeâ online games, the same
games can be played in other gaming websites as well.
17. So why should the users play on your site?
What makes you unique?
18. Content is everything!
Having fresh and new content on your website will bring you a
lot of traffic and will give them reasons to return to your site.
There are two options to put fresh content in gaming sites:
1. Download free games from other sites and put it on your site
(like everyone else does).
2. Developing your own games and put them only on your site .
19. There are many options for developing a flash game
at a reasonable cost.
You can either use an establish and experienced
development company, but that will probably cost more,
or you can use freelances.
Of course you take a certain risk with freelancers, they can
turn out to be unprofessional, development can take
longer, money issues etc.
20. So if you decide youâre going to go with freelancers,
ask for recommendations and feedback from others,
see previous works, see his feedback rate on the freelance
site etc.
Having your own games gives you the ability to be Unique
and have original content that doesnât exist on any of the
other gaming portals.
(if case you decide not to allow sharing).
21. Itâs also recommended to have a textual area on your site, a blog,
forum or an article section, for several reasons:
1. Google loves textual content. Textual content rank high, index
faster and get high score in general.
2. Allows you to update your users on new games, events, featured
games etc.
3. Allows the ability to upload images, which can use to leverage
your website and bring traffic through Google Images.
4. Helps you increase the number of pages (more pages with new
content means more credibility).
5. Allows you to use it for internal links. Again, SEO booster.
22. Other elements that can improve gaming experience
If you want to improves the users experience and be better than your
opponents, try to bring something that only you have and the others
donât.
Do your research and find out what you can add to your website that
might be useful to your audience:
⢠Registration Form
⢠Newsletter
⢠Tournaments with prices
⢠Social Media Teasers (YouTube Channel, Facebook Page etc)
⢠Tutorials and Guides
⢠Mobile Apps
23. If you want to beat the big gaming companies, find out what can
you offer that they canât or havenât yet, and claim a territory.
thatâs how you do it.
24.
25. There are several reasons why we need to study our competition:
⢠To find your competitionsâ weak points and exploit them
⢠To improve your content and services and be better than your
competition
⢠To learn how they operates so that you can always be one step
ahead of them.
⢠To see what they DONâT do and come up with ideas of your
own.
26. There are several ways to check the competition online:
⢠Website â The competitorâs website can tell you a lot about the
company, their operation, featured games and content, main keywords etc.
⢠Search Engine Results â Check out their organic position, which keywords
they are focusing on, which products they are promoting etc.
⢠PPC Campaigns â Gives you a chance to see what landing pages, keywords
and products they are promoting.
⢠Social Media Activities â YouTube Channel, Facebook Pages, Twitter
activity, LinkedIn etc.
27. ⢠Forums â Visit arcade forums and read the reviews people write about the
competitors. Check out their reputation.
⢠Their own content sites and blogs â Are they updating content on a regular
basis? Are they promoting something? Are they focusing on super hero
games or other games?
⢠WhoIs â A simple check can reveal a lot of useful information about your
opponents, like PR, Inbound links, Alexa ranking, SEMRush ranking, Google+
Activities and more.
28.
29. Imagine youâre building a house. You just finished planning Your
interior decoration only to find out you donât have the first floor
plan.
A wise planning will save you money, time and will get the users
stay on your site.
31. Target Audience â
Who will be your main target market?
Break it down to the smallest details â
gender, age, demographics etc
32. Content â
Where do I get the content?
Do I need license for games, coloring pages,
Images?
33. Programming Language â
Are you going to build the site in PHP, Dot.net or
any other language?
What are the upsides and downsides of each?
34. Designing â
Gaming site usually played and meant for kids,
So the design has a lot of weight in attracting
The visitors as well as keeping them on your
site.
It has to be unique enough that people will
remember it.
35. Hosting â
Based on the estimated number of users you
anticipate, where will your host you site?
⢠Performance
⢠Quick Loading Time
⢠Quick and Professional Support
36. Marketing Strategy â
What marketing strategy are you planning?
Are you focusing on organic SEO or do you have a
budget for PPC ?
Are you planning to serve as an affiliate ?
37.
38. First impression is everything!
The first glance will determine if they user
stays on your website or leave.
39. Research has shown that it only takes
10 seconds
to catch your visitors interest before they leave your site.
40. Navigation -
The first rule of navigation is to allow users to get
anywhere from anywhere.
There is nothing more frustrating than browsing a
website and not finding what youâre looking for, or
not be able to go back to where you were and you
are forced to follow the entire path all over again.
41. Images â
1. Logo
2. Header
3. Category Images
4. Game Image
42. Appropriate use of colors -
⢠Choosing the wrong background colors can be a
Hugh turn-off and can impact your bounce rate.
⢠Choose colors from the same theme.
⢠Donât overload colors.
⢠Be original and Unique
⢠Be REMEMBERABLE !
43.
44. So we have planned our strategy
and decided how we want our
website to look like.
now what?
45. There are two option for building an arcade website:
1. Pre-made arcade site, that include a complete
CMS and a theme of your choice.
2. Building your own website + CMS from scratch.
46. Pre-made vs. New Site
Pre-Made New Development
Entire site cost around Can sum up to
Price
120$ thousands of dollars
You can build a site
Time from scratch in a Can take months
couple of hours
You have full control
You donât have control
Flexibility on the code and
on the code and design
design
To learn more about arcade templates visit TheOnlineFreeGames.com
47.
48. So you built an amazing website,
you added new fresh games and
youâre ready to collect the cash.
Only one thing is missingâŚ
traffic..
49. So how do you get traffic to a
gaming site in such a
competitive niche?
50. There are two major options:
⢠Organic SEO
⢠Paid Promotion
51. Ways to get traffic
1. Banner Exchange
2. Social Media
3. Trade Traffic System
4. Adwords Campaign
5. Link Exchange
6. Organic Search
7. Game Distribution
8. Toolbar Apps
9. Social Bookmarking (mostly used for tier 2)
52. Ways NOT to use to get traffic
⢠Profile Links
⢠Articles
⢠Press Releases
⢠Angela and Paul links
⢠Blogroll Links
⢠Plenty of Social Bookmarking Sites
⢠Farm Links and different private networks
⢠Blog Comments (small scale allowed)
⢠Forum Signature Links (only if used wisely)
58. For more information about Arcade Sites visit us at:
http://theonlinefreegames.com/
If you wish to write for us, contact us at:
support@theonlinefreegames.com