How To Make Your Own Gaming Website

Since you’re here, you’re probably wondering how to make your own gaming website, right? It doesn’t need to be said that video games are one of the most admired forms of entertainment available, and they have been since they showed up on store shelves a few decades ago. So, it makes sense to have the longing to make your own gaming website, seeing as it could very effortlessly magnetize a lot of attention. But before you actually go and do anything, you need to sit down and figure out what exactly has to be done. Making a site takes a lot of time, and sometimes costs money, so it’s essential to have a plan; a plan, as opposed to making stuff up as you go and hoping for the best.

Here’s what you should do in order to make your own gaming website:

1. Universal or specific? You need to figure out, first and foremost, who your target audience is going to be. Do you want your page to be for/about console gamers, PC gamers, MMORPG players, a certain game company (like Square), game hacks, or a mix of everything? An all-around type of website will be a little harder to upkeep just because of the vast number of topics that could be featured, so you might want to aim for a certain game demographic. Pick something you yourself are knowledgeable in.
2. What to say. Okay, so you’ve decided on your gaming website market. Great. What do you want the site to actually say? Most gaming sites are forums, so your best bet is to have one of those, even if it’s not the main feature. Gaming-related web comics (like VG Cats) are also entertaining if you know how to draw.
3. Get the look. It’s time to actually make your own gaming website once you’ve got the content plan figured out. Unless you or someone you know can execute more than basic web-building skills, you’ll probably have to hire someone to make your site’s layout. Don’t worry about cost – just go somewhere like ODesk.com; there are people there who are so desperate for work, they’ll make you an entire gaming website for ten bucks.
4. A channel. A well-known gamer is The Irate Gamer, who has his own site and his own YouTube channel. If you have the time and resources for one, having your own little video feed wouldn’t hurt.
5. To free or not to free. Do you want to buy your site’s name, or have it hosted for free? Maintaining your own domain can cost a few hundred dollars a year, so it’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it or not. The best advice that can be given is to stick with the free domain, see if you get any visitors, and buy based on how popular the site is.
6. Advertise. Tell everybody and their mother about your site once it’s done. Join other video game sites and tell them about your gaming website. Make sure you mention the point of the site a lot in the text to make it easier to find in an internet search. For example, if your site is about ‘Gears of War’, be sure to mention that title a LOT in the text on the site.
7. Get some help. It’s hard to maintain a site all by yourself, particularly if there are people joining it (in the case of forums). If you’ve got a message board on your gaming website, you’ll want to get some trustworthy people to be moderators. If it’s a message board, there will eventually be a troll, so be prepared.
8. Second fiddle. Chiefly, know that whatever you want your site to be relevant to, there’s almost always going to be another, more certified version that people will refer to first, even if you acquire all your information from the aforesaid place. Just be ready when Nintendo’s official site gets more hits than "my-super-epic-nintendo-blog-of-awesomeness.blogspot.com". And don’t bother with a game cheats site – there’s plenty of those already, and nothing beats out GameFAQs as far as cheats.