Recently, I received a question regarding how to get into gaming blogging. I was going to write a brief overview on how to get a website, and play lots of games. But by the end it had become an entire article. Here is a quick overview for budding writers of games and my advice on how to get started. Please email me if you have questions, want more information, or need help setting up your first wordpress site or domain (I also do this).
Education:
Higher education is recommended, but not mandatory. Although I know some bloggers who began their careers straight out of school, they had a harder time breaking into the field. You will gain a great deal of experience in college and university, and also get a chance to play video games as students are often broke.
Courses
A writing and review-focused approach English/ Journalism/ Media Studies/ Media Technology
A game developer/designer with experience should approach
Game Design, Game Development, Maths, Various game languages
What to Do First?
Buy a domain ($10 per annum)
Install WordPress blog engine for free
Buy a theme ($55)
Get a Google+ Account (free).
Create other social networks: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube
Add code to your site and sign up for Google Analytics (from the beginning)
Editorial calendar
When blogging, consistency is important. If you can think of 12 ‘general titles,’ then you will have one per month. They may not be breaking stories, but they will give you time to research them, write them and refine them.
It’s great to share your opinions, but make sure they are useful, funny and/or informative. Consider writing an article about the popular video game Castlevania. The series spans three decades. Your readers will be impressed by the quality of your writing and give you more credit for your opinions. They may even return to read more.
Search Engine Marketing
Search engines are the best way to gain readers and popularity. To achieve this, you must produce good, sharable, regular, and optimized content. Google will find out and your metrics may be affected. Google will consider posts under 400 words to be ‘light’ content. There are a variety of WordPress plugins available that can extend your blog, such as:
- SEO by Yoast
- Jetpack
- Images optimized for SEO
- Media Library Alt Fields
- Google+ or Disqus is the comment engine.
Consider your core topics and include them in the page title, headings or content.
Topics of interest and core topics
Select three or four main topics and ten areas xin88 of interest that you want to cover. You might choose:
- Core: Main Stream Gameplay
- Core: Mobile Gaming
- Core: Online Gaming
- Interests: Retro gaming
- Interests: Game development
- Interests: Game design
- Interests: Star Wars etc etc
Create posts on other gaming websites and link your Google+ profile to your website.
Resources:
Podcasts:
Podcasts are radio shows that air every week and focus on gaming. You can listen to them while doing other things, such as waiting for a train, driving or taking a bus.
– Videogamer UK podcast
IGN Unlocked Podcast
Podcast Beyond
IGN UK Podcast
Inside Gaming Podcast
There is some swearing.
Starter websites for mainstream:
IGN.com
Videogamer.com
Kotaku.com
Neogaf.com
Reddit.com/r/gaming
Beware:
- As your blog grows, you may be asked to add substandard content for backlinks. You should always proofread everything before putting your name on it.
- You will not get any free games until your audience is large enough
- You should be careful when putting Google ads on your website. They can be very off-putting.
Finally…
Write down what you want to write.
Add images to your game reviews, roundups, best of articles, top 10 articles and research pieces. Be opinionated, but not aggressive. Use a thesaurus and avoid swearing. There are many words that can be used to create an amazing picture.
