Welcome to the first part of the Arcade Webmaster Guide. This is a new comprehensive series of ‘Arcade 101′ articles, written by experienced webmasters who highlight the benefits and caveats of running an arcade today. The series aims to help newcomers to make the most of their arcade building experience and to avoid the many pitfalls that new webmasters fall prey to.
These articles are exclusive to the Sly5 Arcade Blog and will consist of some of my thoughts on making the most out of your arcade, along side some much welcomed input from fellow webmasters in the form of guest posts.
In order to keep track of this series, I have created a new page in this blog’s navigation menu so if you like the idea please link back there. Please also feel free to leave feedback and questions in the comment sections of these posts, both for myself and for guest writers, and we’ll try to provide the best possible advice we can. So let’s get started! The first post in this series comes from David Blackard, owner of www.gamehopper.net and the topic is 10 things not to do when starting an online arcade:
As the owner of several online arcade sites, I have found that most new users do something very wrong when they start a new arcade. They all look to the bigger sites and they want to emulate those sites right away. The problem with following the “big guys’” footsteps is that they already own this real estate, and the majority of traffic will be theirs in the end.
So here are a few things you should never do when starting up an online arcade site to help you get an edge on these “A-listers”.
1) Don’t use the default template
Sure you just paid 50 bucks for you shiny new script, and seven hundred new arcade owners this week just put up a site that looks just like yours. If you can’t design a template yourself, and you cant afford a professional designer, at the very least find a paid one and change the images a bit. The default template of any arcade script will not win you any new users. They see that one all the time. I am always very surprised at the amount of arcades I see that use the default script template.
2) Don’t buy game packs
The idea is that if you fill a site with games you create 1000’s of pages for the search engines to search, the problem here is that all the content you just paid for is on 1000’s of arcade already. You will have little luck with google using this method. Only add games you actually play and think are good. Chances are if you think the game has merit so will your users. Write you own descriptions and make your own thumbnails if you can, this will make your content more original and will benefit your users and the search engines.
3) Don’t try to be everything
Some new owners think they need to cover every game category, from gory sniper games to pretty dress up games. The trouble is it will not give your site a direction and users will fast become bored trying to figure out what you specialize in. Sure the “big guys” can serve up a huge variety of games, they also already have a substantial audience. Try to find a category that you yourself like, and make that your main theme. Users will appreciate the ease of locating similar games without leaving your site. It is far more important to have a strong dedicated audience than a disperate, ad-hoc one.
4) Don’t undervalue traffic trading
On some level you say to yourself “I do not want my users leaving, what sense does that make?” Yet it is a well known fact that some measure of trading is essential for faster site growth. You dont have to trade traffic with other sites like some do (and stay tuned for a forthcoming article devoted to the do’s and don’ts of traffic trading), but at the very least it is a good idea to add in a few banner exchanges. This will give you some traffic variety and expose your site to users who otherwise may never get to see it.
5) Don’t forget to network
Probably the most important thing you will ever do in this niche is network. There will come a time when you need help with something and it sure is a plus knowing someone with experience. I myself trade graphic work which I am good at for coding work which I am not good at. I meet people through other people to gain good backlinks and new sources of information. A good place to start would be the popular arcade site owners forum TalkArcades.com. There are a number of other forums, blogs and information sites that facilitate networking and the Sly5 Blog will be covering those in another part of this guide. For now, try exploring some of the entries you find in google. Bookmark the sites that you find valuable and come up with a handful of places you visit and contribute to on a regular basis.
6) Don’t be a link hog
From time to time I see people requesting links to their arcade, yet when you go to their arcade you see no links out. They trade all the links in a “three way” method with the link coming from another site. Actually if you read up on SEO you will find that having no outbound links is nearly as bad as having no inbound. Google in particular will penalize you for being a link hog. So build a good mixture of backlinks and link outs.
7) Don’t try to get rich in a day
So chances are you got into this for the money, but to think you are going to start a site on a nine dollar domain and a 35 dollar script and instantly make thousands of bones a month is just plain unrealistic. If you have lots of capital you can make a site that competes with the “big guys” within a relatively short armount of time, with little to no capital expect the growth rate to be a lot slower. The main point is that if you’re dedicated to your arcade it will grow in stages. The first few stages until you start hitting that $2-3/day mark will be tough. But if you keep working at, you’ll see significant changes as you go along. Think of it as building a character in WOW. You start off with little to no experience and as you progress, complete quests and create relationships with fellow players, your character develops. The same applies to building an arcade.
8 ) Don’t forget to set goals
Without goals you are just sitting there wondering what to do next. So if your goal is money and you made 1 dollar a day your first month, set your goal to 2 dollars a day for next month. If your Alexa rating has been halfed from 1 million to 500k this month try to half it again next month. Each goal you set will help insure you keep momentum and don’t end up going round in circles. This is generally known as a business strategy. Mapping yours out early on and making adjustments as you progress will definitely be a huge advantage.
9) Don’t give up to easily
So you have been at it for 3 months now, you have made 8 dollars in adsense money and you think to yourself that you may never reach the cashout so those 8 dollars are useless. This is where most people pack it in and just abandon their site. Wheras this should be the time when you fight the hardest, setting higher goals and just trying harder in general. Not everything works for everyone. I myself took nearly 7 months to get my first Google payday. Now each month I get a nice fat check.
10) Don’t treat it as a hobby
If you treat your site like a hobby, you will end up paying to own it. Treat it like a business. Money in = money to spend. I started with 100 dollars and a bad idea, turned all that into a site that makes a whole lot more than my initial 100 dollars every month. It can be done if you start with nothing, but your main expenses will be time and dedication. If you cant give your site those things, you should probably look for another niche. Arcades are work, but can be the most fun you ever had working, particularly since you get to play some of the best games now and again, not to mention forging new online friendships with other webmasters.
I built and sold three arcade sites before I finally found an idea that I liked that worked. If you love this niche you will know it from day one. When I first started I thought to myself ” This is what I want to do” and now I am well on my way to doing this for my income. If you go into it expecting instant success from a domain, script, and a game pack, you will surely fail like all the rest. Just keep your chin up and keep trying new things, and you soon will have an arcade and a business you will love.
