Well I finally launched my preliminairy website for my company(www.cotproducts.com) with my the first games I self published (Pocket Conflicts series) on it along with a board game that is almost ready to go. The next step is the social media portion of the marketing.
For those who have their own websites how well is it doing for you and what did you do to make it a success?
What things would you reccomend to avoid or do.
My graphics will be improving as time goes on but I needed to get a presence on the web now. I had been selling my games through Etsy with some success.
Websites
Fri, 03/07/2014 - 21:36
Fri, 03/07/2014 - 22:50
#1
I wish I could help you...
I wish I could help you... but Marketing isn't one of my strong points. I've had a few websites but I've never been able to get a steady supply of traffic.
My best success I've has actually been twitter driven. By interacting with similar groups you can draw some attention to your project. Even better, if you can say something smart or likable... retweets tend to spread quickly and get alot of attention.
The other advantage to getting twitter followers is that you can re-tweet updates and get people to check back on the project.
I've found it MUCH harder to draw attention in other formats. Maybe some marketing experts have better ideas... but it's the best I've found so far.
Sat, 03/08/2014 - 01:42
#2
Some ideas
For those who have their own websites how well is it doing for you and what did you do to make it a success?
Well www.questccg.com has been running now for several years... and I find the number of visitors to the website quite "troubling". My trouble is that my statistics say I get about 300 visitors a month and about 4,000 page hits. But I can't imagine this is true. I think it's spiders and bots that are visiting the page... :(
I wish I knew the TRUE amount of visitors (even if it was like 1 a month...)
What things would you recommend to avoid or do.
In my case I linked it to a very popular Wikipedia web page: List of Collectible Card Game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_collectible_card_games)
Find a FORUM where you can post links to your website (other than BGDF). Places where potential board gamers visit.
Although I have not done this, I would use Facebook so you can have a LIST of FOLLOWERS. That's pretty good and you could link it to your website. Offer monthly updates to the Facebook page by placing blog entries in it... Talk about your games and how they are progressing... The followers is a good way to have REAL people who are interested in what you are working on!
My graphics will be improving as time goes on but I needed to get a presence on the web now.
Good graphics is important. What I would try to improve on is the *brilliance* of pictures. Maybe use Photoshop to increase the Contrast on your images. The content is good - some images just seem a little grey. For example the Iron product picture needs some contrast adjustment.
I had been selling my games through Etsy with some success.
Glad to hear that!
Sat, 03/08/2014 - 09:46
#3
Analytics
Good analytics will help you understand about what does and doesn't work as well. I like using Google Analytics for my sites and am playing around with Buffer for Twitter.
Mon, 03/17/2014 - 16:08
#6
I wouldn't call my site a
I wouldn't call my site a success but I don't actually update it nor am busy with it to make it a success. But clients from my job generally will have more visitors since they're busy with their sites.
Here's my list as a webdesigner:
a) Get good on google:
I don't believe in SEO but being on Google will help people find you. Get a name that easy to use but not too general so you will stand out in the crowd. Use meta tags just in case, have content (text mostly) and google will find you.
b) Go social
Social media is crucial... and to be frank: the internet is the same (mostly) as real life. Mouth to mouth is the best way to get traffic and get known. Get on facebook and talk, go on forums and talk, have a link in your profile or signature and interessed people will click it.
c) Have content, people will come to see your site even though most people won't stay longer than a minute (sorry, people just don't have time to stay longer apparently). So have content and have it in such a way that it's easily digestible and/or is able to forfill both types of surfers (the quickies and the indulgers).
d) Looks, people judge a book by the cover. An unprofessional or ugly look will have people click away. Spam or other nasty stuff will even make them resent you so don't do that.
That's about it, besides luck and networking, there's not much to say. Make friends, build networks, spread the word and people will flock to you and your site.
As to your site: it's a bit "difficult" as a shop like and I'm not really enticed to buy due to the fact I'm seeing a page with multiple games semi-overlapping.
Have a clear page with all games, pic's left, small intro right, with or without a buy now.
Allow people to click on a game for more information, add more photo's and info without using the left to right to left alignment of text. It can look cleaner.
Greets
I have added contrast to the images to make them pop more and am now working on a facebook page.