Marketing your HTML5 Game, a Quick Guide.

[Firenibbler]

Hey, just wondering what you all think of my latest article. It's a quick guide to marketing your indie game, specifically HTML5 games. All feedback is appreciated. Thanks for reading!

Marketing your HTML5 Game, a Quick Guide.

[mattstyles]

Hi Andrew,

Great to see you getting out there and posting stuff. I'd say you should go in to more depth and find some sources, I don't think I've ever seen a reference or a source in any of your posts (nor even an external link) which means its all entirely opinion yet it is presented as fact. For example:

Quote

“Just make great content and they will come to you.” We have all heard this,  ...Unfortunately, it’s wrong. Great content is no longer all it takes to get noticed in this ever-growing online world.

Why?

Search engines prioritise content far more than they ever have before, meaning that content is far more relevant than any other marketing bumpf than it was before. For example, pick any of the articles from this basic google search, most mention how bumpf around keywords and link bait etc is actually penalised by search engines, meaning that content is really the driving factor. This is in direct contradiction to your opinion.

Your post feels like you just started writing one day and 30 minutes later you were done. Yet you present it as being more. I'm sure you'll say you do plenty of research, if so, then present it, give real-world stories, link to external content (this does not drive people away from your site, this gives you credibility and shows that you are part of a wider knowledge base, stop trying to market yourself as a one-stop shop).

For every sentence, for every paragraph, ask how you would justify yourself if questioned.

You split a marketing strategy into development phases, when exactly do those phases begin and end? If I'm a beginner how do I know when to implement your marketing strategies? How do I know which development phase I am in? You don't explain. Sorry, trick question, you can't explain. Modern development doesn't fall neatly into these categories (see agile, which is by far the most popular methodology for creating apps/games/sites).

If I was to give some advice (you asked  ) then I'd say stop being so generalist/generic. A robot could pull those bullet points out of the top most-searched-for posts by other people and present them (and they do). Work on your USP. What makes me come to your site and keep coming back? What is your area of expertise? Try to write with these things in mind. Writing for an audience is a tricky and fickle business, write what you know.

Your site is filled with so many different areas, there are posts on marketing, ideation, development (did I see something about game design as well?), I'm not sure even Sid Meier or Richard Garriott could write in-depth about all those topics! Concentrate on areas you know, tell stories, make it human, show some of your personality.

It's a personal blog, do some research on other top developers who have personal blogs, they tell stories, stories about what they are working on, trends they see, they start discussions and engage with other developers and the community at large. Copying is a good way to get started, as you're doing, but copy from humans, not from aggregation sites. I dare say you'll even enjoy writing more if you do.

You've been receptive to all opinion and advice you've received before (which is awesome btw) so I hope my tone is not too harsh.

[Firenibbler]

@mattstyles Thanks for all the feedback! I have never really considered posting links to other blogs and resources before as such an important factor, but you do bring up a good point. In the future, I will document where I find my information some more. I have done it a few times in the past, but not often enough for anyone to notice. 

Also, I did say "no longer all it takes"  when referencing great content, while it is important, I still feel it is important to go out into the community as much as possible to promote your projects.

As for the generalized subject area, this blog is more me writing what  I learned, or want to refresh and hoping somebody else benefits from it. While you are right, it is incredibly hard to go into depth on a lot of these subjects, most of my viewers are new HTML5 game devs, and appreciate the simplicity. This does, however, bring us back to your point about external links, which I will do far more of in the future. Lots of people seem to like it because of its diversity. I might look into guest authors in the future to give more specific and in-depth articles if the blog starts to lean toward more professional topics that require more insight.

For the development phases, you are entirely correct I am lacking in defining what those phases are. I will look into editing it to be more clear on the when each phase takes place.

For the bullet points, I was just trying something new where I summarize the contents of the previous section into important topics it covers, I could be more clear about that, but you are right. It does sound like something an algorithm generated.

Thanks again for the advice! I will revise the post soon to try and incorporate it. If you have any more, or want to point out a flaw in my reasoning above, go ahead.

 

[NicoA]

Really nice article!, 

It is really dificult when you are starting a game to know the right time to show it to the word, and when it is time, you never know how to get in contact with the word! haha.

 

[Nico Ray]

Thanks for this quick guide to gaming marketing!

It's rightly noted that search engines prioritize content much more than before. But the marketing ploy is also of great importance and we should choose a strategy that ideally matches our direction.

But content is the driving factor. For me personally, it's difficult to completely follow such a marketing strategy and I'm pretty sure that I even missed some stages. But I still believe that in the presence of high-quality content, a good result will imperative. I also added SEO to my strategy and with the help of software, I can check all the necessary parameters https://seranking.com/backlink-checker.html This makes it much easier not only to audit a website but also to check backlinks. Based on all the data, the tool can help with the selection or correction of a link building strategy. For now, this is a priority for me and I'll continue to work on its development. And I'm always open to new suggestions and constructive criticism.

Wish you good luck!

Nico

Edited January 24, 2021 by Nico Ray