The Game Dev’s Guide to Creating Websites
Everything I learned during creating a website for my game
Having a website for your game is a great way to show that you mean business.
That’s why I wanted to create one for my game, and when I asked Google, I was happy to find out that creating a website isn’t as hard as I imagined. But still, I was overwhelmed by all the different ways you can approach this and all the available services that all seem… feasible.
So I went deep into the research to learn what’s the best way to create a website without spending too much time and money. I learned a lot, and of course, I took some notes. I’m here to share them. This is going to be a long one, let’s go!
How to Create a Website for Your Game
To create a website, you need a platform, a domain, and, depending on these choices, a web hosting service. There are three different ways to get these done:
Use a website builder service (Squarespace, Wix, etc)
Use wordpress.org and buy shared hosting
Use AI tools
Of course, there are more than 3 ways of creating a website (like hiring a professional or coding everything yourself from scratch), but these are the most feasible ones for indie game devs, in my opinion, since our time and budget are limited. Let’s go over these one by one, learn their advantages and disadvantages, and see which one is the best.
1. Using a Website Builder
The biggest advantage of website builders is that they provide you with everything you need in a single package, including templates, web hosting, code-free design tools, a domain for a limited time, and more. If you have a budget and don’t want to spend too much time, then this is the right choice for you. Here are some of the platforms you can consider:
Carrd
Carrd is a very simple and free tool that enables you to create a single page website. It provides dozens of templates you can edit as well. But if you want to use your custom domain (and you want to use your custom domain to appear professional), you need to pay $9 a year, which unlocks many other features as well, like creating multiple pages.
You can create decent-looking websites with Carrd, but it is limited in terms of advanced features. If you need a quick and easy way of creating a website, Carrd can be a great option.
Price: Free to $49 per year.
Note that you need to buy a domain as well if you choose this option. Read on to learn how to do that.
ManaKeep
ManaKeep is a website builder that focuses on indie games. It provides many features you might need, like mailing list, blog posts, media gallery, forums, etc. You can create as many custom pages as you want, and if you want more control over it, you can add HTML blocks to your pages.
I’ve seen many people online using ManaKeep when doing research, and they all seem pretty happy with it. If you go to ManaKeep’s website, you can take a look at websites made with ManaKeep.
Price: From $5/mo to $14/mo.
Wix
Wix basically provides you with everything you need: design tools, templates, AI website builder, and more. One big advantage of Wix is that it has 24/7 customer support. It offers you a free domain for 1 year as well.
It has 900+ templates, and I’ve seen templates for game websites among them too. But since it provides everything in a single package, it’s a bit pricey compared to other options.
Price: From $17/mo to $159/mo
Squarespace
Squarespace seems to be everyone’s go-to choice. Just like Wix, it offers you more than everything you need: templates, domains, security, design tools, etc. It’s a one-package solution for all your website needs. It does have cool templates for games too, despite being limited in number. Probably the best option if you have the budget.
Price: From $16/mo to $52/mo
WordPress
There is a difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org. The first one is a website builder, which provides different web solutions, just like Wix and Squarespace. The second one is a free and open-source tool that requires hosting. We’ll talk about wordpress.org shortly.
Wordpress.com is not very different from Squarespace and Wix. Its biggest advantage is that it hosts your wordpress.org website, which provides flexibility and many advanced features.
Price: Starts from $48 per year
Other Web Builder Options
There are many more available options, but we don’t have space or time to cover all of them. If you want more options, here are some you might consider:
2. Using WordPress.org + Web Hosting
If you don’t want to pay for a website builder and want to have complete ownership of your website, then your best option is using wordpress.org. Wordpress powers over 1/3rd of the internet (you have no idea how many times I’ve heard this during research). It’s a free and open-source tool that enables you to build your website.
It offers a lot of benefits. To start with, it is free. Secondly, it has great community support since it’s open-source. It has thousands of templates and plug-ins that provide advanced options.
But it comes with a learning curve, meaning you are going to spend some time watching tutorials. You’ll also need to deal with many plug-ins to add features. And although the platform itself is free, you still have to pay for a domain and web hosting. Let’s take a look at that.
How to Get a Domain
Thankfully, neither getting a domain nor web hosting is expensive. It’s also a very straightforward process; all you need to do is finding an available domain name and following the domain registrar's instructions. Here’s a quick list of domain registrars:
Typically, domain names cost between $3 and $10 annually. Remember, you can usually get a domain when you use a website builder or when you buy a web hosting service.
Web Hosting Services
There are numerous reasonably priced options available when it comes to web hosting. However, the following are some that are usually recommended:
If you choose to use wordpress.org, I suggest you watch this great tutorial. It takes you through all the basics you need to know.
3. Using AI to Build Your Website
As in every industry, AI has made a big impact on web design. You can create your website using a variety of AI tools. These tools can create a website in minutes, even seconds, based on the description you give them. You can further customize the website created by AI by making manual adjustments.
I wasn’t able to find a good example of a game-focused website made with AI since these tools are relatively new. But I have no doubt that in a few years, this will become the standard way to create websites. So, I wanted to share a few options you might want to take look:
Which One Did I Choose and Why?
After thinking and researching, I decided to use wordpress.org + Hostinger. Because it seemed like the most sensible decision in the long run due to both the community support and the plug-ins available. Yes, it requires a bit more effort to learn compared to other options, but honestly, I watched a few tutorials, and I feel like I figured the basics out to some extent.
Of course, it could also be the wrong decision. We'll talk again after some time has passed and I've gained more experience.
What to Include in Your Website
Now that we’ve chosen our method, the rest is all about finding a suitable template and filling it with information about our game. If you don’t like the available templates in WordPress, you can buy one you like from different markets online, like Envato. Or, you can design it from scratch if you have time.
Here’s a list of the things we need to include on our website:
Headline that includes the name and small description of your game
A CTA button that takes visitors to Steam and other stores
Visual elements: Trailer, screenshots.
Unique selling points of your game
Your press kit (see this post to learn more about press kits)
Link to your socials and contact info
Sign up button for your mailing list, if you have any
Devlog posts
Reviews and awards, if any
Inspirations
And to finish this article, I found couple of websites that may inspire you. You’ll realize that majority of websites follow the same layout structure, and there is a reason for that. I suggest you check out this video on how to properly layout a website.
To The Moon
Noita
Starbound
TL;DR
To create a website, you need a platform, a domain, and, depending on these choices, a web hosting service.
You can use a website builder, like Squarespace or Wix, to create your website. They are costly, but they save time and are simple to use.
You can use wrodpress.org + web hosting to have complete ownership. It’s cheaper and flexible, but it comes with a learning curve.
You can use AI tools. They are quick and customizable, but they are still new.
Remember to add headline, CTA button, visual elements, USPs, press kit, and links on your website.
Conclusion
Phew. That was a lot to cover. I hope I was able to make everything clear. While you are reading this, I’m working on my website, and I’m hoping to announce my next game in the next issue. It’s not something big, but I still wanted to have a small website to gather everything about the game in one place.
Anyways, thank you for reading, and do let me know if you have any experience to share on this topic.
Me
Reading: I’m reading a comic named The Eternaut. It has a very interesting backstory, I highly suggest you check out this video essay if you are interested in comics.
Playing: Finally finished BG3. It was a great experience though the way they conclude some of story points kinda disappointed me. But I enjoyed myself overall. The next is Alan Wake 2.
Listening:
Thanks for reading!
And that’s it from today’s issue of GameDev’s Journey. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. If you did, please like and leave a comment. Reach out for suggestions, objections, questions, or just say hi.
But regardless, thank you so much for reading, and have a great game dev journey!
Me, age 20: I won't use any off them! I can build websites, I will only pay for hosting. What a cheap choice!
Me, ago 40: I suck at web design, I don't like configuring hosting, I could program it, but this will take ages... Oh, that site gives me all that for ~$10 monthly. What a cheap choice!