New server owners often struggle with getting players into their servers. But there’s an effective way to maximize your community numbers.
The answer is through compelling game server advertising. This strategy may be a bit of a challenge to some server owners, but its worth it in the long run. No matter how good your server is, you won’t be able to enjoy it if there aren’t enough players. This guide is going to show you how to advertise your game server.
Ensure Your Game Server Is Ready
Before you even begin promoting your game server, make sure it’s up and running. It must be ready for public use since you can lose most of your players within the first two weeks of your launch. If they experience delays during this period, they’ll likely leave your community.
But if you’ve done an excellent job in ensuring your server is up, then you’ll most likely be able to retain your players. Make sure to listen to what your players want and fix bugs as early as possible.
Make Your Server Fun As Possible
Apart from ensuring your game server is ready for the public, it must also be as fun as possible. Since there are many game servers out there, the best way to attract and retain players is to make yours unique and memorable.
One way to do this is by having great features and functions that can make your players’ gaming experience more hassle-free and enjoyable. Giving them perks when they achieve something can also boost your players’ morale and make them want to stay on your server for long.
Make Your Own Website
Having a website is an added advantage to many server owners. It can act as a one-stop place for all the information, announcements, and guides you have to help your players. But an important rule of thumb to remember is its website interface.
Of course, players will prefer beautifully-designed websites. They should be easy on the eyes and easy to use. You can try focusing on its homepage and pay closer attention to your welcome text, layout, and active buttons.
Keep in mind that some of your players may also not understand English. That’s why having multiple languages for your website can do so much for your game server.
Make Your Online Community
Besides making a website, you’ll also reach more players when you make an online community on Facebook, Twitter, Discord, and other platforms. You can create and post a topic about your new server on these communities to keep potential players up to date with your launch date.
Join As Many Server Lists As Possible
Another method to maximize your game server’s reach is to join as many server lists as possible. You can also utilize gaming forums to target more players. These sites are two of the best places to post your gamer server’s launch date since your audience is already here. All you need to do is to catch their attention.
Use Paid Advertisement
Once you’ve created your website and online community, the next step is to carry out a robust advertisement strategy. Make sure to announce the launch of your server in all your server lists and online communities.
The best way to do this is through advertisements. They’re essential in catching the attention of many gamers and enticing them to anticipate the opening of your server.
- Two Weeks Before Launch – Post your announcement at least two weeks before your server’s launch. Doing this will help you maximize your reach and initiate fruitful conversations among other gamers. It’s also good to invest in cheap advertisements to ensure that players know your server.
- One Week Before Launch – When you’re nearing one week before your game server’s launch, you can begin spending more on expensive advertising spots like banners in gaming forums and server lists. You can also pin your server’s topic to get more traffic and become visible to your target audience.
Post Your Advertisement Everywhere
Seeing announcements and advertisements for the first time may not catch the attention of gamers right away. But seeing them frequently on server lists and gaming forums is enough to spark their interest in your new game server.
That’s why the most recommended strategy is to keep your target audience and community excited at least three days before your game server’s launch. To do this, make sure to post about your server everywhere — on server lists, online communities, and gaming forums.
- Create Teasers – Create enticing teasers with a sneak peek of the features that await them. You can use state-of-the-art applications like Photoshop to make these screenshots more engaging.
- Give Out Prizes – You can set up a raffle or give out freebies to get the attention of more gamers.
- Initiate Discussions – When posting in forums and on your socials, make sure to initiate discussions among your community members. This approach helps you get closer to your players. It’ll also create more buzz about your game server start.
Keep Advertisements Up
Lastly, find time to bump your server’s topic in your online communities and forums from time to time. You can post news, updates, or screenshots to entice more players and make your server relevant. But remember not to spam these platforms.
At the same time, keeping your advertisements up is a great strategy once you’ve already launched your server. However, there’s no need to use expensive paid advertisements during this period. Going for cheaper advertisements in gaming forums and server lists should be enough.
But if you find yourself with a low budget already, you can rely on SEO and Google ranking. The only caveat in this alternative method is the amount of time and effort needed to make your server rank high.
Conclusion
Advertising a game server isn’t easy. Besides ensuring your server is up and running, you also need to devise an effective strategy to reach more players. Remember that the more they see and hear about your server, the more curious they’ll get. That usually leads them to try out your game server.
