How to Create a Gaming Website With WordPress
Do you want to create a gaming website with WordPress?
The gaming industry is growing tremendously nowadays. With a gaming website, you can connect with like-minded people, start a popular gaming blog, do all gaming-related stuff and even gain income out of it.
This article will discuss how to Create a gaming website with WordPress.
Things you need to create a Gaming Website Site Using WordPress?
To create a gaming website, you will need the under-stated things:
- A domain name ( this is what people type to find your site online, e.g., Hostkicker.com)
- A web hosting account (This will store your website’s files )
- A WordPress theme
- Specific WordPress plugins
What type of WordPress Gaming Site you want to create?
With WordPress, you can create different types of gaming websites. Such as a site that hosts simple and fun online games, a dedicated gaming forum for your favorite game, a gaming review site with a news blog, a site that sells products to the gaming community, or a website dedicated to professional gaming.
Before you start creating your website, you must be clear in mind what type of site you want to create. This tutorial will help to create any gaming website easily.
Step 1. Choosing the Right Website Platform
The easiest way to create a gaming website is by using WordPress. It is the finest website builder that lets you create any kind of website.
We will use self-hosted WordPress.org to create a website as it gives complete freedom and instant access to all WordPress features.
Get a Domain name
You will have to choose and register a domain name to get your site online. The domain name you choose will be your site’s permanent address on the internet, such as hostkicker.com. It is the address you can type into your browser to reach our site.
The domain you choose should be unique, short, and memorable. It helps users remember your site, which can uplift repeat visitors.
You can register a Domain name with Domain registrars, which are third-party sites that allow you to buy a domain name. After that, you can connect that domain to your site through your web host.
Or else many web hosting providers offer domain registration as a part of your hosting plan. This is the simplest thing you can go with since it’s coming with your web hosting. For example, Hostkicker offers domains starting from just $5 onwards. You can easily choose from 100+ domain names.
Once you have registered your domain name, it’s time to get hosting.
Get Hosting
Once you get a domain name, the next step you have to get is web hosting.
Hostkicker offers reliable hosting at affordable prices.
For a basic gaming website that offers a blog or news site, a shared hosting plan from a reputable provider such as Hostkicker should provide everything you need.
In case you want to set up a game server on your site, you will need more than a basic shared hosting plan. You can go with dedicated hosting or a virtual private server (VPS). Both could be a solid option. Since it will be dedicated to you only, you’ll get more control over it. This means you can optimize it for gaming traffic and potentially attain better performance.
After setting up your domain name and getting hosting, you are all set to create a gaming website.
Let’s get started!
Step 2. Choosing the Perfect WordPress Gaming Theme
After setting up your WordPress website, you have to select an ideal WordPress gaming theme. WordPress offers a variety of themes you can select from.
You can choose any of the given themes to create a gaming website. These are the best picks we suggest:
Divi by Elegant Theme
Divi is not just a blog theme. It is much more than that. Divi offers the simple visual building tool you can use to create entirely custom layouts. It comes with an in-built page builder and many ready-made layouts, including multiple templates for magazines. The plugin is also compatible with other plugins. It comes with WooCommerce support. You can use it to add an eCommerce store to your site. Overall, it’s the most flexible solution for building a custom website.
Chosen Gamer
Chosen Gamer is a simple theme for video game blogs.
It is built off the Chosen theme and has many customization features. Chosen Gamer comes with free and premium upgrade options. You can start with free and upgrade when you need more customization options.
You can go with this if you want to start a review site or a small magazine.
Youplay
The Youplay theme offers a beautiful design and can work well for game reviews and news posts.
You can use it if you have a plan of publishing frequently.
Game Addict
The Game Addict theme includes many features, and you can use it for different purposes.
The theme has capabilities as a gaming clan hub. With this, You can host and organize tournaments and communities on your site.
Besides these, you can go with the one that suits you best. After selecting a theme, you can install and activate the theme.
Step 3. Choosing the Right WordPress Gaming Plugins
After selecting a gaming theme, it’s time to select the right gaming plugin to add more functionality to your website.
Using plugins, you can add the following gaming features to your WordPress website.
- A community gaming forum
- Twitch video streaming
- Real-time games visitors can play
- Selling game-related products
Creating a Game-Related Forum in WordPress
You can also add a gaming-related forum to your site.
A forum is a discussion board where people related to games can share tips about a specific game or even discuss things related to games and gaming products.
This way, your visitors will feel like a part of your website.
You can add the forum functionality using a WordPress plugin like bbPress or BuddyPress.
Adding Streaming Functionality to WordPress
If you are a streamer or willing to insert popular Esports video streams or Twitch into your gaming site, you can easily add it with a plugin.
The Twitch TV Easy Embed plugin lets you add Twitch.tv streams into WordPress and allows you to customize the appearance.
To install the plugin, see our tutorial on installing a WordPress plugin.
After activation, go to Settings » Easy Embed for Twitch TV (Rail).
You will notice the ‘Main Settings’ where you can set up the streams you want to show.
You can enter the ‘Game’ or ‘Channel’ you want to stream on your site using the plugin.
And then click on the ‘Save Channel’ tab before leaving the screen.
You can see how it will look while adding the Twitch game ‘Hearthstone.’
To add Twitch streams to the WordPress site, you can use the shortcode given below:
[getTwitchRail].
For that, copy the shortcode and paste it into any post, page, or even your sidebar widget.
After that, click the ‘Publish’ or ‘Update’ tab to save your settings and make your Twitch stream live.
Adding Simple Fun Games to WordPress
While adding the additional functionality to your WordPress, you must be wondering how to add games to a WordPress site?
By adding games to your site, you can offer fun to your visitors, which can leave them with a better user experience.
Using the WordPress gaming plugin, you can easily add games to your website.
The plugins like Dinosaur Game and the Word Search Puzzles Game allow you to add simple games to your gaming site.
To install the plugin, you can see our tutorial on installing a WordPress plugin.
If you are willing to switch your WordPress site into an online gaming platform, you can use MyArcadePlugin. It is a premium plugin that is used by many WordPress sites.
The plugin also offers different themes to create a beautiful gaming website.
Selling Game-Related Products in WordPress
In case you want to make a gaming website to sell gaming guides, online courses, and gaming gadgets, you have to add additional functionality to your site.
With WordPress, you can create your eCommerce store to sell products easily. For that, you can use the WooCommerce plugin.
WooCommerce lets you easily add products to your site and can help you to create an eCommerce gaming store.
To Conclude
Everything you will need to create an attractive gaming website is listed above. You can easily create a gaming website by following the above steps.
We hope this post helped you create a gaming website with WordPress. If you liked this, you might also want to see another tutorial on how to create a video membership site in WordPress.