How to Start a Gaming Blog – Designing and Structuring Content

It’s easy to design a Gaming Blog!

In this guide, I’ll show how I designed my Gamin Blog with little effort and without needing any knowledge of UI/UX (user interface/user experience), or any other programming skills.

I will then show you how you can structure your content in a way that will set you up for success.

Note: before continuing make sure you read part 1 first!

With this said, in this quick guide I’ll be going over the following:

• Finding and Choosing a Template (Blogger/WordPress)

• Template Installation

• Blog Structure

Finding and Choosing a Template

You don’t need HTML/CSS or PHP skills to have a good-looking blog. All you need to do is put some money into a template.

I’ll be focusing mostly on Blogger and WordPress, since those are the platforms I’m familiar with. And for both, I always used ThemeForest to purchase my templates.

And when choosing I’ve always had the following in mind:

• Does it have support?

• Is it responsive (prepared for various devices)?

• Is it customizable?

• When was it last updated?

But this is just the starting point. If you want to have a shop in your gaming blog or even a dedicated podcast page, there are templates that will fit these criteria. But, before choosing, make sure you always have those 3 questions answered.

Does it have support?

With support, you can request an entire installation of the template you just purchased, and I highly recommend. I’ve been doing this for a long time and there’s always an issue when installing everything alone.

When purchasing the template, open a ticket immediately requesting help. While you’re at it, don’t be shy to ask questions about simpler tasks, such as changing the colors of certain buttons, how to insert a logo, etc. They’ll usually do it for you, but it’s great if you start accumulating some knowledge!

Is it Responsive?

Nowadays, people access the internet from many different devices, including PCs, tablets, and smartphones. So it’s important that your template responds correctly to each different device, that’s the meaning behind Responsiveness.

It’s easy to check this, go to the template and there should be a Layout information saying “Responsive”.

Is it Customizable?

You should not be purchasing a template that’s set in stone. This isn’t much of an issue since most offer a lot of customization.

But even so, there are templates who go above and beyond to offer you a ridiculous number of options. And those are the ones you should be looking out for.

For example, I purchased a Template that offered several themes that look entirely different from each other. In the future, if I’d like to, I can give a fresh look to my gaming blog without spending more money.

I think these are worth it, even though they are a bit pricey.

When was it last updated?

This question is more relevant for WordPress blogs since Blogger doesn’t receive that many groundbreaking updates.

If you try to install an old template on the latest WordPress version, there’s a good chance that many things will be broken and not working. And even if you have support, they won’t be of much help.

Check the compatibility information of the template you buy to make sure it works with your WordPress Host.

Template Installation

After purchase, the best thing you need is contact the support to make the installation for you. It might take a day to get a response, but it’ll save you many headaches. But before you do, on WordPress, some require you to at least upload the theme and activate it. That’s simple!

WordPress:

1. First, you need to go to your Download section in Theme Forest and get the Template files.

2. Then open your WordPress Host Version and go to Appearance > Themes > Add New Theme > Upload Theme > Select the Necessary File from your PC.

3. After you upload it, you can choose to activate the template using a code that is probably in the files you downloaded.

Then you are free to request installation via support, and you’ll have a wonderful modern theme with no effort.

Blogger:

1. For Blogger, the process is similar. Download the files from Theme Forest and on Blogger’s Back-office go to Theme > Restore > Select the XML file.

2. Here, you don’t need any code to activate the Template, but you still need the purchase code to prove you’ve made a purchase and to open a support ticket requesting installation.

“But what if I want to install everything by myself?” – You may be wondering.

Don’t.

You can definitely do it, and it’s not as hard as you may think. All you need to do is follow the Instruction Manual for the template.

But I assure that you always need support to take care of something or clarify a point in those instructions, you might as well just ask for the full installation while you still have support.

Remember, you are not just paying for the template, you are paying for a service, use it!

Website Structure

In the last part, I asked you to think about your niche. Now that your template is installed, it’s time to plan for your gaming content and create a structure.

Introductions are Important!

Before jumping in, there is a page that you absolutely need, an About Me page. Start by telling your audience more about you and the content you are going to make.

Define your main Categories

Don’t start with too many categories. Using our Sega Saturn Gamer example for Part 1, here’s a structure I’d be happy to use:

• Reviews: This one can be divided into sub-categories based on genre of games (2D-Platformer, shooter, fighter, etc…)

• Recommendations: You can make lists of the 10 Best Sega Saturn games, Best 2D Platformer, Top 10 Underrated games, etc.

• Guides: This category is perfect not just to share Gaming Tips, but also topics like “How to buy Sega Saturn Gamers Cheap” or “How to fix common technical issues.”

Then I’d make a list of 15-20 blog ideas and think about how I can link some of these posts together. This will be important for SEO, which I’ll touch on in the next part.

Also, make a category or tag for each one in WordPress so you can add it to your blog posts and menu. And if you don’t know how to do it, contact support, and they’ll do it for you.

One Step Closer to Start Publishing

By now, you have built a solid foundation for your Gaming Blog. You’ve carefully selected a niche and strong name, hosted your website and domain, and now, have installed a great modern responsive theme with a great structure.

But just this is not enough because in the end, what really matters is the content you write. And when writing online, there’s something you can’t escape from, SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

In my part 3 of How to Start a Gaming Blog, I’ll show you how easy it can be to optimize your content for search engines, mainly Google!

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