Building a valuable gaming-oriented site is no easy task. As a web designer, it is your job to create some designs and graphics that would compliment as well as elevate the offerings of the site that you are working on. These aesthetics are far too important to miss as they can affect the success of the site. That being said, below are five tips that you can use when designing gaming sites.
Always prioritize the games
Ad placement may have become a trend in the online marketing industry, but that doesn’t mean that it should be your priority. Remember that you are working to highlight the gaming offerings on the site. Sure, these ad placements bring in some money, but they can also harm the credibility and visuals of the site.
Go with simple color schemes
Since you are designing a gaming site, it is best to go with a simple color scheme. The game featured on the site is ‘colorful’ enough as it is, which is why it is not advisable to use a design that would compete with it. You can use green, red or yellow as its primary color. One perfect example of this tip is partypoker. For those who are not familiar with this site, it is a popular social gaming site that people from different parts of the world go to for their poker fix. The site sports a combination of green, black, and gray. What makes this color scheme effective is the mere fact that it has ‘quiet’ vibe to it. Having this characteristic enables its members to focus more on the game offerings of PartyPoker—which is the main point of why the site was developed in the first place.
Create an easy navigation system
It is ideal to use an easy navigation system for any site as it allows visitors to explore its offering fully, and find the things they were looking for. PartyPoker, for one, has successfully distinguished the free games from the ones that can be played for money in their navigation bar.
Minimize the graphics
One of the golden rules among professional web designers is to never overload a site with Flash and other graphics. You see, the more graphics, Flash, and scripts you put into the site, the longer it takes to load. So, the next time that you work on a gaming-oriented site or any site for that matter, minimize the graphics as much as possible.
Design for mobile devices
According to analyst Mary Meeker, iOS and Android-operated mobile devices have grown massively in recent years, and now claims 45 percent of browsing, compared to just 35 percent for Windows units. This means that mobile devices are starting to outsell computers on a global scale. With that in mind, design the site in a manner that can make it responsive to all kinds of gadgets.