How to Make a Gaming Website With WordPress (Step by Step)

Creating a gaming website with WordPress is easier than you might think.

Gaming has exploded in popularity, and having your own site can help you connect with other enthusiasts. You can build a community, share gaming tips, and even turn your passion into a side income.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to set up your gaming website. Don’t worry, you don’t need any technical skills to get started.

What Do You Need to Build a Gaming Website Site Using WordPress?

You will need the following things to make a gaming website with WordPress.

• A domain name. This will be the name of your website that people type to find your site online, for example, wpbeginner.com.
• A web hosting account. This is where your website’s files will be stored.
• A WordPress theme. This will control how your site looks and functions.
• The right WordPress plugins. This is how you will add the specific gaming features you require.
• SSL certificate. You need this if you’re planning on selling products or adding Twitch streams.
• Your undivided attention for 1 hour

Depending on the type of gaming website you’re building, it’s entirely possible to build it in under an hour. We’ll walk you through the entire process step by step.

In this tutorial, we’ll cover the following steps:

But first, let’s briefly talk about the possible types of WordPress gaming sites you can make.

Step 0: What Kind of WordPress Gaming Site Will You Make?

If you love video games, nothing is better than being involved in the space.

Gaming blogs and websites cater to the large community of gamers who are looking for articles about the latest games, consoles, hardware, events, and more.

What kind of gaming websites can you make with WordPress?

• A dedicated gaming forum for your favorite game
• A gaming review site and news blog
• A site that hosts simple and fun online games
• A site that sells products to the gaming community

Maybe your new gaming website will be the next IGN, Kotaku, or GamesRadar?

Whatever kind of gaming website you want to make, this tutorial will help you build it using WordPress.

Step 1. Choosing the Right Website Platform

To start, you need to choose the right website builder, and since you’re reading this, you’re on the right track.

You’re going to want to use WordPress. But, there are two types of WordPress software that share the same name, so it’s easy to get confused.

First, you have WordPress.com, which is a blog hosting platform. The second is WordPress.org, which is the self-hosted version of WordPress.

We recommend using the self-hosted WordPress.org version because it gives you more freedom, control, and access to all WordPress features.

For a comparison, you can see the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

Next, you’ll need a domain name and web hosting. But you don’t want just any web hosting company. You need a high-quality hosting provider that will support your WordPress website as it grows.

A domain name typically costs $14.99 / year, and web hosting starts at around $7.99 per month. If you’re just getting started, this can be a big investment.

Fortunately, Bluehost, a hosting provider recommended by WordPress, has agreed to offer our readers a free domain, SSL certificate, and discount on their web hosting.

Basically, you can get started for $2.75 / month.

After you purchase hosting through Bluehost, they will automatically install the WordPress content management system (CMS) for you.

If you prefer, you can install WordPress yourself. For more details, follow our complete WordPress installation tutorial.

Once you have WordPress installed, it’s time to set up the rest of your WordPress gaming website. You can follow our step-by-step tutorial on how to make a website for complete setup instructions.

Step 2. Choosing the Perfect WordPress Gaming Theme

The next step after setting up your WordPress site is to select the perfect WordPress gaming theme.

When searching for the best WordPress gaming theme, you’ll come across several choices with gaming-related features baked right in.

Even though it may seem like a good idea, you’ll actually want to avoid using these themes.

You don’t need a WordPress theme that’s built for gaming.

Most gaming WordPress themes are bloated and will lock you into using them forever. You could even run into compatibility issues when adding new features to your site.

It’s better to choose a flexible, high-quality theme and then add functionality with WordPress plugins. There are all kinds of plugins to help you add the features you’re looking for.

By taking this approach, you have the flexibility to change themes in the future while keeping the same features and not having to hire a WordPress developer.

To help you with this, we have an in-depth article about selecting the perfect WordPress theme.

If you want to shortcut the process, then check out our picks for the best WordPress magazine themes. A magazine template can be perfect for gaming websites since it models what other large, successful sites are doing in the gaming space.

Once you’ve found a theme you like, you can install and activate the theme. If you need help installing the theme, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress theme.

Step 3. Installing the Right WordPress Gaming Plugins

It’s time to add more functionality to your website with WordPress gaming plugins.

Plugins are like apps for your WordPress site. They allow you to add all sorts of features to your website. There are over 59,000+ free plugins for WordPress.

What kind of gaming features can you add to WordPress?

• Detailed video game reviews
• A community gaming forum
• Twitch video streaming
• Real-time games visitors can play
• Selling game-related products

Adding Game Reviews to WordPress

If you’re a gaming blogger who writes about games, hardware, and consoles, you’ll want to add advanced review functionality to your site.

That way, when you’re writing product reviews, you can add starred ratings and improve the appearance of your reviews.

Look how your reviews will stand out in the search engines:

The best way to do this is by using the WP Review plugin. It lets you manage and display gaming reviews on your site.

The plugin gives you customization options to add pros and cons, product images, star ratings, and more to your reviews.

There are even features to include user reviews, display comparison tables, and implement schema markup for rich snippets.

For more details, you can see our guide on how to create a review site with WordPress.

You may also want to use plugins like Pretty Links or ThirstyAffiliates to better monetize your website with affiliate marketing.

Creating a Game-Related Forum in WordPress

Another great feature you may want to add to your site is a forum for your gaming community.

A forum can be a discussion board, a place to share tips about a specific game or even a question-and-answer platform.

Forums allow your visitors to feel like part of your website. When they participate in the discussion and share with others, they’re more likely to come back to your WordPress blog and engage in other ways.

The best way to add forum functionality is with a WordPress plugin like bbPress or BuddyPress. These are two of the best WordPress forum plugins and will help you easily add forum functionality to your site.

For more details, you can see our guide on how to add a forum in WordPress with bbPress.

Adding Streaming Functionality to WordPress

If you’re a streamer or want to embed popular Twitch and Esports video streams into your gaming site, you can do that easily.

The best way to add this feature is with a WordPress plugin.

We recommend using the StreamWeasels Twitch Integration plugin. It lets you embed Twitch.tv streams into WordPress and customize the appearance. To install the plugin, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

After installing and activating the plugin, you can follow the Setup Guide in the Twitch Integration section.

To add Twitch streams to WordPress, you can use the shortcode [sw-twitch]. Simply copy the shortcode and paste it into any page or post, or even in your sidebar widget.

Just make sure you click the ‘Publish’ or ‘Update’ button to save your page and make your Twitch stream live.

Adding Simple Fun Games to WordPress

You might be wondering how you add games to a WordPress website.

Adding games to your site can give your visitors something fun to do and, hopefully, leave them with a positive impression.

The best way to add games to your website is with a WordPress gaming plugin.

Plugins like Dinosaur Game let you add simple games to your site.

To install the plugin, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

If you want to turn your WordPress website into an online gaming platform, we recommend using MyArcadePlugin. It’s a premium plugin that’s used by over 100,000 WordPress sites.

Selling Game-Related Products in WordPress

Maybe your goal when creating a gaming website is to sell your own gaming guides and gear. This could be a custom gaming eyewear you’ve created to help reduce eyestrain. Or, you’re the master at a specific game and want to sell courses and walkthrough guides.

Luckily, WordPress makes it easy to create your very own eCommerce store, selling digital or physical products.

To start selling products with WordPress, you’ll need to use the WooCommerce plugin. For more details, you can see our step-by-step guide on how to start an online store.

For selling courses and exclusive membership content, you can check out our guide on how to create a membership site in WordPress.

Step 4. Taking Your WordPress Gaming Site to the Next Level

WordPress is a powerful and flexible platform that allows you to access thousands of different plugins to grow your gaming website.

The following plugins can help you grow your gaming website today.

• WPForms Lite – It’s the best contact form plugin for WordPress and lets you quickly create contact forms using its drag-and-drop builder.
• AIOSEO – It’s the best WordPress SEO plugin and will help you rank higher in the search engines. It can also help you add schema to your reviews and products.
• MonsterInsights – It allows you to easily install Google Analytics in WordPress, so you can understand where your visitors are coming from and what content on your site is the most valuable.
• Smash Balloon – It’s the best social media feeds plugin for WordPress and lets you add your social network feeds directly into WordPress.
• SeedProd – It’s the best page builder plugin that lets you easily customize your website with a drag-and-drop builder, so no HTML is needed. You can even create a custom WordPress theme for your gaming blog.
• RafflePress – It allows you to easily run giveaways and contests in WordPress to grow your following on Twitch, TikTok, and more.
• Easy Digital Downloads – It lets you sell any gaming-related digital goods you create, such as guides, ebooks, or even collections of streams and VODs.
• For more plugin recommendations, you might want to check out our list of must-have WordPress plugins for business websites.

Step 5. Mastering WordPress to Grow Your Website

WordPress is easy to use yet extremely powerful. From time to time, you may find yourself looking for some quick answers.

Here are some useful resources that will help you learn WordPress:

• WPBeginner Blog – This is where we publish our WordPress tutorials, how-tos, and step-by-step guides.
• WPBeginner Videos – These step-by-step videos will help you learn WordPress FAST.
• WPBeginner on YouTube – Need more video instructions? Subscribe to our YouTube channel with more than 296,000+ subscribers and 54 Million+ views.
• WPBeginner Glossary – The best place for beginners to start and familiarize themselves with the WordPress lingo.
• WPBeginner Blueprint – Check out the plugins, tools, and services we use on WPBeginner.
• WPBeginner Deals – Exclusive discounts on WordPress products and services for WPBeginner users.

And here are a few of our guides that you should bookmark right away. It will save you lots of time and money in the future:

• Most common WordPress errors and how to fix them
• Beginner’s guide to troubleshooting WordPress errors
• The ultimate WordPress security guide (step by step)
• How to increase your blog traffic (proven tips)

Many of our users use Google to find answers on WPBeginner. Simply type keywords for what you are looking for and add wpbeginner.com at the end.

Can’t find an answer? Then, you might want to send your question directly using our contact form, and we will try our best to answer.

We hope this article helped you make a gaming website with WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on important reasons why you should use WordPress for your website and our expert picks of the best blog name generators to help you find good blog name ideas.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.