How to make an indie game website: a useful home for your games

For indie game developers, here is how to make an indie game website that helps players understand your game, gives journalists useful material and provides a home for future projects. Explain what someone will do in the game, show the current version, and make the next step easy to find.

For someone considering coverage, provide a press kit: a page of game facts and downloadable images, with a way to ask questions. You can start with a small site. You do not need to start a blog or become a web developer before you can release a game.

I run Crit Pick, so I often look at games with an editorial question in mind: is there enough here to understand the game and write something useful about it? A press kit is the first thing I look for. A clear description of the game and its broad mechanics is the baseline. Devblogs are a welcome extra because they can explain the thinking behind it.

In this guide: Choose tools · Long-term audience · Game description · Press kit · Page structure · Test the site

A website for indie developers, beyond the first game

Your Steam page gives a player somewhere to assess the game and take a store action. Your own website can bring together the material around it: information for players, a press kit, development background, contact details and links to whichever platforms you actually support.

I think having no website is a missed opportunity for many developers. That is an editorial judgement, not a claim that a separate domain automatically creates wishlists or sales. If your immediate choice is between fixing an unclear store page and building an elaborate website, start with the information people need most.

The reason to make a site is to provide a dependable place for useful material. A large site that you cannot maintain is not the goal.

Choose website tools you can maintain

Before choosing a template, gather the short game description, current screenshots, trailer link, store destinations, press material and contact details. Knowing what the page must contain makes it easier to choose a setup that fits the job.

Fit the setup around indie game development

My starting point would be the smallest setup you can confidently keep up to date. If you are comfortable editing a static page and only need occasional changes, that may be enough. If someone else on the team will maintain the site, choose an editor they can actually use. If you have a growing collection of game pages and development posts, a content management system may make that work easier.

Try a real editing task before committing: change a screenshot, update the demo link, and add a development note. Can the person responsible do it without asking the programmer to rebuild the site? Can they keep a copy of the text and images? Those questions matter more than a template's impressive demo.

This is a way to choose, not a provider ranking. Check the current cost of the complete setup, including the domain, hosting and any features you actually need. A promotional first-year price does not tell you what ongoing maintenance will cost.

Choose a domain that can outlast the current game

For a studio planning more games, I would consider a studio domain with a separate page for each title. You can still give each game its own visual character. A game-specific domain can also be useful, but decide how it connects to the studio and how you will maintain it after launch.

Keep control of the registration account and record who handles renewals. ICANN's domain-renewal guidance advises tracking the expiry date and keeping renewal and contact details current. This is basic maintenance for a lasting address, not an SEO shortcut.

Build an audience for your next game, too

There is a longer-term reason to have a website: the relationship does not have to end with the game someone first discovered. A player who likes your work should have somewhere to find out what you are making next.

I would think about the studio as well as the individual title. A studio website can give each game its own page while keeping a recognisable home for the people behind them. When a new project is ready to show, earlier games can point interested players towards it. Keep the older game pages useful for people who still play them.

For example, the fictional Lumen Freight could have a game page within its studio's site. Someone arriving for its press kit could explore the studio's other work; a player returning after finishing the game could find the next project there.

Give people a clear way to stay in touch if you can maintain it, such as an optional newsletter about the studio and its future games. Explain what they will receive. The website provides the home, and those updates give interested people a reason to return. This is an opportunity to build an audience over time, not a guarantee that every player will follow you to the next release.

Connect social media accounts and community destinations

Your website can serve as a marketing platform without requiring a new post every day. Put useful community links near the studio or updates area: social media accounts you still use, an active discussion space if you run one, and a clear email signup if you offer updates. Label each destination so someone can choose how to follow along.

I would keep the key game information on the site itself. A visitor should not need a social media account to understand the project or download press material. If you stop using a channel, update the link instead of sending people to an abandoned profile.

For the fictional Lumen Freight studio, a signup could say: “Email me about new games and major updates from this studio.” That describes a different promise from a newsletter full of weekly game development notes. Choose the promise you can keep, test the form, and make the confirmation match it.

Reply to relevant player questions when you can, and use repeated confusion as a reason to improve the page. Building this audience is ongoing work; a signup box alone does not create a community.

Explain your game design through its core mechanics

Start with a short description: put the game name and a plain explanation near the beginning. Describe an action, what makes it interesting, and the kind of experience it creates. Genre can orient someone, but it does not replace the explanation.

Here is an invented example for a fictional game called Lumen Freight:

A railway puzzle game where every new track changes the routes available to trains already running. Reroute deliveries, avoid blocking your network, and work through increasingly tangled night shifts.

That gives me something to understand. “Explore an immersive world of limitless possibilities” does not tell me what I will be doing.

Then make the basic facts easy to find: supported platforms, whether it is solo or multiplayer, and its actual release or development status. Link to current system requirements where players can check them, rather than leaving them to guess whether they can run the game. If you have not announced a date, say so. Do not make the reader guess whether an old “coming soon” message still applies.

Keep the key description as ordinary text, even if the title also appears in a logo or trailer. Google's SEO starter guide recommends clear, useful content and descriptive links. That is a sensible starting point, not a guarantee of indexing or ranking.

Show the game you are describing

Use gameplay material that helps someone connect the description to what happens on screen. A beautiful environment can establish atmosphere; it may still leave the central interaction unexplained.

For Lumen Freight, I would want to show a train approaching a junction, the player changing a route, and the consequence for another delivery. That sequence demonstrates the idea behind the sentence. A logo over an empty railway does a different job.

If screenshots or footage show an unfinished build, explain the relevant limitation. If you are presenting a remake or an anniversary edition, identify material from that edition. Older footage can provide context, but should not silently stand in for the current game.

You do not need the entire trailer-production process here. The existing Steam store page guide covers how gameplay, screenshots and copy work together on that page. On your website, the immediate test is whether the material actually helps explain your game.

Link your Steam page or playable demo clearly

Choose the next action that fits the game's current state, then label it clearly.

These are starting points, not mandatory button labels for every project. Do not advertise a demo that is no longer available or send a player to an unrelated studio homepage.

Keep supporting routes available without giving every link the same emphasis. A player looking for the game, a writer looking for screenshots, and a person seeking support have different tasks.

A normal store link is enough to begin with. Valve also provides a Steam store widget if an embed suits the page. You do not need it merely to have a valid website.

Make your press kit and marketing assets easy to find

If a game has a website but no press kit, that is the biggest gap for me when I am considering coverage. A trailer tells me part of the story; it does not give me all the facts or usable assets I need to prepare an article.

Use a clearly labelled press-kit link for journalists and content creators. Keep the fact sheet, screenshots and other public marketing assets together, with a clear contact for press outreach. Someone should be able to find game information, download relevant images, and identify a contact without becoming a member of your Discord or requesting access to a private folder.

The full contents belong in the game press kit guide. For this page, check the connection: does the site lead to the right kit, and does the kit describe the same version of the game?

Keep private review keys and confidential material out of public downloads. If a build is available on request, say who to contact and what kind of access you can provide.

Share useful game development notes in a devblog

I like being able to read about the thinking behind a game. Why did a mechanic change? What did players find confusing? What did a particular technical decision make possible?

That background can help me understand a project beyond its feature list. It is an addition to the basic game information, not a substitute for it. I should not have to piece together the current mechanics from development posts written months apart.

For a small team, I would start with a worthwhile note when there is something to share. You do not need to promise a weekly devblog or populate an empty news section to make the site look busy. The devlog guide looks more closely at what those updates can do.

A simple website structure for indie games

For the fictional Lumen Freight, I would start here:

This is a proposed layout, not a template with a measured conversion lift. It can fit on a page, with separate destinations for the press kit and any longer background material.

Build the first page before adding extra sections

Use the structure above to assemble a complete first version. Put the description and main action near the top, connect gameplay images to the mechanics they demonstrate, and place the press-kit link where someone can find it without searching through old updates.

Keep navigation useful for players and indie developers

For Lumen Freight, a small menu could offer Game, Gameplay, Press and Studio. If the studio has other games, make them accessible from the studio area. Keep the store or demo action clearly labelled wherever you repeat it.

Avoid empty sections. A menu item called News that leads to no posts adds a dead end. Add the devblog when you have a useful entry, and make sure that older entries link back to the current game page.

Prepare images for the page and the press kit separately

A visitor needs an image that loads cleanly at its displayed size; a journalist may need the original asset for an article. Keep downloadable press files available separately instead of making every page visitor load the largest originals.

web.dev's image-performance guidance explains the trade-off between file size and image quality. Resize and compress display images appropriately, then check that small text and important gameplay detail remain legible. A smaller file is only useful if it still shows what you need to explain.

Let the game's art support readable information

Use the game's art to give the page its character, then check that the design still works around ordinary text and controls. A busy background can make a description hard to read. Keep sufficient contrast and space around the store link, press-kit link and navigation.

For a screenshot that explains player interaction, give the image a useful text alternative. Describe the relevant action rather than repeating the game's name or filling it with search terms. If an image is only decorative, handle it as decoration in your editor. Follow the W3C image guidance for the image's actual purpose.

For Lumen Freight, useful text might describe a junction being rerouted while another train approaches. The aim is to communicate the game design shown in that image, not to describe every pixel. Keep essential instructions in the page text too.

Check the title and shared-link preview

Give each game page a descriptive title, a useful description and a representative preview image. The Open Graph protocol defines metadata used to describe shared pages, including a title, image and URL. Use the relevant settings in your website editor and inspect a real shared-link preview before you send the page around.

That does not require a separate SEO project before you publish a useful page. For search visibility problems, use the existing diagnostic guide linked below.

Look at real sites for decisions, not a design to copy

The official TUNIC website puts its game description alongside platform destinations and provides separate general and press contacts. That is a useful example of making different next steps identifiable.

The official Hollow Knight website describes the experience through gameplay and world information, and has a labelled press-kit route with a press contact. It shows how player-facing material and editorial resources can coexist.

These are observations about the pages checked for this guide. I do not have their conversion data, and their commercial success does not prove that a particular page layout caused it. Take the useful decision, such as a clear press-kit destination, rather than copying the whole site.

Test the website as an indie dev and as a visitor

Before sharing the site, run through the actual visitor tasks:

• Open the page on a phone and a computer without your usual signed-in accounts.
• Read the description and identify the main action without playing a video or turning on sound.
• Open the store or demo link and check it leads to the current game.
• Download a press image without signing in or requesting access.
• Use the menu and main links with a keyboard, checking that you can see which control is selected.
• Send a test through any contact or signup form you have added and check its confirmation and destination.

Do not collect real subscribers or enquiries through a form you have not checked yourself.

W3C's accessibility design guidance covers readable contrast, identifiable controls, clear navigation, different screen sizes and alternatives for media. Apply those basics to the actual page: a button needs a recognisable label; useful text should not disappear into an image; a form needs understandable fields and feedback.

For a small qualitative check, ask someone unfamiliar with the game to find out what they would do in it, where they could play it, and where they would find press material. Watch where they hesitate before explaining the answer. This is a usability exercise, not a prediction of sales.

Give website maintenance a place in the development process

Making games already leaves plenty to do. I would give the website a named owner and check it when something changes that a visitor needs to know: a public demo, a platform announcement, a release, an unavailable download or a new game reveal.

Check older pages as well as the newest post. A player can arrive through a search result for your first game long after you have moved to the next project. Keep its store destination, support route and current status useful, and provide a route back to the studio.

For a solo developer, keep a short update checklist with the source text and art files. For a team, make sure the person updating the page has the right account access and knows which information is confirmed. Website maintenance should have a clear handover when roles change.

Finish your first game website before adding more pages

• The opening describes the game and its broad mechanics.
• The gameplay material represents the current version or is clearly labelled otherwise.
• Platforms and availability agree with the linked store pages.
• The main action leads to the destination its label promises.
• The press kit is easy to find and usable without a private account.
• A working contact route is available.
• The page is readable and usable on a phone and with a keyboard.
• Someone is responsible for updating it when the game changes, including a transition into or out of Early Access if relevant.
• People interested in the studio can find its other games and a clear route to future updates, if offered.

If those basics work, you have a useful home for the game. Add a devblog when you have something worth explaining. If the site itself is ready but search visibility is the problem, move to the guide to a website not showing up on Google rather than expanding the site for its own sake.