Is it even worth it to do something like that? I mean, there are a lot of games that you are going to try to beat for keywords like "browser game", "browser based game", "online game" etc. Should I try to improve my game optimization or just pay for advertise? Sorry for my bard english, hope you'll understand my main question.
Well, of course, good on page SEO is important. But you are going to have to advertise. There is millions of gaming related websites, I honestly think that off page SEO would be a total waste of time to start off with. You DO want to rank really well for your brand name, and or company name, but not for something like "browser game" and if you do have a good knowledge base (or forum) then your content should rank really well for players that are looking for "help". You dont want players that are already on your system finding the answers elsewhere. If I type in "browser game" right now,the top result for me is a site with a list of top 30, so paying people to review your site, paying players to post videos on youtube, are things to consider before doing an ads campaign. Right now you can browse people on youtube who have done alot of guides for other browser games, offer them cash if they create video guides for your game -> why is this a good idea, because they already have large following, and gain continuous users FROM existing browser games, so if they review yours, this may lead to some of their viewer base trying out your game. Things on youtube tend to last longer as well. Almost noone goes through and deletes their game video reviews later, and if you have a look, you will find videos from years ago. So compared to traditional advertising which vanishes when you stop paying, this should have long term benefits. Rather then just using a typical adwords campagin or other, another advertising strategy might be to approach users that run, or own, fan sites for large and existing browser games. I could name a few, but I am feeling lazy.... Most games offer players benefits if people join using their links (provided the new members reach specific levels). Adding in social media functions in the members link area, might make it even easier for all members to promote your game for you on facebook, twitter or other. You could even have rewards offered just for promoting etc. Hell, if I can get 1 days (or 1 weeks) worth of premium features, I too will likely post on facebook. While the user promotion can be the most powerful marketing tool you have, its something that many sites I have played on have done soo poorly. Miramagia, is one of the few games that is outside of facebook, but integrates so well, that its very very easy for users to promote the game and their game progress. The way I see it, done well, you might have to pay a fortune for your first 1000 users, but after that, with a great platform in place, maybe using a forum to increase membership retention, making full use of social media integrated so players get benefits from promoting, should help the membership base grow without having to continuously invest massive sums into advertising.