Get Traffic to A Game Site

anyone know what is the best way to get the traffic to a game site?
as I knw, stumble and post link at some forums is the best way..

but anyone knw any big forums tht can attract a large traffic from?
or any alternative way?

pls advise... thanks X 999

 

Go for organic traffic or buy some "direct" advertisement from other arcade sides.
It's 2 best things you can do.

 

do u knw any big forums tht can get traffic from?

 

Big forums -check to see if any of the official game system sites (xbox) allow signatures at there forums.

 

This might sound dumb, but play some Xbox Live. I can't tell you how many registered users we got to one site just by telling people about it on Xbox Live.

Add something relevant to the game you are playing, like "if you want to find out how to get that hidden weapon, go to blah.blah.com" and check it out. We have the instructions there. Or "how to get higher rank quickly is detailed at our site...". Just make sure you are adding something of real value on your site, dont BS the gamers.

 

Organic traffic, and advertising your site on other games sites.

 

Make sure your site is "school safe" try to not get blocked by those big bad school firewalls!

 

Theres many ways to get traffic and everyone has differing levels of success so I would suggest diversifying your effort.

A few ideas:

1) SEO - its a must for any web site - it just takes time and maybe a little research on some good common practices.
2) Link exchanges - swap links with other arcades.
3) Sponsored Ads - Find sites you can advertise on targeted to your niche. We have plenty of arcades to advertise on, check them out here.
4) Arcades are perfect for social networking sites so send bulletins through MySpace etc...

Hope that helps, those are a few ideas anyway.

 

ruby gave some good tips (especially the #1 is necessary).

Here's some other
5) Use press releases (announce crazy contest or something)
6) Use tips from posts like this traffic getting story
7) Participate in gaming forums discussions (where they allow signatures) and CONTRIBUTE to the forums (don't go spamming "that's nice", "oh cool" and whatnot. But write something useful. Also: remember that "game developers (and sometimes play games)" and "those who only play games" are hanging on different forums

 

Big forums are gamestop.com (or gamespot.com I forget) and ign.com. I don't know if either allow links in your sig though. I a getting nice traffic from sponsoring flash games. It is expensive though.