Web design is critical for online gaming sites.
Land-based casinos are full of lights, and they are designed to be festive. In land-based casinos, the mood and ambience are critical for attracting players, and most importantly, for enticing them to stay.
Web Design Fundamentals for Online Gaming Sites
But how do you do this for an online gaming site? To do this, you need the following elements:
- Theme
- Game menu
- Banners
- Instant play
- Financial information and buttons
These are the components you need to build a website for an online gaming site. If any one of these is missing, it will have a bad effect on the customer experience. Let’s review each one.
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Theme
Your casino’s theme has a lot to do with whether a player decides to join you or not. Even if you offer the best free no download slots, your site’s theme can make or break your site.
Throughout each page of your online gaming site, your site visitors and players must see and feel that theme.
If you go for neon, then the slot titles, the pages, and the menu options should have neon components in them. If you want a sleek and dark design, like a land-based casino, then then each page of your online gaming site must show the same.
To give another example, some online gaming sites opt for a cartoon theme. In this case, what they do is create a mascot and develop a website that revolves around the mascot.
In short, your theme has to be consistent. Moreover, your theme is a factor that will determine what kind of customers your online gaming site will attract. High rollers typically want dark-themed casinos, with lots of black and gold. Casual players love the maroon and green velvet, while the younger generation does not mind catchy images.
So choose your theme wisely, and find ways to make it standard across the pages of your online gaming site. Simple lines that use the same color schemes will work wonders, as these lines remind your site visitors that there are still in the same site.
Game Menu
You can place the game menu for your online gaming site at the top or on the left sidebar. However, wherever you place the game menu, make sure it is accessible. The game menu is the first thing a player is going to look for, as this is how players decide which games to play.
In any case, you may find your website full of games of different varieties. In this situation, you need to add more subcategories.
For example, if you have “slots” as part of your menu, the player must be taken to a dedicated slot machine page. On this page of your online gaming site, players can navigate their way through all the slot machines you offer. It is on this page that you can offer subcategories. Some examples are:
- 3-reels
- 5-reels
- Jackpots
- 3D slots
As you can see, a well-designed website prevents browsing fatigue. You should apply this not just on slots, but also for all other games. Moreover, players appreciate it if the games on your online gaming site are easy to navigate.
If possible, add a search box somewhere on the page. Expert players who have a particular game in mind would love this, as they do not have to search manually through your online gaming site for a game title they want to play.
Banners
Banners are promotions or ads, not from your competitors, but for your own business.
What’s more, banners on your online gaming site need to come in the form of sliders, not as pop-ups. Use sliders to announce what a player can get at your casino and why they should pick you above the rest. But pop-ups are annoying and can make site visitors disengage.
Here are some recommendations to make the banners on your online gaming site effective:
- Banners must contain an offer that a player cannot refuse.
- They need to be clickable so customers can view more details if they are interested.
- A banner needs to occupy a big portion of your landing page.
- However, banners must not be obtrusive. For example, if a customer scrolls down, the banner should not come along.
These sliders must be carefully designed, with as little text as possible. Each banner should focus on what a customer will get or what benefits there are for joining your online gaming site.
The banner must also contain a small link that will take the customer to the terms and conditions of the promotion. If a visitor clicks the banner, they must also go to the details page of that promotion, not to the sign-up page.
Forcing a visitor to your online gaming site to sign up before they get to read the details of a promotion is a top driver for churn. So give your leads the information they want on the details page. Then put a call-to-action button at the bottom of that page.
Instant Play
About two decades ago, many online gaming sites required players to download software and install what is called a “client.” That strategy no longer works, since customers don’t trust random software downloads anymore. They know there is so much spyware and malware that can damage their PC’s or smartphones.
Instead, players on online gaming sites want instant play on their browsers. A great casino web design must incorporate this user experience. At best, you should be able to provide a demo version of the games, without requiring the player to register or download.
If you let visitors to your online gaming site play free casino games via instant play, they are likely to find one that they like, and then they will register for an account and deposit money.
But there are exceptions to this rule. For example:
- Poker games
- Mobile apps
Players understand that mobile apps work better than websites on mobile devices. Although online casino slots can work on browsers, the apps were optimized for mobile hardware and operating systems. Therefore, players don’t become annoyed if they are required to download the app before they can play the game.
Additionally, live poker games require software to run them because they work differently. Poker games where players compete against other players around the world need a special kind of processing. What’s more, poker players understand this is important so the machine can give them a real-time game play.
As you offer instant play, the player must have an option to play on full screen or just half-screen. Some players like it that they still see the lobby so they can shift to another game quickly if they want to.
Financial Information and Buttons for Your Online Gaming Site
These are critical components of your online gaming site. The bottom must have the website footer where you place the following information:
- Terms and conditions
- Privacy policy
- License, security, and fairness
These are important details for your online gaming site that people want to see, and they have to be accessible. It will not do you any good if you try to hide these details. If you do, your casino will look shady, and this will cause churn.
Players also want to find out how the casino accepts and disburses payments immediately. To facilitate this better, a few logos at the bottom of your page will do, accompanied by a link that will take the player to a complete list of your payment systems.
The payment systems page must also have transparency. A good design must have a clear layout of the different payment systems, the minimum deposit required, timelines, withdrawal fees, and other financial information that can affect a player’s experience.
Web Design Is Critical for Online Gaming Sites
Web design is critical to a casino. Moreover, you should focus not only on the graphics but also on the user’s experience. The positions of your buttons and your banners matter, and your primary concerns are player satisfaction and marketing. You can address these concerns with the tips laid out in this post.
