Creating a good online presence in the games development industry: what is the best approach?

Taking the leap

Do you already have an unpublished website or online portfolio? Are you hesitant to change the setting to ‘public’? Do you feel that it is incomplete? Are you unsure of where to start? It can be daunting to publish your work online. However, it is essential that you make an effort to do so as online portfolios are one of the most common ways that potential employers gain access to your work.

In order to break this process down and provide a manageable overview this article will address frequently asked questions about creating a good online presence.

Which platform should you choose?

The first step to creating your online portfolio is to select an online platform to host it. However, there are many available options making it difficult to decide which platform you should choose. This question isn’t only relevant for those who are just starting out. Even if

you have already started an online portfolio, you should ask yourself whether your chosen platform is really the most suitable one for showcasing your work.

Let’s examine some of the most popular options for establishing an online presence:

Website

Two of the most popular website hosting platforms are Wix and Wordpress.

Wix

One major advantage of using Wix is that it has a straightforward interface which is easy to use. This means that no HTML or coding experience is required, making it a great choice for those who are just starting out or those who are working in creative fields as opposed to technical fields.

Furthermore, Wix provides a free service for both the creation and hosting of your website – making it an attractive option for developers who are not yet established.

One drawback of Wix is that customisation is fairly limited as users are typically encouraged to select images for their website from a free media library.

Wordpress

Wordpress is another website publishing company which provides an alternative to Wix. Although the two are extremely similar in content, Wordpress is slightly more technical and has advanced customisation options. This is great for those who are already experienced in web design and want more creative freedom. However, this does mean that Wordpress is less beginner friendly than Wix.

I chose Wix to create my first website (which can be found here), as the simple interface made getting started less daunting.

YouTube

YouTube is an extremely popular free video hosting platform. YouTube is one of the best options for showcasing your creative achievements. Uploading videos to YouTube is an effective way to showcase actual gameplay, cutscenes, soundtracks, or short clips of the development process. These videos can even be embedded on your website (see my embedded video here).

Furthermore, publishing videos on YouTube is a great way to advertise your project for free.

Social media and networking platforms

Social media

Over the years social media has become an increasingly more popular option for showcasing professional projects. Popular social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, provide a free service which allows you to showcase your work to the general public. These platforms also provide a form of advertising as how users interact with posts can draw the attention of others.

Linkedin

Linkedin provides a free professional networking service. While Linkedin may not be as flashy as the above social media platforms, it provides an opportunity to create a more technical account of your portfolio. Potential employers and other developers are your main target audience on Linkedin, so be sure to keep things professional.

Ideally, both social media and networking platforms should be used in conjunction in order to target both public and professional audiences.(see my Linkedin here)

I’ve chosen my platforms, now what?

Once you’ve chosen a suitable platform you might be stuck and unsure on what kind of content you should upload to your online portfolio and how you should maintain your online presence.

Don't worry! Next we will talk about deciding just that.

Deciding on appropriate content

First, you’ll want to decide which pieces of work to include in your online portfolio. There are several important questions to consider when making this decision:

• Does this work showcase my technical skill?

• Does this work showcase my creative abilities?

• Is this work relevant to any of my current projects?

• Does this work showcase my development?

• Does the content capture attention?

It is important to be selective in the things which you include in your online portfolio so that potential employers can get a brief overview of your work. Think about this like having a CV, it needs to be kept brief and relevant.

Maintaining your online presence

Once you’ve established your online presence you’ll need to take steps to maintain it.

Maintaining your online portfolio

• Keep your portfolio updated - you may want to change things around on your online portfolio to showcase work which is most relevant to newer projects or which best reflects your current skill level.

• Write blog posts - this can be an effective way to update your website even if no substantial new changes to a project have occurred. This also gives your website a personal feel and helps to show the development process.

Maintaining social media presence

• Post regularly – it is suggested that posting between 5 to10 times a week is the optimal ideal. However, posting twice (or more) a day has been found to decrease engagement.

• Interact with relevant posts – it is important to interact with and support other developers who are working on projects in your industry. This is especially important in the game development industry where multifaceted teams are essential. Interacting with the posts of others can allow you to draw inspiration, gather attention, and find people that you might collaborate with in future.
  

• Community engagement – creating polls and asking questions is a great way to keep followers of your page invested in your work. This also helps to draw attention and doubles as a form of advertising. Furthermore, it allows for opportunities to collect valuable feedback from your supporters.

Useful video

Here's a video that I found very useful when I was starting out.

Concluding remarks

You should now have a basic understanding of what to expect and how to best tackle the process of creating an online presence. Just remember, the most important thing is to actively post, create, and share online – scrapping ideas and continually redrafting is just part of the process of developing!

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P.s Here's one of my favourite quotes!