Getting traffic

[askoruli]

Ok, i've got my applet up on my website and ready for people to play. Problem is I can't seem to get any traffic. I've tried topsites, forums,directories and submitted my game to a few games sites but nothing seems to get me more than a few hits.
Search engines aren't really an option because i'll never get a high rank on common keywords.
I tried digg, but unless you get a whole bunch of hits in the first hour, you're on page 2 and that's the end of that.
Now i'm pretty much out of ideas. I don't expect my game to be the next big thing but so far all I have managed to do is get my friends to play the game.

Does anyone know good ways to get some traffic flowing, or places to submit java games?
I don't really want to spend money advertising because with only 1 game on my site I think it would be wasted.

[noblemaster]

Get the book - http://www.indiegameguide.com/

[keldon85]

Get your friends to play it, and flash "show me to your friends" on the title screen or something. Word of mouth is the strongest form of advertisement for games IMO

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[fletchergames]

I don't think anyone who sees some "show me to your friends" text on a website will actually show it to their friends as a result.  If they show it to their friends it will be because they like it, not because the website told them to.

[Riven]

Time for subliminal messages? Requires decent framerates and a text-renderer

[keldon85]

Subliminal messaging is powerful!

[fletchergames]

Maybe you should try submitting your game to more than a "few" games sites.

Also, you would probably get more traffic if you had more games on your site.

Of course, I'm just guessing here since I don't get much traffic at my site either.  And alot of my site's traffic is to the links page because people look up some of the things I link to.

[brackeen]

What game sites did you submit to? We should start a list.

[g666]

you could start by posting it in this thread.

[fletchergames]

Here's a link to a list I used the other day when submitting to sites: http://gpwiki.org/index.php/Game_Submission_Sites

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[askoruli]

Maybe you should try submitting your game to more than a "few" games sites.

I haven't been submitting like crazy to games sites that require the game to be reviewed by staff fbecause I want some feedback first, I don't want to send it to 50 sites for them all to tell me the same thing. So far I haven't gotten any but it's only been a week.

Also, you would probably get more traffic if you had more games on your site.

Working on that too.

Here's a link to a list I used the other day when submitting to sites: http://gpwiki.org/index.php/Game_Submission_Sites

I had a look at that list but it's mostly for downloadable games, not applets.

So far i've submitted to

http://www.millionsofgames.com/
http://www.andkon.com
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com

1 or 2 others that I can't remember right now. Most websites don't seem to be interested in java applets.

[brackeen]

A couple web game sites:
www.heavygames.com
www.jayisgames.com

Also:
www.i-am-bored.com
www.milkandcookies.com

[askoruli]

Ok. I've submitted to every site that was suggested and here are my results so far:

www.i-am-bored.com and www.jayisgames.com I haven't heard a thing from. Either they haven't gotten to my submission yet or have rejected it.
www.heavygames.com has a 20 day wait, but i'm confident i'll get on the site and get some decent traffic.
www.milkandcookies.com has sent about 100 people to my site, but after a day my link was deleted so that's all from that.
http://www.millionsofgames.com/ has sent me about 20 people.
The topsites I have submitted to usually send me an average of a person a day.
User moderated sites (digg,reddit) have sent me about 10 hits each, it's worth posting links there but unless you have something that stands out it's probably not going anywhere.

Interestingly enough i'm getting the most hits from http://www.ollo.net/. over 200 so far and i'm still on the front page. I didn't submit my game there so they must have just seen it somewhere else and liked it. I guess that's what you have to hope for in the end, it takes a lot of time looking for ways to drive traffic and it's much easier when someone does it for you,

Thanks for the advice and I hope what i've learned helps someone.

[ddyer]

I've been working this topic for a long time.   No matter where you get the traffic
from, very little of it will stick.     Batten down the hatches for a long struggle.  The
most helpful things are high quality links from relevant sites, and having insanely
great, addictive content.

[Markus_Persson]

This is what google analytics says about the two last months for my Infinite Mario Bros (warning: music!) game:


(Click the image for full size)

It's by FAR the most popular site on mojang.com, and I haven't submitted it anywhere other than to link to it here and mentioning it to friends.
Lesson learned: Steal art. :-(

[keldon85]

Well it does say a lot about the popularity of clones, and known characters. I'm surprised you haven't had a C&D notice yet, having said that they tend to shut down trademark violating games a lot quicker when it's on one of their own platforms!