A Newsletter for Your Games Section: Content, Consent and Consistency

Most visitors who find your games section once will not remember to come back. A newsletter fixes that: a short email with a few games, sent on a regular schedule. It is one of the few channels you fully control, unlike search rankings or social media reach. This post explains how to run a simple, honest newsletter for a games section.

A newsletter makes sense if:

• Your site already has some regular visitors.
• You can send an issue on a fixed schedule, such as weekly or every two weeks.
• You have something to say beyond a list of links: picks, short reviews, tips.

If your site already has a newsletter about its main topic, adding a short "game of the week" section to it is often better than starting a separate one.

Keep it short. Players read on phones, often in a spare minute. A structure that works:

1. One featured game with a picture, two or three sentences on why it is worth trying, and a link to your game page.
2. Two to four more picks, each with one line.
3. Something useful: a tip for a popular game, a link to a new guide, or a themed selection ("five games you can finish in a lunch break").
4. A short sign-off.

Link to your own game pages, not straight to embeds elsewhere. Your pages have your text, related games and your ads, and they help your site.

• Play them first. Recommending a game you never opened shows quickly.
• Mix devices. Note when a game is desktop only, so phone readers do not click and get disappointed.
• Use your data. Games that are popular on your site are safe picks. Add one less-known game each time for discovery.
• Match the season or theme of your site, when it fits.
• Check the game still exists in the feed right before sending. A link to a removed game is a bad first click.

• A simple signup box on game pages and at the end of guides: "One email a week with games worth playing."
• Say how often you send, and keep that promise.
• Use double opt-in (a confirmation email). It keeps your list clean and is expected or required in many places.
• Ask only for an email address. Names and birthdays are rarely needed.
• Do not add people who did not sign up, and do not buy lists.

Game sites attract young visitors. Rules about collecting personal data from children, such as COPPA in the United States and the GDPR in the EU, can apply to email signups. If many of your visitors are children, consider not running a signup form at all, or aiming the newsletter clearly at adults and parents. When unsure, get advice for your country.

Email marketing rules differ by country, but most share the same basics:

• Get clear consent before sending.
• Include a working unsubscribe link in every email, and act on it quickly.
• Identify who is sending, with a contact address.
• Mention the newsletter in your privacy policy: what you collect, which email service you use and how long you keep data.

Use an established newsletter or email service rather than sending from your own server. They handle unsubscribes, bounces and deliverability, and most have free tiers for small lists. Set up your domain's email authentication records (SPF, DKIM and DMARC) as the service explains, so your emails reach inboxes instead of spam folders.

• One column, readable on a phone.
• Game images small and compressed, with alt text, since many email apps block images by default.
• One clear link per game. Buttons are easier to tap than text links.
• No embedded games or scripts. Email clients do not run them.

The games are from the PlayKovo catalog, not yours. In the newsletter, describe them as games you picked, not games you made. If you use the game images, use them to show the game, as on your site.

Look at clicks per issue and per game, not only open rates. Open rates have become less reliable because some email apps load images automatically, which counts as an open. Clicks tell you which games and formats readers actually want. Use links with UTM parameters to see newsletter visits in your analytics.

The hardest part of a newsletter is consistency. Make it easy:

• Use the same template every time.
• Keep a running list of games you want to feature.
• Write the issue in one sitting, in under an hour.
• If you can't keep a weekly schedule, switch to every two weeks rather than skipping randomly.

• Clear promise: what you send and how often.
• Double opt-in, only an email address.
• Unsubscribe link and sender details in every issue.
• Privacy policy updated.
• Domain email authentication set up.
• Games played, checked in the feed and linked to your own pages.
• Clicks measured per game.

For other ways to keep a games section active, see the posts on the developers and partners blog.