We often encounter two of the most frequently asked questions by prospective clients: "How can I make my online casino competitive?" and "When will my casino start generating profits?". Promoting a newly-launched online casino is an arduous task.
Conventional channels such as print, television, or radio advertisements for online gambling marketing are often prohibited in many countries, either completely or unless you possess a local gambling licence, which can be a cumbersome and uneconomical process.
Although other promotional delivery methods exist, such as Facebook or pay-per-click advertising (PPC) on Google, this leads to another well-known issue: social media traffic frequently results in less focused visitors, while PPC not only comes with several restrictions and complications but can also prove to be exceedingly costly.
This can prove to be a daunting task for a fledgling iGaming website with a limited budget.
ENTER SEO
In such cases, a more stable method is required to promote online casino games, and search engine optimization (SEO) often serves as a viable solution in the casino marketing strategy.
SEO is responsible for the organic growth of your position in the search engine ranks but is also one of the most complex and long-term strategies available.
By promoting your website on search engines, you work towards increasing traffic and attracting players to the casino. The crucial aspect is that SEO brings relevant traffic, as it attracts only the intended audience, namely those who are prepared to start playing.
Tip: Consider your promotional strategy even before investing in an iGaming venture. It's worth noting that brick-and-mortar casino experience or non-gambling marketing skills may not be very helpful in this situation. Consult with an expert to elucidate the specifics of online gambling promotion.
Online casino SEO begins with geographic targeting. It is essential to accurately define the countries or regions where your site will be promoted. Afterwards, SEO experts will scrutinize the demand in the region and generate a semantic nucleus consisting of the most commonly used keywords in search queries.
Search engines are constantly searching for more effective ranking algorithms that provide searchers with as much pertinent information as possible. Websites' positions in the rankings fluctuate depending on their content accuracy and even the searcher's demeanour.
Suppose someone searches for a casino with Evolution Gaming slots, clicks on the link, but exits after briefly scanning through the first page. Google takes note of this and, if the scenario repeats often, the position descends as it becomes less relevant to what people are searching for.
This is a mere fraction of the greater panorama. Presently, Google has more than 200 parameters at its disposal to assess a website and rate it accordingly.
Moreover, search behemoths are expending a significant amount of resources on neural networks and machine learning, signifying the advent of numerous additional parameters and heuristic principles.
Many conventional SEO techniques that may have been efficacious five years ago are losing effectiveness today, and the velocity of such a metamorphosis will only intensify.
To maximise your traffic from SEO, it is crucial to have an appealing design, user-friendly navigation, and pertinent content.
Despite the above, the fundamental tenets of website optimization remain unchanged. The optimization process starts with improving the website's HTML code, refining the content in accordance with the defined core, and supplementing the website with new pages.
Subsequently, link building takes place - an array of tactics that enhance the calibre and quantity of inbound links to your website.
THE PART OF AFFILIATES
Link building is relatively uncomplicated for any ordinary website, but when it comes to iGaming, it becomes more challenging.
The nature of online gambling sites is geared toward adults, and societal attitudes towards this form of entertainment are changeable.
Consequently, the pool of prospective resources that are willing to collaborate is restricted to those that are closely affiliated with this industry.
As a result, new entrants face a situation where the number of affiliate sites is limited, yet such sites are highly pertinent and capable of redirecting quality traffic to the casino.
It is important to keep in mind that the resources that are affiliated with your website do not come for free.
As a result of high demand for their services, the associated expenses can be quite exorbitant. Additionally, it is imperative that the affiliate website complies with Google algorithms and maintains a reasonable ratio of ads-to-content to reach higher positions.
Therefore, it is highly recommended that you collaborate with reputable affiliates because the internet is full of low-quality resources that gather their own traffic from link farms. Associating with these types of partners will cause more harm than good.
Nevertheless, affiliate marketing is the most effective approach for attracting substantial amounts of quality traffic in a short period of time. It should be discussed separately from the general SEO strategy, and we have covered affiliate marketing for online casinos in another article.
Keep in mind that affiliate partners are interested in quality content on their websites as well, so sharing information or blogging on their resources can bring extra benefits, in addition to those brought by banners or direct links.
CLOSING REMARKS
It is essential to understand that the SEO effect is not immediate and is greatly influenced by the number of competitors in the targeted market, how actively they engage in SEO, and the domain names chosen for your online casino.
Typically, it takes about 4-6 months to see noticeable results. Rushing with SEO at any cost is not always safe and can have the opposite effect of downgrading or banning the website by search engines.
The reason for this is simple: search engines' top priority is to provide the most precise results. When they suspect someone of manipulating their algorithms to move up the ranks, the punishment is severe.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance that your SEO strategy is correctly set up with a long-term focus, and led by professionals.
One of the undeniable benefits conferred by search engine optimization (SEO) is its complete transparency and accountability.
The process commences with an initial estimation of the intended traffic and culminates with monthly reports on the attained position and traffic.
This, in turn, provides a lucid picture of the work done and the funds expended.
In view of the numerous intricacies, potentials, and clandestine hazards inherent in online casino SEO, it behoves one to enlist the services of a dependable partner who is adept at the job and can handle the entire gamut of SEO - from targeting to website HTML-code and content optimization to link building.
Although SEO, as a procedure, does not guarantee definite profit, it undoubtedly augments the popularity and competitiveness of your website.
Looking for a casino affiliate website for sale? There are different marketplaces where you can list it or better yet use a business broker.
0 Comments