iGaming SEO - Casino & Betting Gambling Sites
As a team with 360° experience in iGaming, we provide integrated strategies and solutions to enhance the online presence of our clients. Our SEO services are adapted to complement marketing efforts and help boost branding, traffic & conversions.
We provide fully customised SEO services that match the specific requirements of operator or affiliate websites in different stages of their business cycles.
iGaming SEO - Casino & Betting Gambling Sites
iGaming SEO is one of the most competitive niches but equally rewarding and fun. Casinos, bookies, and affiliate websites are fighting for the top positions in the search results. The battle is close and only the best make it to the top of the SERP. The latest Google updates make it even more complex, and the need to quickly adapt and keep up the pace is as crucial as ever. As with many other competitive niches, the best time to start was yesterday. The next best time is now, so let’s see how you can work on SEO for gambling sites and make the most out of this valuable marketing channel.
Gambling SEO particularities
SEO for gambling sites is a daily challenge. You must constantly tackle the ever-growing keyword lists, content-related updates, restrictive backlinking opportunities, and complex technical work. Add compliance requirements, conversion optimisation, and the need to align with other marketing departments, and you’re in for a one-of-a-kind ride.
The general keywords are crazy competitive, making it very hard to outrank the big guys in the industry as a newbie. The key is to adapt the efforts to the type of gambling website (affiliate or operator) and build up starting from keywords that are more accessible.
SEO for affiliate gambling sites
Starting from the keywords level, matching the specific searches to user intent is crucial. iGaming affiliate SEO sites help players find all the information they need to gamble and display it on the best-matching pages. These websites are usually content-heavy and have a bigger pool of keywords to target – e.g. branded, vertical-specific, promo-specific, game-specific, sports-specific. This means the backlink needs will also increase and the technical and UX aspects will be adjusted to help provide the best user experience.
SEO for operators with casino sites
SEO for casino sites has a strong focus on covering the different areas of the product and protecting the brand. Operators deal with thousands of pages and complex technical setups, almost opening a secondary mini-niche. Technical SEO plays a crucial role, and close work with the developers is the backbone. Setting priorities and aligning SEO efforts with other channels and affiliate work is essential.
SEO for operators with betting sites
SEO for betting sites is just as complex, with events and betting markets updating all the time. Deciding which pages to index, optimising the crawling budget, and expanding the keyword range are important focus areas. Alignment with the development team is again a top-priority.
Niche-specific content for iGaming
As mentioned before, iGaming is a content-heavy niche. “Content is king” couldn’t be more on point for this industry. With the competition being so high and Google constantly raising quality standards, you need to make sure you deliver the best content to get a chance at a slice of the SERP pie. Experience in the niche is super important. While common sense applies and the basic rules of SEO are the same, there are nuances that only someone who has worked on gambling websites will understand and be able to expand on. There’s also the slang that you either know or don’t.
Let’s dive into some examples of niche-specific content for different verticals!
Casino SEO content
The casino vertical opens some of the most profitable ranking opportunities. Searches related to casino lobbies, slots, game descriptions, jackpots, casino-related bonuses, and in-depth reviews can generate good traffic and conversions when applying the right strategies. A writer with experience will know what games, features, and details are of more interest to players. A casino content writer will also cover all the slang and be able to provide relevant insights when it comes to new games and mechanics. Hands-on experience with casino products will always stand out in front of generic descriptions that can be found everywhere.
Sports betting SEO content
When it comes to sports betting content, we can talk about betting guides, betting markets, coverage of major competitions, betting tips and analysis, news, and sports betting bonuses. Websites compete to provide the most relevant content players need to start and embellish their betting experience. Expert writers will make a difference when writing tips, analyses, and guides. Sports betting content requires a solid editorial plan that mixes coverage for all major events with evergreen educational content.
eSports SEO content
eSports are getting more and more popular. With a massive fan base and tournaments with top-tier prizes, it’s no surprise eSports betting is continuously expanding too. Content for this vertical includes video game descriptions, betting guides, major competition coverage, betting tips, and analysis, etc.
Promotional content
Perhaps the most competitive keywords are the ones related to bonuses and promotions. Pages related to welcome bonuses and post-registration offers can generate new sign-ups and FTDs. Matching keywords with the right pages and conversion funnels will make the difference between a successful website and a website leaving the goldpot to competitors. Good alignment with CRM, PPC, and social media can help optimise the success of your efforts.
iGaming SEO steps to rank
Wondering how the SEO magic works? Here’s an overview of the process behind ranking for iGaming keywords.
Keyword Research
Regardless of the SEO niche, keyword research is the core task. For iGaming websites, this implies checking how users search for different brands, games, products, and services while assessing the keywords’ conversion potential and their position in the conversion funnel.
iGaming is a volatile niche, so search volumes and keyword popularity will fluctuate a lot according to the time of year, visibility on other channels, promotions running, or special events (e.g. World Cup, Cheltenham, Olympics, etc).
When starting from scratch, it’s good to look for keywords with low competition. These keywords might have lower search volumes but will also be more accessible. The shorter and more generic the keywords, the higher the competition. On the other side, long-tail keywords will have lower competition.
Competitor Analysis
Competitor analysis gets to a whole new level in iGaming. For each category of keywords, you will notice particular patterns and trends in the SERP. Users tend to get accustomed to content delivered in a specific way, so it’s important to keep an eye on the industry-specific baselines. The key is to try to keep things familiar while standing out with quality.
It’s useful to analyse batches of competitors for your priority keywords and keep an eye on their activity. You can find valuable information, such as keyword ideas, new link-building opportunities, and website features.
When doing competitor analysis, choose websites that you can realistically compete with. You won’t be able to outrank the biggest brands in the industry.
On-Page Optimisation
Once you have a list of keywords you want to target, you can plan the content to implement them. Think about user intent and how your content can best answer a player’s needs.
On-page optimisation means using the keywords in key-places of the content and the page. A few years back, this meant to use the keywords many times. The Google algorithm evolved a lot in the meantime, and now this practice is considered old-school and spammy. Google can understand topics and make semantic associations, meaning it no longer searches for exact-match mentions of keywords in the text. It is better to use the keywords naturally and include synonyms and references that will help both the users and the crawlers understand the topic fully. Avoid keyword stuffing, as it can even get your website penalised.
Content should be original, helpful, and on-point. The recent Google update hit poorly written AI content, proving that quality and relevance are more important than ever. Google included E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) in its guidelines, suggesting that content should always be accurate and coming from real interactions with brands and their products.
Off-Page Optimisation
Off-page optimisation or link building plays a huge role in iGaming SEO. If you work in online gambling, you might have heard about backlinks already. Chances are, you are bombarded with link-building-related offers on your social media pages too. That’s because backlinks are a crucial part of any iGaming SEO strategy. But simply because you can find them everywhere, doesn’t mean they are all good. Most backlinks offers you’ll receive are stuck in the ancient ages of SEO, being extremely spammy and causing more harm than good.
iGaming backlinks need a laser-focused strategy to make sure you actually add value to your website. You’ll need to select high-quality domains and focus on natural placements and anchors. Link building for gambling websites is more complex because fewer publications accept to associate with the niche. This makes it harder to find opportunities and also more expensive. But there are still solutions. Guest posting and digital PR are two great ways of getting good links.
Technical SEO for iGaming websites
Technical SEO is the part of SEO that makes sure Google bots can access, understand, and index your website. Depending on whether you’re working on an affiliate or operator site, specific challenges will be related to crawling budget, page speed, rendering, and indexing. Each website is different, and the best solution for one brand won’t necessarily work for another. Technical SEO is all about analysing a website setup, its reasoning, and the best ways to tackle any issues with the available resources. The technical SEO tasks can also include support for migrations, expansion to other geos, and more.
SEO Audits for the gambling industry
SEO audits are a popular service for gambling sites. They are usually the first step when assessing a project. The SEO audit is an in-depth analysis of the current status of a website, delivered together with solutions and recommendations in a roadmap.
iGaming SEO audits cover multiple aspects related to the organic performance of a website and can also include potential touchpoints with other marketing channels.
What is included in a gambling SEO audit?
A gambling SEO audit is split into the main areas of focus for SEO, covering aspects such as technical (indexing status, crawling budget, page speed, website structure, internal linking, etc), on-page optimisation, keyword research for ranking opportunities, competitor analysis, content gaps, backlink gaps. The audit should always include solutions, guidelines, examples, and documentation. While general audits are very popular, the analysis can also focus on specific aspects, such as preparing migrations, post-migration status, traffic drop after algorithm change, E-E-A-T, website structure, etc.
How to work with an iGaming SEO agency
At iGaming Affiliates, we can create strategies from scratch and do all the SEO work for our clients or work together with their internal teams to maximise the impact of the SEO channel. There is no set-into-stone approach, just like you won’t find two websites with the same issues.
Before contracting any iGaming SEO agency, it’s important to discuss internally your expectations from this channel or your specific project and sketch some goals. This way, your brief will be on point and the SEO agency will have a clear understanding of what you need. It would also help to have a budget in mind.
At the first discussion or call with the agency, you’ll go over a broad set of aspects, so that both sides can align. You’ll get to understand the agency’s approach, some initial ideas, and cost estimates too. Ask all the questions you might have to make sure you are on the same page and you will choose the best partner for your business. If not sent by default, it would be helpful to request a summary of the discussion in written format, so that you can get back to it and further address any questions internally or with the agency. There is no right or wrong question, so feel free to reach out as many times you need to fully understand what is required to reach your goals.
Following the first interaction, you will most likely receive a detailed proposal from the iGaming SEO agency. From here, it will all be about finalising the details and placing your order. Your project will then start, and you will receive the deliverables and updates within the time specified in the contract. At iGaming Affiliates, we are open to adjusting to your communication preferences and needs.
Reach out today to set up an initial call to discuss your project!