If you owned an online casino then the chances are you have made a considerable investment. To design, build and launch a website including gaming licences could cost $1 million quite easily. Then there are the monthly marketing fees. Perhaps for a start-up you may pay up to $50,000 each month and a bigger company even more to stay competitive and in the public eye.
Therefore it stands to reason that you want to make a profit and to do that you need to have people using your site and gambling on it. That means you need to drive traffic there.
Everyone wants their site to be number one on Google and businesses invest vast amounts of money and time into improving their keywords and phrases, online presence through advertising and social media.
Using SEO In Online Casinos
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) can help your position in Google rankings grow. This is something that needs constant maintenance and is a long term strategy but an effective one at that.
What is important about getting the SEO correct is that casinos are a specialised business. No one is going to look at your website by accident. If someone visits then you know they are there to potentially sign up or login to gamble. That is why it is so important to be visible in the Google rankings and searches. You want to be the online casino that the internet user spots when he or she is looking to spend some time gaming.
Your SEO will need to target potential users geographically. Just because you are online it doesn’t mean you should target every country. There are plenty of countries and even states that do not allow online gambling. So you should select which regions you wish to target and then your SEO agency will look at keywords accordingly that will be commonly searched for. Sites go up and down depending on the accuracy of your content. If you have irrelevant content and visitors disappear quickly after arriving then you can find yourself dropping down the rankings.
Basic SEO Strategies For Online Casinos
SEO for casinos will follow familiar ground to other websites in that some important areas are always;
1) keywords,
2) regular updated content and
3) complete optimisation of the website.
Keywords And Phrases
It is absolutely vital to understand which keywords will bring traffic to your website. You will have to do research or at least your SEO expert will. You should try and use keywords naturally so you do not get penalised for trying to repeatedly cram keywords into your content. You should also review and renew keywords and phrases periodically. Everyone is trying to get their site ahead and there are constant changes in the words that will see your site rise up or fall. Tricks from a year ago may not work this year so constant attention is needed.
Regular New Content
You want to entice new people to visit your website and keep older guests returning. So you want to keep your content fresh and relevant. This has benefits because if you add new content then Google takes a new look at it.
Things to consider adding are latest news or blogs (perhaps interesting developments in the gaming world). Maybe you are launching a new game soon or a jackpot has rolled over or been won. If you are hosting a gaming event then write about it and post on your website, making sure to include relevant keywords.
Videos or infomercials could be placed as long as the content is interesting and relevant. Perhaps you can hold an interview with a famous poker player. Just be sure to make the content new and not repeated from past articles or posts. Quality over quantity is the key here. Hire professional video editors and a camera operator to make your content. Adding high quality content is what you need to achieve your SEO goals.
Proper Optimisation Of The Casino Website
Your website maybe ready but it isn’t just about having a live casino. You need to have one that is optimised in every way. Analyse each and every page on your website to make sure everything is relevant and everything is aimed towards those all important Google queries. Check photos and graphics for relevance and optimise if necessary. See if the pages load slowly or fast. Are visitors staying or are there some pages that have a high bounce rate?
You will need to make sure the website is optimized for tablets and smartphones. More and more people are gaming with their phones. The convenience of always having a smartphone to hand is a major factor in people gaming online instead of visiting a traditional casino.
Google And Other Online Reviews
This can be a very important part of your SEO strategy. Overlook this area at your peril. These days everything seems to get reviewed. There are sites like Yelp to review restaurants and other businesses then online sellers such as Amazon will have reviews for products and Google has their area that pops up when you do a search for something relevant.
If anyone searches for your casino website and sees poor reviews they will scroll straight past you. Keep an eye on all feedback and use it to your advantage. Show any relevant testimonials on your site. If you have someone in charge of social media then get them to respond to reviews both negative and positive ones. You can turn a negative review into something more positive by professionally addressing the issue.
SEO Agencies And Experts
It is vital that you hire the right people. A good agency will create your SEO strategy with your site and requirements in mind. You need a custom strategy and plan developed just for you. Don’t be tempted to try and shortcut this vital area. You could have the most beautiful online casino on the internet but unless it is optimised and maintained properly you won’t receive visitors and you won’t make a profit.
Well now you have the main areas that can be improved upon. Keywords, content and updates, optimisation and reviews along with a strong SEO strategy and maintenance by a dedicated team.