Why casino-related SEO is more difficult
New online casinos are springing up all the time and for every online casino competing for new business, there are a hundred affiliate/review sites trying to earn their slice of the pie.
This creates a highly competitive industry in which everyone is competing with everyone else, and this is made more difficult by the fact that casino-related sites require very specific and detailed SEO.
In this guide we’ll look at some of the reasons why online casinos struggle when it comes to SEO.
Backlinks
In simple terms, a backlink is a link on one site that points to another. If you own Site A, then your goal is to get links on Site B, Site C, and so forth. That way, Google thinks, “If all these relevant sites are linking to Site A, it must be good, and we can rank it higher”.
In an ideal world, this would all happen naturally. People link to content they like, they reference content that is well-written, and they discuss companies that have given them good service. This is what Google wants.
However, Google devalues all gambling content and makes it work harder to get higher positions. This causes a couple of issues. On the one hand, no webmaster is going to organically link to content that will cause their rankings to drop. Secondly, when acquiring guest posts and backlinks, an SEO-expert doesn’t have the luxury of choice. They either have to pay a lot more for sponsored content or focus on lower quality sites.
A good SEO marketer will know the tricks of the trade, however, which is why it’s important to hire someone experienced within the casino niche.
Regulatory issues
The vast majority of webmasters hire cheap freelancers to complete their on-site content. This content is designed to improve Google rankings, not to be read, so they don’t care if it’s low quality. Online casinos have also been known to use this tactic, much to their detriment.
The problem is, not only is Google very adept at deciphering what is good content and what is simply regurgitated nonsense, there are also some regulatory issues to consider.
A random freelancer may not think twice about calling a casino “the best”, making derogatory comments about a competitor, or pushing readers to gamble more money, but if that casino operates in the UK/Sweden and that content makes it on their website, it could result in a substantial fine or ban.
The average freelance writer is not accustomed to the strict and sometimes strange rules imposed by regulators and this can create a nightmare scenario when compiling SEO plans.
Competition is fierce
The term “online casino” returns over 1 billion results on Google. If we look at one of the sector’s biggest review sites, there are close to 1,500 casinos listed, and they only focus on the cream of the crop.
This is a saturated industry and as a result it can be very difficult for a new casino to get noticed. Not only are new casinos going up against thousands of established brands, all competing for the same niche keywords, but they’re also facing off against some of the richest companies in the world.
It’s akin to walking into a stadium full of roaring fans and trying to make yourself heard by whispering.
Conclusion: Good SEO is still available
Despite all of the issues outlined above, good SEO still exists and it can still get you noticed. At Language Bear we hire skilled native writers to ensure the content reads like it was written by an expert.
Our focus on quality ensures that our clients can rely on us to become part of the top 5%, after which we just need a little time and a little more effort to help them become one of the highest ranked casinos online.
