Gambling is one of the most controversial industries, which attracts more and more gamers and game providers into its network of thrill, adrenaline, and money. The gripping nature of games becomes accessible for the users once the gaming platform makes its way to the top of the search list. Making a casino website visible is rather challenging, as there are numerous regulatory restrictions to deal with and the level of competition is one of the toughest. However, this problem may be resolved when using a casino link building strategy, which is the first-to-use tool when setting up a gambling business. What are the components of this strategy, how does it work, how to implement it? Let’s follow the guide to clarify all the points.
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What is casino link building?
Link building is a time-proven method of getting backlinks from external websites which direct to your online gambling site. Such backlink placement reaches new audiences, and thus, enhances search engine rankings, boosts referral and organic traffic, and improves brand recognition.
Backlinking is an essential technique to use when the casino website authority is under question, as it signals the search engine algorithms that it is credible, relevant, and authoritative.
How to acquire backlinks for casinos?
iGaming SEO link building for the casino industry differs from a conventional approach and requires more sophisticated techniques as the domain itself is taken suspiciously. Besides, Google algorithms are more demanding towards gambling, which makes the way to the top even more difficult. However, once overcoming the initial obstacles, backlinking will help to establish a sustainable level of authority and high ranking in search.
The types of links can be divided into a few types, depending on the type of payment and cooperation:
- Guest blogging – a type of backlink that is acquired by creating new content. Typically, the article is written on a certain topic, which includes a backlink to the gaming site, and then it is posted on the accepting website. As a result, the visibility of both websites is enhanced.
- Niche edit links – a simplified variant of guest blogging as the backlinks are added to already existing articles, without the need to create new content for every link.
- PR links, news links – online media include the backlinks into news articles or press releases.
- Link exchange – two or more websites agree on collaboration and mutual promotion.
- Private Blog Networks – a feasible, yet risky enterprise. PBN is a network of websites that is created specifically to link to the central website, increasing its visibility and authority in search. While really bringing the audience to the website, it is not the best option to consider, as it violates Google’s Webmaster Quality Guidelines, and can lead to the casino website being penalized, degrading all the previous work.
What are the high-quality backlinks?
Placing a backlink is just a part of the deal, its ‘workability’ is defined by a few important aspects – relevance to the content, value for the readers, and quality of the website.
The quality of the source for backlinking is defined by:
- Domain rating – the domain authority should score not less than 40-50.
- Linked/Referred domains ratio – the website should present value to the users, not just be the source for link promotion. The ratio of outbound and inbound links should not be more than two times.
- Traffic – the accepting website needs high traffic, which is at least 1000 visitors per month, with a more or less consistent flow of users, without drops.
- Website’s credibility – a good reputation is a scam-free reputation. The accepting website needs to implement spam filters and control user comments.
- Source of traffic – the accepting site should be getting consistent organic traffic, based on its authoritativeness and reputation.
What are the components of the Casino Link Building Strategy?
1. Competitor Research
Competitor research reveals what the other representative of the gambling industry do to reach the top of the search and attract users. It is recommended to analyze the performance of the five closest competitors, compare the data and use it for planning your strategy.
2. Planing the anchor distribution
Anchor distribution is a crucial aspect of search engine algorithms, however, its balance is equally important. The key is to create natural content with a diverse link profile, with a variety of anchor texts including long-tail phrases, branded and generic words, etc.
3. Plan the budget
Your budget will determine the number of links to distribute per month. It is important to understand, that the first few months will show gradual and slow development, it takes time to establish online recognition.
4. The team
If you are planning on creating an in-house link building team, you will need to create a new department including outreach managers, blog writers, editors, SEO specialists, and programmers.
Considering financial investments into a new team, it is worth delegating this job to professionals, as it will save you time and money.
How to choose a reliable contractor?
- Experience – hands-on experience is always valuable, but make sure the agency has casino-related link-building skills, as they are more specific.
- Team – the link building agency needs to have a settled team of professionals, where everyone knows the roles they are given. Avoid the one-person enterprises, where all the tasks are delegated to freelancers, as they rarely guarantee the results.
- Methods – the teams of professionals need to present the techniques they are to use when planning the strategy of your gambling platform development.
- Clear metrics – the team needs to present clear metrics regarding the quality of the link and its expected performance over a defined period of time.
The bottom line
The number of igaming websites grows every day, however, creating a gaming platform isn’t enough, as it takes time and effort to make it visible to users. Link building is a proven way to bring the gaming website to the top of the search by earning organing traffic and establishing website authority. If there the velocity of online promotion isn’t important, the whole link building strategy can be performed on one’s own. If time is crucial, it’s worth hiring the professional to not lose the right moment for growth and development.
