Industry News

The untapped potential of SEO in iGaming

Published

3 weeks ago

May 8, 2024

George Miller

The untapped potential of SEO in iGaming

Reading Time: 4 minutes

With Filip Podborschi, SEO Strategist at The Unit

From our experience in SEO in igaming, there are a number of areas where we see room for improvement and common mistakes which can be rectified. Let’s take a look at these facets of SEO one by one, with our best tips for how to make sure you can maximise your search ranking and drive more volume to your website.

Keyword strategy

The first thing operators should do in this area is identify the best performing keywords that result in higher search volumes on each post. It’s pages that rank rather than websites, so you need a different search intent on each page, and that increases the list of keywords you’re ranking for.

The way to do this is by checking the search volume, and then implementing the keywords according to SEO best practices, which means having primary and secondary keywords and adjusting repetition accordingly.

The common mistake we see here is that companies don’t go into enough depth when conducting competitive analysis; especially when they’re new to the industry. Identifying what exactly your competitors are doing regarding SEO is harder than it looks, and it’s an area where marketing agencies tend to be quite lazy. They may use some tools which will show the standout competitors by algorithm, but they won’t crawl for long enough to ascertain what services they offer and provide a comparison with their client’s service. You need to find out which sites could be ranking better than you, and why.

We also see issues with the ranking of sites based on the user’s location. For example, you may have a website that ranks well in Canada, and when I as a user based in Romania search for that category, I’m not going to get the same list of results as a user who is based in Canada. The best thing to do is use a VPN to gauge how your websites are ranking and performing with your specific audience in your domestic geographical area.

SEO tags optimisation

With SEO tags, which are essentially the page title and description you see on the search engine results page, the page title has the highest ranking power. Google will first check the page title to get an idea of what the page is about and what searches it is relevant for. It will then check the H1 and the content, and it may look through the H2 as well.

A common issue here is some websites have templated SEO tags, especially for the inner pages, so it’s more of a formula within the code to generate a random structure. It is very obvious they are templated and that the operator doesn’t really care about the length.

The key thing with tags is to make sure your pages have titles that don’t exceed the ideal length. This is a big mistake if you get this wrong, and it is very important to optimise your titles. SEO tags can be optimised around keywords. Once doing so, it is very important to prioritise your main pages. If you have 10 pages as part of the main menu, then you should optimise those, before optimising the inner pages.

Identifying duplicate pages is also important, as well as making sure meta inscriptions include CTAs; those inscriptions don’t impact rankings directly, but they do impact the CTR. You have to do that without being too spammy though, so it’s advisable to avoid words like ‘sale’ or calls to “CLICK HERE NOW”.

Headings

Keywords must be implemented in headings; especially in H1s and H2s. Make sure not to overuse H2s and keep them optimised for content value.

If we structure the ranking power of the elements that are bringing results, we would optimise with the page title first, H1 second, content third and H2s fourth. It is better to have five H2s with three of them being optimised around the same search intent that is highlighted in H1, than it is to have 3/10 optimised around keywords. Too many H2s will just confuse Google about your search intent. You can have similar search intent as with H1s, and also have H3s and H4s to highlight value to the reader.

Interlinking strategy

Interlinking between pages is often missing. I’m not talking about interlinking from the main menu, as every page has the ability for you to go back, but I’m talking about interlinking within content, which Google considers to be much more important, because it cares about the relevancy. Google will consider pages with high-quality content as a higher authority page.

Our advice would be to implement anchor links on both branded and non-branded keywords. You should make sure there is an anchor link to the parent page. For example, domain.com/blog is a parent for domain.com/blog/igaming-seo.

It’s very important to have child pages linking to the parent page, passing authority to the parent page. Having that interlinked structure will pass more authority to that parent page.

To explain that in a little more detail, let’s say you have a sportsbook page with 10 more child pages that reflect a particular set of sports. Having each of those 10 pages optimised so they have some authority and linking them to the parent page would pass authority to that parent page. Parent pages usually have a keyword with higher search volume, and passing as much authority as you can to the child page is very important. Too often websites lack content on child pages.

The future of SEO and experience needed

Going forward, we see AI as one of the most significant developments in SEO. At this point, we are not able to rank user engagement in AI, and it is important to keep yourself updated with how Google is reacting to this.

Google in time may provide additional options if you want to be eligible for a particular set of results in that environment. Keep an eye on what features it will offer and the types of websites. Google may consider implementing specific types of results for betting, such as displaying odds or a comparison of odds from three or four sites at the same time.

With all these issues, it is vital to have the relevant experience on board, particularly when it comes to the skill of conducting very in-depth competitor analysis, and this is something The Unit can provide. Conducting competitor analysis is something we have done across several industries, and not just in igaming. The main strength you can have with SEO is to know your competitors inside out, and those skills can be adjusted based on your needs.

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Industry News

Synot Attended Casino Operations Summit in Amsterdam

Published

14 hours ago

May 29, 2024

Niji Narayan

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The European gathering of casino operators, known as the Casino Operations Summit, attracted numerous representatives of the gaming industry to Amsterdam from 23 to 25 April. Among the significant participants was also the SYNOT Group, which attended the prestigious event as a Platinum Sponsor this year.

The Casino Operations Summit is considered as one of the most significant events in the world of the gaming industry, specifically tailored for European multi-channel casino operators (both land-based and online). The event presents the latest approaches to casino operations, as well as new trends in products, technology, marketing and customer services. The Summit also included a variety of presentations on current topics in the land-based and online business. The main theme of the three-day conference was “Think Different”.

“SYNOT Group participated in the Casino Summit Operations for the third time and we were delighted to become a Platinum Sponsor of the event this year. Previously, we were involved in this event as a Golden Sponsor. We are proud to have played a role in supporting this prestigious Summit, which provides us with a unique opportunity to exchange insights and experiences with other leaders in the European casino industry. This event also gave us the chance to meet with business partners and establish many new contacts. There was a great interest in our products, which makes us very pleased and motivated for further expansion,” Miroslav Valenta Jr, Sales Director of the SYNOT Group, said.

The event is a unique platform providing an opportunity to discuss trends in the gaming industry. SYNOT Group, a leading player in the development and supply of gaming technology, presented the most advanced products and innovations as part of the Summit.

Among the products on display was the Magic Ball Link multi-game progressive jackpot system installed in the Eclipse FL-32 cabinets with LED jackpot display. The latest version of Magic Ball Link offers eight unique linked titles, including new games The Wild Job and 88 Pearls, which join popular titles such as Aztec Jaguar and Tiki Princess.

Furthermore, visitors had the opportunity to try out the premium VLT gaming system Super Link, which offers a selection of twenty captivating linked games, each with a Pay to Win and Linked Bonus feature. The Super Link system was presented in SYNOT’s most advanced cabinets, the UP2-32.

The latest model of cabinet with 27″ monitors, the UP1-27, which made its debut at the recent ICE exhibition in London, was also exhibited in Amsterdam. The cabinet was exhibited together with the Firebird Red and Firebird Blue gaming systems, which offer six unique Hold & Respin game titles in addition to popular classic games.

Industry News

Endorphina partners with the established StarVegas!

Published

1 day ago

May 28, 2024

Peter Tolan

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The leading slot provider, Endorphina, has just announced its new partnership with the renowned StarVegas go-live. Both Endorphina and StarVegas.it have been on the market for over 10 years, providing the iGaming world with a wide range of casino games catering to many different players. With this partnership, the companies strive to create a better gaming experience for players worldwide.

Recognized for its approach to game development, Endorphina continues to strengthen its position in the iGaming market. Endorphina implemented a few new features the previous year, including Jackpot RTP+ and Bonus Pop. Furthermore, the company began experimenting with AI, which resulted in the creation of Joker Ra. In 2023, Endorphina managed to increase its total spins by 31%.

“Working closely with each operator is important for our growth to expand our number of partners in the region. Therefore, it brings us great pleasure to have our games added to StarVegas.it after a smooth collaboration that we know it will resonate in the perfect way for their customer base as we attract new players looking for fresh and quality content.” – Zdenek Llosa, Senior Partnership Manager at Endorphina.

“I’m extremely proud of this new important go-live on Starvegas. Being partners with AdmiralBet and StarVegas allows us to increase our brand awareness and is a significant step forward for our growth in the Italian market. I personally want to express my gratitude and satisfaction to Paolo Marchi, Marco Bassignano, our technical partner Tuko, and all the others who supported us in launching such an important new collaboration.” – Luca Richter, Business Development Manager at Endorphina.

StarVegas.it is a well-established online casino platform offering a diverse choice of attention-grabbing casino games to many iGaming enthusiasts. The company is distinguished for its exclusive promotions, good customer service, and constantly fresh assortment of games.

“We are very happy to announce the launch of Endorphina on Starvegas. After the release of the games on AdmiralBet a few weeks ago, we are delighted with the expansion of our partnership. We are confident that we can achieve important goals together and strengthen our collaboration with a brand that is increasingly growing in the Italian market.” – Paolo Marchi, Brand Manager StarVegas and AdmiralBet.

Industry News

Clarion Gaming and ExCeL London plan for the migration of iGB L!VE 2025 to the heart of igaming

Published

5 days ago

May 24, 2024

Peter Tolan

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Clarion Gaming is advancing preparations for the migration of iGB L!VE to London in July 2025 establishing a roadmap of activities in partnership with the senior team at ExCeL London which will host the leading global event.

The latest meeting between the two organisations featured:

iGB L!VE Portfolio Director Naomi Barton,
Clarion Gaming Managing Director Stuart Hunter,
Head of Operations Richard Logan and
Head of Marketing Jody Frost with the senior team from ExCeL led by the venue’s
Chief Commercial Officer Simon Mills.

Expanding on the meeting Naomi Barton said: “This was the second senior level planning meeting that we have held with our colleagues at ExCeL London in order to move the home of the igaming community to a city which is the heart of the igaming industry in a country which is igaming’s largest market.

“The roadmap is being created in order to anticipate industry needs, address pain points and to exceed the expectations of customers. The migration of what is already a top performing Tier One igaming event is set against the backdrop of iGB L!VE’s 5-year growth plan which is focused on delivering 35,000 visitors and over 550 exhibitors and sponsors by 2029.

“Our vision is to harness the tremendous momentum created by the iGB L!VE brand and to take the event to a whole new level in a new venue, and a new exceptionally well-connected global home in the city of London.

“ExCeL London has a fantastic track record of helping events to fulfil their potential, and all of the building blocks are in place for iGB L!VE and its customers to accelerate their businesses to new heights in London.

She added: “Placing our customers at the heart of everything that we do is central plank to the iGB L!VE growth strategy, and the roadmap for 2025 is underpinned by a clear customer-focused programme that will ensure maximum cost-effectiveness as well as global growth for all of our stakeholders.

“We will be using July’s edition of iGB L!VE not only to reflect and celebrate our time in Amsterdam and say thank you to our fantastic partners for many years RAI Amsterdam, but also enable our vendors and customers to secure their presence at ExCeL London in 2025.”