Which affiliate program should I join?

[moneysearch4u]

Hi,

I am new to gambling affiliate program. I got some few questions which I hope someone will be able to guide me.

1) Which is the best and most easily convert affiliate program should I join?

2) How many merchant or program does normally people promote in one page? I have about 5-10 program in one page, is it too much or is all right? You can see one of my web page at http://www.moneysearch4u.com/online-casino.php

3) My website is UK targeted site, should I focus on only UK traffic or worldwide include US?

[Webzcas]

Hi,

Welcome to the GPWA

1) Firstly do your research. There are some extremely good programs around as well as programs you should avoid like the plague. Also you need to look at it from a players perspective. Would you feel comfortable in playing at a casino that you are advertising to your sites visitors?

Off the top of my head I can recommend the following Microgaming Properties to promote. These are well branded, have a good strong and established reputation and are popular with players. They also have good affiliate reporting software.

32Red
Ladbrokes
Roxy Palace & Casino Splendido
Spin Palace, Ruby Fortune
Belle Rock - Gaming Club etc
Jackpot Factory -

Wager Logic Properties

InterCasino

RTG

Club World Casinos

There are several more, but you need to do your research.

2) It depends. If your page is an index section, then promoting several on the one page is fine and offers choice. Dedicated review pages, I tend to just feature the casino property being reviewed.

3) I would definately not just focus on the UK market. Worldwide is the best way to go. There is still a US market but the UIGEA and the restrictions caused by it and the uncertainty in the US ala Kentucky etc, is forcing many operators to pull out. However there are still a handful of good casinos still actively taking US Players.

[Deaddog]

I like Microgaming casinos so I mostly promote these. Also, I like good stats on my players and earnings, I think Casino Rewards is the best. Plus the code and banners are easy to grab.

[sipka]

As Webzcas said, do you research.
What will work for other affiliates won't work for you automatically, so always test the programs, give them some months to show their real value.

If you have researched a program from the affiliate and player point of view and you like it then don't forget to check out their Terms and Conditions (i.e. the contract between you and the program) on AffiliateGuardDog (http://www.affiliateguarddog.com). This service is run by affiliates and independent from programs and I'm sure you will find it very valuable.

As for focusing only on UK traffic: in my experience niche websites work best. If your website offers only UK casinos, then your conversion rate will be higher for your visitors who are looking for UK casinos. I think it is easier to get good search engine rank with non-generic keywords than with keywords like "online casino". You will get visitors sooner with specific "long-tail" keywords tailored for your niche and usually the ROI on these visitors is much higher.

Hope this helps

[RPM Poker]

my advice is to start with three brands. It can be overwhelming dealing with all the the different brands at once and three is a good number to ease your way into the industry

[AE-Martyn]

I would look to give the user a choice but you must look to offer information to the player reasons why they should play at the particular casino and what differentiates them to another casino. Review them dont just offer them a short review. In doing this you can also build up the content on your site which always helps with our buddy Google.

What I would also offer on the small review boxes is a Download or play now button to entice the player in, and once the reviews are done add a Read Review button.

Hope this helps and dont forget to check us out at www.redreturns.com

[Deaddog]

What I would also offer on the small review boxes is a Download or play now button to entice the player in, and once the reviews are done add a Read Review button.

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I've stopped using direct downloads for casino software on my website because of the yahoo dangerous downloads warning in the search results. You know " Warning: Dangerous Downloads" marked in red on the search results.

Anybody ever have their website fall victim to this and how did that affect visits?

[robertmedl]

my article "Seven Tips for Choosing an Online Gaming Affiliate Program" may be useful to you.

best of luck!

[TanyaEverest]

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I've stopped using direct downloads for casino software on my website because of the yahoo dangerous downloads warning in the search results. You know " Warning: Dangerous Downloads" marked in red on the search results.

Anybody ever have their website fall victim to this and how did that affect visits?

Hi Deaddog,

While I know that our software (Everest), does not create the Dangerous Download message through google, I think that you are correct in being somewhat wary about sending your traffic directly to the direct download screen. From my experience, affiliates can still advertise with a "download now!" option on their website, and still take players to the casino's homepage-which more often than not has a download button in place there. Sending people to the main screen adds another area of legitimacy to where you are sending your players, and they are able to look around, see more about the brand and then chose to download the software.

Tanya
Account Manager

[Renee]

my article "Seven Tips for Choosing an Online Gaming Affiliate Program" may be useful to you.

best of luck!

Not a bad article mate... only thing wrong with it is that your Rewards Affiliates link is incorrect :P
(just change the domain to www.rewardsaffiliates.com - you have our old domain there which no longer works)

I'm with everyone else above: do your research.. what converts for one affiliate might not convert for another, and the best way to test which is better for you is to rotate your ads. Maybe try a different brand in the top spot each month.. you'll soon figure out what type of properties your traffic is looking for and be able to go from there...

Good luck and I'm going to follow Martyn's lead here and ask you not to forget to check us out at Rewards Affiliates: www.RewardsAffiliates.com

Cheers

[LiveCasinoPartners]

my advice is to start with three brands. It can be overwhelming dealing with all the the different brands at once and three is a good number to ease your way into the industry

I agree. Start off with about three different programs. If afeter a while one of them or all of them do not convert then try others. One problem I had in the beginning was trying to covert too many programs accross too many nices (bingo, casino, poker, and sports). Needless to say I got no where fast and wasted a lot of effort. concentrate on a few programs that other members recomend and go from there.

[Chris-AffiliateClub]

As everyone has already pointed out, do your own research - it will pay off in the long run.

Go to various forums and search the potential programmes you are thinking of adding - you will find out if they pay their affiliates on time, how good their offers are, how they treat their affiliates and ultimately how they treat their players.

A good affiliate programme will normally mean that they treat their players in the same fashion.

Don't be put off by one bad comment etc, what is acceptable to you may not be acceptable to others and vice-versa.

Try and promote big brand names as they will carry some weight with players - its finding a good brand with a good affiliate programme that will help

Research is key but also trying various affiliate programmes will give you the best idea of how to position yourself going forward.