What advice would you give to new affiliates?

[casinocitymatt]

Its time for all the veteran webmasters and affiliate managers to help out newbies in the industry looking to make their mark in this business!

What advice would you give to new affiliates?

As usual, I would love to hear both from webmasters and affiliate managers. We got a great response from our “Where will we be in 2008?” and I hope to see even better results for this question. We can all learn from what our members think- this is a great time to share your thoughts!

A great example would be from Lloyd’s Affiliate Manager Interview Series:

“Focus on what you are good at and outsource the rest. Go for one country/languages at a time and systematically cover all major countries/languages. Start by focusing on the languages and cultures that you feel that they understand the best. But first, first, first, decide where and how you are going to get players before you start building websites. Get used to very little sleep and, of course, best of luck.”

[Carlo]

Its time for all the veteran webmasters and affiliate managers to help out newbies in the industry looking to make their mark in this business!

What advice would you give to new affiliates?

My advice:

Search Engine Marketing. Trying to make your website top of the Search Engines for key phrases like "Online Casino" is unrealistic. Either target smaller Search Engines or try to expand your target key phrases for example, instead of "online casino" how about "online casino playtech" has 20,800 listings in google as opposed to 1.53 million for "online casino".

Content based on search. Armed with the knowledge you have about the keywords, perhaps you should tailor your content towards these terms. Also, build links from websites that are in Google's database (see reciporical linking.)

Research your market. Want to become a top casino affiliate? Hang out on the GPWA board and ask questions and contribute. Follow other successful webmaster and look at the programs that they promote. Shamelessly I would be a bad affiliate manager if I didn't mention that you should all sign up at BetUS parters

I have many other tips but these are just a few basic ones that if you didn't know, well, you should have done but if you didn't well then, now you do!

[matted]

Heh, my advice right now would be to run away! Find another industry!

Best advice in general? Build a website - and instead of spending your time constantly changing little graphical things, add content and do SEO. I used to change colors, layout, etc nonstop... At the expense of content.

1. Learn what SEO is and how to do it. Find your niche. Build a functioning website with good SEO principles and something unique
2. Monitor traffic. Dont even think about conversion or income until you get over 100 visitors/day
3. Work on links, SEO, content until traffic starts coming in regularly

[cpays]

Hi,

I think the ones who post before me said already the main things and I don’t have lots of experience as a webmaster so I’ll stick with the affiliate program side.
Visit some affiliate programs sites and see what they have to offer. Talk to your colleagues and ask for their advice.
Choose the deal you want whether its revenue- share or CPA. They both have advantages and disadvantages (Big affiliates working with revenue-share).
Conceder that everything you read on forums is limited.
It’s a tough industry with tens of millions sites – Good luck.

Best regards,
Oren – CPays manager
manager [at] cpays.com
www.CPays.com

[Roxyaffiliates]

Hi

All of the posts here so far have been very relevant and will definitely stand you in good stead if you're starting out, and so I can only add the following to those points...

1. Read, read, read!!! As mentioned earlier, research is critical and this is an exceptionally multi-faceted industry, so get your hands on everything from SEO materials and promotional and marketing practices that work to information on the various Casinos you may like to promote and their affiliate programs (read all of the information posted on GPWA and other relevant forums and ask questions!)
2. Communicate: With both successful webmasters who will be able to share their experiences etc. and affiliate programs who should be able to offer sound advice on how best to promote their properties in each market.
3. Focus: You can't be all things to all people and you'll find that it's easier to get going with your site, provide relevant information and a targeted offering if you concentrate on a single direction initially. Thereafter you can branch out, targeting other countries and languages.
4. Put yourself in the mind of the user. Everything you do should be aimed at giving your visitors what they are looking for...so don't just produce a good looking site, also add relevant content that adds value, promote trustworthy casinos and offer anything that makes the users experience a positive one as this all ultimately helps with conversions.
5. Be both patient and tenacious. This is a tough and highly competitive industry that can often take some time to break into, so be prepared and never give up!

If you have any questions or would like to discuss starting out in this industry, please feel free to contact me.

All the best!

Nicole.

[Alida]

A few quick notes from our team

1.) Get to understand PPC advertising as this will guarantee you listings although you have to pay for it.

2.) Make SEO your 3 month study subject. Your whole existence should revolve around Search Engine Optimization because this helps you to understand how Google, Yahoo and MSN list your sites.

3.) Don't just be a marketer - Know HTML. Have total control over your sites.

4.) Build a site with great content that is relevant to your site and target market. Focus on different aspects of gambling – games section, software etc, never just use banners! Text links text links text links!

5.) Be in regular contact with your account manager - they are more than happy to help and have great knowledge and experience.

6.) BE PATIENT!!! If you do things right - it will pay off!

Good luck!
Alida

[wagerjunction]

What a fantastic series of answers -

I think that a lot has been covered here so i will add what i think has not been covered.

Do not be afraid to make use of the various tools out there on the market in your pursuit of a better optimized /relevant/ ranking site .

There are so many fantastic tools and webmasters who stay wedded to their tools eventually loose out . Change your tools around and use SEO forums and blogs to stay abreast of what is happening in the industry

Amongst the sites that i use these are 2 of my favourites :

http://www.seomoz.org/
http://searchenginewatch.com/

My favourite tool at the moment is very definitely the Google Webmaster Tools section . If you have a site these tools are must for you to use to ensure compatibility with Google at the very least.Sign Up for a Google account and use those babies - theyre Free -

Oh yeah - love and cherish your affiliate manager - they will love you in return

[helpyou]

hello I am not veterane and I'd know the best form of payment.

For now I am interested to ecocard . is there some affilaitions that pay with ecocard ?

( One advice : How to have one new afiliate webmaster ? you help me : ex. https://www.gpwa.org/forum/affilaition-169916.html ).

[Marcela]

Make the most out of the affiliate program you are working with!

For example:

• If you need custom made banners. Request them!
• Ask for content for your site!
• If you are promoting poker sites... Have private tourneys for your site!
• Request for merchandise (Shirts, caps, etc.) for your prizes!

There are a lot of things that the Affiliate Managers can help you with...

This is a great business! Good luck!!!

[bb1web]

Hi all,

sorry to sound pessimistic but if it were a friend or relative .... I'd tell them the same thing matted said.

Find another market. While its true this is a lucrative industry ...... things are just so unguessable right now ..... the new ruling in Europe is however the best news to come along in some time. But it remains to be seen what kind of real impact it will have.

Now if I were talking to someone fluent in some of the other languages from countries still not outlawing or trying to outlaw OG ... my advice might be different.

But for myself ... I can't even seem to learn SEO in english ... I can imagine how tough it would be to do it in a second language or one you didn't know at all and my guess is if you're going to dive into the waters .. that is probably the best bet at this time. To my (admittedly unknowledgeable) understanding ... not only is there a better chance of getting players in a position to be able to deposit/play for real money ... but also the competition is less than trying to rank for english lang terms. (perhaps someone could confirm or correct me on that as I certainly have no concrete evidence in that respect .... just my take on what I've read over the past few months).

all that said: to those with a lot already invested in the industry I think its worth riding things out. But to someone with all that time, money and education ahead of them that is necessary to make it in an industry that frankly nobody can say what will happen with it in the coming months/years ... I think their time is better spent on something they can be more certain to still have a foothold in a couple of years from now.

Best of luck to those determined to try however. I admire your spirit and courage and I'm sure for those with enough determination .... they will be successful.

[pgaming]

Very nice to see some affilliate reps responding. Not to often we get this sort of feedback.

greek39

[Dominique]

I have always believed in building the site for the player.

Not for the advertiser, not for the profit, but just plain put there what you as a player would like to see.

If you do that, there will always be other players looking for the same thing and they will come back to you for more.

For SEO, you can just stay very simple and follow Google's guidelines:
http://www.google.com/support/webmas...y?answer=35769

Some main points:

1. Make sure each page deals with one specific item and explains it. (and that will be the keyword you target)

2. Make sure your internal navigation is well organized.

3. Make sure each page loads quickly and can be read by all browsers.

4. Make sure your site has a unique approach and never use duplicate or canned content.

By the time some SEO technique has become a fad, it's already doomed. The engines do not like you to try to outsmart them, they like you to make things easy for them. I have never seen the point in trying to outsmart something that rewards you for being straight. Go figure.

And something most disagree with me on:

Watch it with the linking. The engines like to see links develop slowly over a long period of time. Gamesandcasino never believed in exchanging links much, it has few outgoing links. It also doesn't buy links.

It may seem to you to take forever to get someplace following the straight and narrow, but it is exactly what pays off big time in the long run. And IMO, if you are not in it for the long term, you are just wasting your time. I see so many young sites with great potential go to pots because the owner doesn't have the patience to see it through.

If some part of being a webmaster is just not your thing, find someone who will help you. You can find lots of inexpensive talent. Don't waste your time doing what you don't like, concentrate on what you do best.

On the affiliate level, talk to your programs. Establish a relationship. Try like hell to get to the conventions and conferences and meet the program managers and your peers. Network. Conferences are fuel for your site, they bring you ideas and skills and relationships you can hardly build without them.

This is not a get rich quick business. It takes an investment of time, time and more time. The competition may look overwhelming, but there is still plenty of room for new sites to succeed. It just takes work and perseverance.

[pgaming]

Good post Dominique. I ran across something a few years ago that suggested build a honest site. A site that comes from the heart and something you feel passionate about. Leave out the seo jargon and write original content. Do your own work and don't rely on others to do it for you.

Originally I think will go along way in the end. I see so many sites with the same old information. Some look so generic its' hard to tell them apart. In this competitive market thinking outside the box should be a good thing.

Just a thought. But then again this model has not worked for me.

greek39

[Gustav Lipcsey]

Competition is so great and the only way to start a new succesful affiliation without investing to much is to find a new niche. SEO is of course key but if you find a good niche you also get advantages in the SEO area since you target other key words etc.

Reinvest your initial earnings in SEO, PPC campaigns in order to build a good visitor base. Once you have started to send traffic you are in a much better position to negotiate better Rev share and CPA deals.

Gus

[Don]

All of this is excellent advice. I would add that it takes time for your site to be noticed, ranked, re-ranked, found by potential players and become productive for you. It's a long-term, learn-as-you-go proposition that can be good for you and lucrative as well. There are probably some other industries that are easier to make money in, but this one is good, and getting better, in spite of the current bumps in the road.

[MichaelCorfman]

At the GPWA conference in Las Vegas in 2006 a few of us from Casino City gave a talk entitled "In The Zone - Creating a Gaming Portal Site: A Case Study" about a portal site we are building. The talk was heavily focused on what we think it takes to build a successful portal site, and so I think it has some good food for thought. Both the slides and the audio of the presentation are available online at www.gpwa-conference-2006.com/agenda.html.

Michael

[Don]

Michael, thanks for posting the link to this info from the conference. Very useful, and since some of us couldn't attend the conference, it's nice to learn what was presented.

[onestopgamblingguide]

Yes that was an excellent conference! The seminar session Michael referenced really did spell it all out in my opinion as well.

I just came across a tool that I think is really helpful for your meta tags.
http://www.submitexpress.com/analyzer/

Thanks also to the Affiliate Reps/Managers who posted!

Good Luck new affiliate webmasters and yes be prepared to lose a lot of sleep!!!!

[big fish]

my advice is simple: work, work & work.

when you are tired, work some more. when you want to go out, work some more. and when you done with that - go back to work!

i know this sounds like i am being funny, but i have built my business like this over the last 6 years. you know what? it works!

[bb1web]

Hi all,

Sadly Big Fish is right. There is no easy path that I have ever found and I'm one to find the easy path in most cases.

ya ....work, work .... and work some more. If this were really easy ... everybody'd do it.