Hello! From lurker to poster!

[datstheguy]

Hi there – been lurking for a while and decided to finally join!

Running a new gambling blog for the last few months, from 0 to 800 daily visitors (mostly from US, then UK). Organic traffic and clean SEO are my main strategies. Lots of high-quality informative content about multiple games (poker, slots, casino games, betting, etc).

I have another website in a totally different niche that's generating enough to fund my gambling website until I figure out monetization.

Current priorities:

• setup an email marketing strategy (also need to find a gambling-friendly ESP)
• figure out monetization (any tips are welcome)

Thanks for the community!

-D

[universal4]

Monetization = affiliate programs recommended here at the GPWA with properties that appeal to your target market. Spend some time reading to determine what fits your site the best.

Forget most other monetization techniques that work on most other mainstream sites and markets. (such as google adsense, doubleclick etc)

Rick
Universal4

[Sherlock]

It is not a good way to start targetting some GEO and then look for affiliate programs.

UK is completely useless, because everyone will rob you to limit 0, unless you persuade bet365 (good luck with that).
US is quite bad for future, because you will be forced to promote either legal or offshore bookies.

The legal ones are useless because you will need a licence for each state, they pay very low commissions usually CPA and those who pay RS (where you will probably need even more compliacted and expensive licence) will rob you as well, because they are the companies who stole elsewhere or already at US market (like Fanduel or Draftkings).

The offshore are still fine, they pay good money but no one knows for how long. Also the ones from UK will likely demand that even in the US you promote the legal ones.

So the market for your traffic is not perspective. And even if all goes well you will collect just percents of what it used to be.

[chaumi]

Without a doubt, everything Sherlock says will have deep relevancy. But the impact on you from that depends to some extent on the level you're working on, and your aspirations for the site.

You appear to have done 'well' with traffic growth, and the implication in the fact you're already monetizing an 'other-niche' site is that you know what you're doing, at least on certain levels.

"appear to have done 'well' with traffic growth"'?? To some (maybe many) 800 a day would be highly desirable......and to others......peanuts. It's somewhat relative. And of course, the value (or potential value) in the traffic you have (or could grow further) depends mainly on its origin and intent. But all traffic has some value, if they are interacting with your content.

I suspect you know all this.

So...probably to get any specific suggestions...you may need to either post the URL of the site and/or explain how it's attracting the traffic (which you may not want to do at this stage for a few reasons I can think of, but equally I think won't do you any harm on this forum).

[drifter8]

I have to agree with all Sherlock, chaumi and universal4 have said and posted.

Before starting anything, you had to make a deep research what affiliates program you want to join, how and do they pay and when they can shave you down.
It is also a good ideas to show / share the URL or your site ( you will get a lot of advices afterwards
Regarding emails - you can completely forget about it . It is pretty fragile and not converted area anymore.
If yu have the guts and the means you can start translating content on Spanish and Portugues , LATAM is a great place to check and see what is happening and how good can you be or positioned among "the sharks".

[datstheguy]

So...probably to get any specific suggestions...you may need to either post the URL of the site and/or explain how it's attracting the traffic (which you may not want to do at this stage for a few reasons I can think of, but equally I think won't do you any harm on this forum).

At this stage I'd rather not share information publicly but I've read your post and Sherlock's carefully.

My other website generates a good amount of revenue through premium ad networks, affiliates, and our own info products. So I am really working hard to pump up the traffic, I can absorb the monthly expenses to get there (writing team, design team, editing team, research team). I've done so over the last months and I am happy with how the traffic is growing.

Whilst I understand Sherlock's points and they are indeed valid, I am not entering this industry and these verticals for breadcrumbs. I've got a legal person looking into the US and based on her report, I'll be able to assess whether to focus 100% offshore in US and even ignore UK, or work something else out.

because they are the companies who stole elsewhere or already at US market (like Fanduel or Draftkings).

When you say "stole", do you mean it figuratively or quite literally? I knew of BetUS, but my industry knowledge is limited. As for bet365 and the likes, there is no point for me contacting them now whilst I have no leverage (traffic) but will do once I feel more confident in what we can offer.

[MMM]

Everything said above is correct however: you already started (and seems you know what you are doing), so from practical perspective the next steps now that you have traffic are pretty straightforward.

Affiliate programs is the way to monetize gambling traffic. at least from my experience. Find few solid US and UK programs (10 min research here on the forum) and get going.

The only thing is in US you need to decide if you go for legalized states or offshore. Up to you. Each side has it's pros and cons.

In your case there is some additional advantage in going grey that you will be able to start testing things from tomorrow. While with licensed ones it's a process to get license for each state.

The drawback is that from what i know it's easier to get license when you have clean history and haven't promoted offshore sites. So that's pretty much the only "tough" decision you need to make. The rest is easy.

[datstheguy]

In your case there is some additional advantage in going grey that you will be able to start testing things from tomorrow. While with licensed ones it's a process to get license for each state.

The drawback is that from what i know it's easier to get license when you have clean history and haven't promoted offshore sites. So that's pretty much the only "tough" decision you need to make. The rest is easy.

Great point about having a clean sheet. I need my legal team member to work on figuring out what's going on state by state in terms of affiliate licenses. From what they allow you to do once you have them, to how much the whole process costs, to how long it takes to get there.

Then we'll have to match that with what Google Analytics gives us on a state by state basis and see what makes business sense at this stage, and what doesn't.

Whilst everybody recommended me to do separate websites for each vertical (poker, blackjack, slots, betting, etc), I preferred to start with one all-encompassing gambling blog with different silos – and we'll potentially create independant satellites later on! But my point is that we'll need to browsing through the right/most recommended affiliates for each vertical that is performing well for us.

And though we do not need to monetize right now, I know the first $£€ coming in will be an amazing mental boost for the team as a whole. But I don't want to make early mistakes that may hinder us for our long-term plan.

[chaumi]

Superb approach, and a perfect example of why tackling something this big needs a team.

I'd suggest there's little doubt we'll be seeing you at the top of the SERPs. Itching to know what domain you've chosen as the vehicle, but understand why you wouldn't want to spill that now.

We will know soon enough I think.

[chaumi]

This may help you out. Thread from back in Feb. There's a useful page mentioned in it by MJM, a member here.

https://www.gpwa.org/forum/promoting...ates+affiliate

[MMM]

And though we do not need to monetize right now, I know the first $£€ coming in will be an amazing mental boost for the team as a whole. But I don't want to make early mistakes that may hinder us for our long-term plan.

In UK, unlike USA, you can start monetizing now. UK sucks as Sherlock mentioned before, but it is rather simple market in terms of affiliate programs. Try to get Bet365 acc and some others and you can start monetizing tomorrow. It's not much but it is nice to see money coming in as you said, second, it will give you some idea about how things work, which pages perform and so on which you can later use in US.

[gurumasa]

Hello! I just recently registered with GPWA.
I believe that in addition to SEO, it is important to get traffic from social networking sites.

[Egor]

Hi, guy!
Our team has created a new website for the Spanish language. We use the most modern SEO methods.