Help with starting a Betting Affiliate website

[Robert777]

Hi Guys/Girls,

This is my first post so excuse me if I am asking in the wrong section or asking something fairly dumb.

I would like to start a betting affiliate website but before I start I would just like to get some answers to know I am on the right track.

1) I bought 2 domains unfortunately the .com was already take so I got the .net and .org so just want to get some opinions on which one I should use as my main site? The other one I can just redirect to my main site I decide on.

2) Can someone please explain to me how this affiliates thing work? Do I need to register at a few of them or do u choose one? I am not sure how this works. Everything seems quite confusing if u start-up.

3) Do the affiliate website supply u with images u can put on your website? What else do they give u to put on your website?

4) I see some sporting websites have odds comparison tables on them so do that also come from the affiliate or do they give u table with data and u need to built those comparison tables yourself?

5) Do I use Wordpress or html for my website?

Thanks for the help.

Regards
Robert

[baldidiot]

Hi Robert - welcome to the forums. I'm sure others will chip in, but here's my responses to your questions. Don't be afraid to ask - everyone's pretty helpful on the gpwa. There's also plenty of useful information on the forum so you might want to browse through some of the threads in this forum: https://www.gpwa.org/forum/freshman-forum.html - you'll probably find answers to questions you didn't even know you had.

1) I bought 2 domains unfortunately the .com was already take so I got the .net and .org so just want to get some opinions on which one I should use as my main site? The other one I can just redirect to my main site I decide on.


What type of domain is it? Is it an exact match (eg: freebets.xxx) or are you trying to create a brand (eg: robertsbets.xxx). If it's the latter and you want returning visitors then you really need the .com or the country specific TLD (eg: .co.uk). However if you plan on getting traffic mainly through the search engines and you're using a keyword rich domain then either the .net or .org will work fine, just 301 the one you're not using to the one you are. One additional point is what is the .com being used for? Is it a holding page or an established site? You could consider trying to buy it if it's not too expensive.


2) Can someone please explain to me how this affiliates thing work? Do I need to register at a few of them or do u choose one? I am not sure how this works. Everything seems quite confusing if u start-up.

To promote a brand you need to register for their affiliate program. Some affiliate programs are for only one brand (eg: betfred affilaites is purely for betfred) whilst others have multiple brands from the same program (eg: Affiliate Lounge has Betsafe, Betsson, Casino Euro etc...).

You need to register for every program that you wish to promote. Some people have a site entirely dedicated to one brand (eg: a football tips site where you solely promote bet365) whilst others have review sites with lots of different brands.

I would strongly suggest investigating each brand before promoting them as some have very crappy terms or a history of ripping off affiliates and/or players. There's plenty of information on the gpwa. Another great resource is http://www.affiliateguarddog.com/


3) Do the affiliate website supply u with images u can put on your website? What else do they give u to put on your website?


Depends what you mean by images. They will almost certainly provide banners and some will provide you with screenshots or stock photos, but you might have to ask for them. It really varies by program. If you're talking about general images then this article gives you a list of places where you can get stock photos for free: http://www.webgeektoolbox.com/design...site-blog.html

Probably doesn't need to be said but I'll mention it anyway - never just steal images from other websites.

4) I see some sporting websites have odds comparison tables on them so do that also come from the affiliate or do they give u table with data and u need to built those comparison tables yourself?


You can build them yourself and some bookies provide xml feeds of the odds, but you can also use a third party system such as: http://affiliates.valuechecker.co.uk/
They take a percentage of your clicks, but saves a lot of hassle.

5) Do I use Wordpress or html for my website?

I would use a CMS (content management system) - wordpress is a good choice for a first site as it's easy and very quick to get started. There are also plenty of free and cheap (~$30) templates which you can use - many times all you need is a template and
a decent logo and you've got a nice looking site with very little effort.

Personally I prefer to use Joomla - it is a bit more complicated than wordpress but lets you do more. I would avoid hard coding it in html as it's a pain in the ass to update. Some people hard code using php which is great if you know what you're doing, but unless you come from a web developer background it's going to waste a lot of time. I would suggest learning basic html and css so you can edit your wordpress templates though.

Hope this helps - if you have any other questions or need clarification on something dont be afraid to ask. Good luck - and you should post your site here when you make it and we'll give you feedback

[xecutable]

Hi Robert and welcome.

Whichever domain you choose, be sure to 301 redirect the other one, otherwise you will be on Google's bad side for bad seo practice. To make it easier for you, just talk to your hosting company and tell them which domain name you want to redirect 301. This way you don't have to trouble yourself of learning how to.

As long as you manage to get yourself at top of the SERPS I very much doubt .net or .org will make a difference, as both have seem good enough. I have no problems with using a .org domain.

I see baldidiot has explained how the whole thing works, but here's a simple life scenario. Think of it as this. You have a friend that owns a shop. For each client you send to his shop, he will share 30% of what they spend. That's pretty much it. Players that register in the sportsbook/casino/poker website are tagged as yours and everything they generate as profit will be shared with your (the % depends on the brand).

I suggest you find some of the affiliate coaches around the forum for more help. They would be happy to get you started, as that's what they do, and most of us, other affiliates can only give you suggestions but not watch closely what's going on.

I can vouch for valuechecker for odds comparison. It's a tool that adds value to your website, mostly for the users, not for your conversions (sales).

As baldidiot said, a CMS will be a much easier solution for you. Wordpress is what I use, and I love it. Congratz on getting in this field, and I hope you have armed yourself with good amount of patience. Think about whether or not you want somebody guiding you, and drop me a message I can point you to a few people you can talk to.

[Robert777]

Hi baldidiot

Thanks for your reply it was really helpful. I will mostly be getting traffic from search engines so I guess it won't make a difference.

I actually have a few domains to choose from that I own that is why I was not sure which one to use: The only .com I own is very long so not sure if I should use it rather?

freebet360.com
freebet360.net
freebet360.org
freebet24.net
freebet24.org
3bets.net
3bets.org

Please give your opinion if u think I should rather go for a short domain like 3bets.net before I use freebet360.com?

Thanks
Robert

[Robert777]

Hi xecutable,

Thanks for your reply it's very helpful. Can u please point me to those people that can guide me I think it will help a lot?

Regards
Robert

[luigito]

Hi Robert,

Regarding the domains, it is important to know what kind of traffic would you like to attract to your site? it is not the same people who are looking for free bets only that people that are looking for gamble for instance.

Best,
Luis