New affiliate looking for guidance

[Antonio Fernandes]

Hey! I just joined the forum and came across your thread — really relatable stuff. I'm also in the early stages of building my first gaming portal and trying to figure out the right niche and geo to focus on.

From what I've been reading here, most experienced members recommend starting with one country and one game type rather than going broad — it helps you build authority faster. Curious if you ended up going with the US market or something closer to Cyprus?

Would love to follow your journey — hopefully we can share notes as beginners here!

[GlobalPokerSites]

Hi Antonio! Where are you based? Is that why you mention Cyprus or?

It's a highly competitive industry so definitely helps to focus on the right niche/GEO.

[idanbraun]

If you are going to rely mainly on SEO and your site will likely be in English, visitors from all over the world will enter your site, mainly but not only, from the United States.

[NoDepositCasinos]

Hey! I just joined the forum and came across your thread — really relatable stuff. I'm also in the early stages of building my first gaming portal and trying to figure out the right niche and geo to focus on.

From what I've been reading here, most experienced members recommend starting with one country and one game type rather than going broad — it helps you build authority faster. Curious if you ended up going with the US market or something closer to Cyprus?

Would love to follow your journey — hopefully we can share notes as beginners here!

Hi Antonio. It seems you were replying to another person. Nevertheless, some of us recommend starting with a narrow focus and then, when things get going, thinking about ways to expand it or diversify your income. As general advice, I recommend that you share your own journey and questions so people can address your specific situation.

[casinotoprating]

In Cyprus, all casinos get blocked very quickly. The USA is a specific market and not really suitable for beginners. It’s better to focus on Tier 1 markets.

[wonderpunter]

I would go Niche,. the days of the mega sites seem to be coming to an end. and what I'm seeing is dedicated expert niche sites climb back up. Just like the old days (2016-2017) then they got destroyed as most were just one pagers with paid links lol.

[casinokitapp]

Hey Antonio, welcome to GPWA! The advice from others here about niching down is spot on.

Since you are from Porto, have you considered focusing on the Portuguese-speaking market? Portugal has its own regulated gambling framework (SRIJ), and there is less competition compared to the English-speaking markets. Being a native speaker gives you a massive advantage for content quality and understanding what local players actually search for.

A few practical tips from my own experience building a multilingual affiliate platform:
1. Start with one market and one content type. Whether that is casino reviews, bonus comparisons, or game guides, get really good at one thing first before expanding.

2. SEO is a long game. The first 6 months can feel discouraging, but if you are creating genuinely useful content with proper on-page SEO, the traffic will come.

3. Choose affiliate programs carefully. Look for ones that offer revenue share rather than just CPA, and make sure they have brands that are actually licensed in your target market.

4. Technical SEO matters more than people think in iGaming. Structured data, page speed, mobile optimization, and proper hreflang setup (if you go multilingual later) can make a real difference.

Good luck with the journey, and keep asking questions here. The GPWA community has been really helpful for newcomers.