What's a reasonable click-conversion rate (sports website)

[chris_rp]

New here and trying my hand at earning some revenue through sportsbook affiliates. I have a rugby website, the traffic quality is quite poor (people searching for news, videos mostly - I do post game previews, odds etc though) but even still my ad units do get the odd click from people who, I assume, have their interest piqued by the ads.

I've just had my first 100 unique clicks (sending to deposit £10 get £30 rugby landing page) with betfair but no sign-ups as of yet. I have no firsthand experience but this seems a little low to me. I mean, Google Adsense pays me several £ an ad click for stuff that isn't in the least bit relevant to my site...

Wondering what sort of click-to-signup conversion rate people with a similar website have?

Chris

[wonderpunter]

New here and trying my hand at earning some revenue through sportsbook affiliates. I have a rugby website, the traffic quality is quite poor (people searching for news, videos mostly - I do post game previews, odds etc though) but even still my ad units do get the odd click from people who, I assume, have their interest piqued by the ads.

I've just had my first 100 unique clicks (sending to deposit £10 get £30 rugby landing page) with betfair but no sign-ups as of yet. I have no firsthand experience but this seems a little low to me. I mean, Google Adsense pays me several £ an ad click for stuff that isn't in the least bit relevant to my site...

Wondering what sort of click-to-signup conversion rate people with a similar website have?

Chris

There are certain sports that get more bettors than others, Rugby is very niche and would make a great category but as a Site for betting i'm not so sure, not to say there are not people betting it's just it will never be the power houses like other sports are I have various other sections in my site which we write about.. compared to the major leagues it's minimal

[chris_rp]

Oh definitely. I full expect meaningful traffic to be limited for reasons you mention (although competitions like the NRL, Rugby World Cup, Six Nations etc make a bit of noise) what I'm curious about is the sign-up rate *after* clicking an ad.

I'd have thought that from 100 people clicking a banner ad or following a text link that I would have got at least 1 sign-up. I mean chances are if they clicked on it they must be at least a little interested even if the visitors to my site are generally less targeted.

I'd love to know how many average clicks you guys get for each sign-up, just so I've got a point of reference even if its a loose one. Appreciate some people don't like to diverge that type of information.

Ps. Rugby fans are typically affluent which may or may not work in my favour once I get a few sign-ups.

[golfbettingsystem]

If you can draw some parallels to the golf niche then we tend to find that conversion rates are better around the bigger events where there are more casual punters - those betting on golf each and every week tend to have a lot of accounts already so are much harder work. 1 in 100 or worse isn't unreasonable for us on 'normal' weeks, however over the majors ie The Masters, Open Championship etc then it can be far better, particularly if there's a story to tell with a certain deal etc.

[chris_rp]

If you can draw some parallels to the golf niche then we tend to find that conversion rates are better around the bigger events where there are more casual punters - those betting on golf each and every week tend to have a lot of accounts already so are music harder work. 1 in 100 or worse isn't unreasonable for us on 'normal' weeks, however over the majors ie The Masters, Open Championship etc then it can be far better, particularly if there's a story to tell with a certain deal etc.

That makes a lot of sense. So a sign-up every 100-200 unique ad clicks is probably par for the course (sorry) and I should keep chugging away.

I'm quite happy with that then. As long as I can keep it in the low hundreds and not some outrageous figure (thousands per sign-up) I'm happy. My website is only a week old so not expecting miracles by any means but hopefully I can get a few sign-ups by this time next month.

I also imagine that those betting on casual events are worth more money in that they're most likely to make the wrong bet? As opposed to someone who bets week in week out and knows the sport well?

[lufc]

I run a rugby specific website as well and get sign ups in the 1 to 60 click range but my website has been a round a few years now so we have been able to focus on what works for us. With yours only been a round a week you won't have found what works for you yet so (and this is the hardest part) if you keep at it, things will get easier and you will get a better sign up ratio as long as you know what works and what dosn't. Don't be afraid to try other bookies as well as some perform better than others, especially for a niche site.

This week is obviously one of the biggest in the Rugby calendar with the first Ste of Origin game on Wednesday and the Prem Final at the weekend. We find sign ups are always best for the Origin match and their is certainly a lot more interest but the Prem final is decent as well.

Good luck with the website!

[golfbettingsystem]

I also imagine that those betting on casual events are worth more money in that they're most likely to make the wrong bet? As opposed to someone who bets week in week out and knows the sport well?

Potentially yes, although due to the famine/feast nature of betting on golf getting a big regular punter can also work nicely on no negative carryover deals as 1 good month (for them) is often offset with 2/3 bad months. Getting a mix of punters is key for us, although the casual punters are far easier to convert.

[chris_rp]

I run a rugby specific website as well and get sign ups in the 1 to 60 click range but my website has been a round a few years now so we have been able to focus on what works for us. With yours only been a round a week you won't have found what works for you yet so (and this is the hardest part) if you keep at it, things will get easier and you will get a better sign up ratio as long as you know what works and what dosn't. Don't be afraid to try other bookies as well as some perform better than others, especially for a niche site.

This week is obviously one of the biggest in the Rugby calendar with the first Ste of Origin game on Wednesday and the Prem Final at the weekend. We find sign ups are always best for the Origin match and their is certainly a lot more interest but the Prem final is decent as well.

Good luck with the website!

Thanks mate. To be honest I don't mind having a low sign-up rate if that's balanced out with higher general traffic and I could then compliment gambling affiliate income with other forms of advertising, say directly approaching companies with a rugby audience to sell banner space, promotional posts, etc.

I feel that the strength of ranking well with a more generalised site could bring benefits as far as search presence is concerned if I get my approach right.

It's a trade off though and as you say I'll have to figure out the best direction for myself.

I do have one other question though and it relates more to Google than the niche itself. Is there an ideal day to post game previews? I've heard it said that posting previews works best on game day but then I see most others posting previews a few days ahead of game day and my intuition would be that getting something live a few days early gives you more chance of being indexed and linked to(a ranking factor).

Chris

[wonderpunter]

I actually had this conversation with someone else yesterday, the clicks you see are not always real clicks.. a lot are bots depending on the program you are using and their software, it also depends on the program.. i have one that I sent 500 clicks and one sign up.. because they reward the 1st click not the last click "person who closes the deal" then I have others which convert 1 in 15, I will say if you have targeted traffic, from the correct country "your case being UK, Australia" then 1 in 50 to 1 in 100 of real clicks should be average.. but there are ways to lower conversion ratios.. promos, CTA text, etc.. or use of odds in articles.. all of these help better than just a banner on a page.

[wonderpunter]

Thanks mate. To be honest I don't mind having a low sign-up rate if that's balanced out with higher general traffic and I could then compliment gambling affiliate income with other forms of advertising, say directly approaching companies with a rugby audience to sell banner space, promotional posts, etc.

I feel that the strength of ranking well with a more generalised site could bring benefits as far as search presence is concerned if I get my approach right.

It's a trade off though and as you say I'll have to figure out the best direction for myself.

I do have one other question though and it relates more to Google than the niche itself. Is there an ideal day to post game previews? I've heard it said that posting previews works best on game day but then I see most others posting previews a few days ahead of game day and my intuition would be that getting something live a few days early gives you more chance of being indexed and linked to(a ranking factor).

Chris

Previews are similar to news.. stats change injuries happen, weather goes bad.. they are always best posted 24 hours before the game.. If it's a big game however then there are other articles you can write.. but the odds are usually set on the day.. so your article would be irrelevant compared to others.. regards to indexing.. I get indexed fast, almost immediately but that comes with time.. On a new website you can't expect to get authority results until you have built it

[RacingJim]

I once ran a boxing betting niche site and a football tips site and both had bad conversion rates, around 1 in 100 or more. That's why I don't really bother with sports tips sites anymore, if you're gona do sports tips I think social media is the best place to be then you've got more chance of promoting the offers directly to people when a big offer comes up.

In terms of bookies I don't really like Betfair and have always found it a low converter for me. It's a tricky one with niche rugby/boxing etc type sites I agree with golf betting system they only really seem to do well when there's a big event on.

[chris_rp]

I once ran a boxing betting niche site and a football tips site and both had bad conversion rates, around 1 in 100 or more. That's why I don't really bother with sports tips sites anymore, if you're gona do sports tips I think social media is the best place to be then you've got more chance of promoting the offers directly to people when a big offer comes up.

In terms of bookies I don't really like Betfair and have always found it a low converter for me. It's a tricky one with niche rugby/boxing etc type sites I agree with golf betting system they only really seem to do well when there's a big event on.

My sister works in social media. Maybe I could get her input. Social channels definitely seem worth pursuing whether on their own or with a site (ranking factor)

I have a few other ads/links on the site to LAdbrokes and Sports bet (playing it by ear as I get approved) they have less clicks but that could be for any number of reasons.

I figured that for me, I genuinely enjoy my rugby and watch a lot of it - know a bit about it. The shortcomings of the niche itself will hopefully be balanced out by that fact and help me to establish the site amongst punters as I can give them good quality content. Hopefully that works out but early days and the whole thing will be a big and I'm sure a steep learning curve.

Chris

[TheGooner]

Wondering what sort of click-to-signup conversion rate people with a similar website have?

The real answer is of course that it depends ... but that's a useless answer.

To give you some raw numbers - I have registration rates ranging from 6% of clicks down to just 1% of clicks - and only about 50% of those will actually deposit. The average would be 1-2 registrations per 100 clicks.

THe problem with tipping sites is that they will draw a large amount of traffic to the preview with people that have interest in the subject - the teams and/or the sports - but no interest in joining up to a new bookmaker at this time and/or betting. If you think about all the different "use cases" of readers that hit your site you will start to realise how few of them are actually in the target market that your preview with it's associated ad is aiming for.

If they are looking for videos of past games or sports news or opinions on this game then they are probably not yet at a betting point.

That doesn't mean that a tipping site cannot succeed - my site is a tipping site and I am satisfied with the conversions - but it does mean that you will have to do a lot more clever marketing and selling before you get a conversion. You will need review pages, comparision pages, odds tables, and a whole lot of gambling content in order to demonstrate to your reader just WHY betting at the bookmaker you are advertising is such a good idea.

You have to do a bit of work to expand the percentage of readership that might open an account and have a bet. Remember that it's no good having them just bet at an existing account - you (probably) won't get paid for that - you need to make a sale.

Slapping an ad on a sports preview - that's not really going to do a job is it? That's why most tipping sites fail.

[MrBinaryAff]

I have a poker website and can get a deposit only after around 200 clicks, it is all because people on our website tend to find smth about Poker Books, not actually looking where to play

[wettFORM.AT]

This is one of the questions that you can not answer. It completely depends on the content. When you have exactly the offer someone is looking for then you can have a click to sign up rate of more 20-30% or even higher. When you have for example a live streaming website where you offer the live streams of a bookmaker then you can have a lot of sign ups but no depositing accounts. On average when the brand is good and the visitor is also interested in your content then I would say 100 clicks 1 sign up and then 20% of the sign ups became depositing players.