Newb to the industry - some very general questions!

[BlaqJack]

Hey guys,

I'm very new to this industry and thought I'd throw out some questions I don't seem to have found answers to. I ran some adult blogs a while back so understand wordpress based sites and SEO reasonably well.

1) I'm looking to set up a generic online casino site type covering blackjack, roulette and slots as the 3 main elements (I know about these from real life play so should find it easier to write on these). Am I cutting myself short by focussing on these 3 areas alone? Any keys areas I should add?

2) Would I be better focussing on a micro niche such as one specific game, or setting up a catch all type site as described above?

3) I haven't seen any discussion anywhere reagrding conversions. For every 100 visitors to my site, what sort of clickthru to a sponsor would I feel was about right, and then how many should be converting to paying players? (I know this is dependant on quality of process etc but any guidance will fill some gaps in my knowledge).

4) What are your key tips for a newb to gaming?

I really look forward to becoming a valuable member of this community.
I like to be well informed before starting but I always put my own spin on the norms so as to provide a point of difference in what will usually be a tough slog to get started!

Thanks in advance

Blaq

[Fortune Palace]

Hi Blaq.

Welcome on board - hope you find the answers to all your questions here.

For a start, in answer to your points:

1. Only covering 3 areas isn't necessarily a problem, so long as you're covering them in depth and offering something new.

2. As above, really. A site like Hit or Stand only focuses on one specific niche, but brings something different to the table.

3. Hard to give definitive figures as every site converts differently. My rule of thumb is one click through per 10 views, 1 signup per 10 - 20 clickthroughs, 1 depositor per 2 - 10 signups, giving a range of 1 depositor per 200 - 2000 views and this varies by casino. That's as precise as I can be, based on 6 years of evidence!

4. Find something different and do it well. It's a very saturated space and hard to compete with well-established sites unless you can, as you say, provide a point of difference.


Good luck with your endeavours.

[Nick.RevenueJet]

Hey Blaq

Welcome to the forum!

To answer your (some of your questions -
1) Creating a general casino site will naturally rank you on all sorts of keywords. I wouldn't focus specifically on any kind of game, but give room to all casino games on my site.
Other topics you must touch - deposit methods, best casino bonuses and U.S. friendliness of the brands you promote.

2) As I wrote above, I don't think one specific niche is the way to go.

3) Conversion rates from Click to New Depositor is directly related to how targeted the keywords you go after. So, for example, ranking on "free slots" might provide you with huge volume, the traffic will naturally not convert at good rates. On the other hand, ranking on a super targeted keyword such as "real money online casino for usa players", which may not have a lot of search volume, should convert you every handful of clicks.

4) Don't give up and don't go black.
a) It takes time to get recognized by the Google gods as a good source of information about online casinos, but once they do, the ROI is highly profitable.
b) And don't do blackhat, as it will shorten the lifespan of your site dramatically.

Good luck, and I hope we can partner up with your new project!

[edgarf76]

Hey guys,

I'm very new to this industry and thought I'd throw out some questions I don't seem to have found answers to. I ran some adult blogs a while back so understand wordpress based sites and SEO reasonably well.

1) I'm looking to set up a generic online casino site type covering blackjack, roulette and slots as the 3 main elements (I know about these from real life play so should find it easier to write on these). Am I cutting myself short by focussing on these 3 areas alone? Any keys areas I should add?

2) Would I be better focussing on a micro niche such as one specific game, or setting up a catch all type site as described above?

3) I haven't seen any discussion anywhere reagrding conversions. For every 100 visitors to my site, what sort of clickthru to a sponsor would I feel was about right, and then how many should be converting to paying players? (I know this is dependant on quality of process etc but any guidance will fill some gaps in my knowledge).

4) What are your key tips for a newb to gaming?

I really look forward to becoming a valuable member of this community.
I like to be well informed before starting but I always put my own spin on the norms so as to provide a point of difference in what will usually be a tough slog to get started!

Thanks in advance

Blaq

I don't think that you are limiting yourself by having three games. You can always expand if you want in the future. IMO I would only start with a micro-niche with the long-tail key phrases. The quality of the traffic is more important than the quantity. As Nick said, stay away from Black Hat SEO. When you are perusing the web you will come by really cheap offers will will in fact work for a weak or two but it will hurt your site in the long run. The best way is to focus on quality content with only the best quality backlinks. Slow steady progress wins the race.

I would say the key for a newb is to read and listen for the first few months before you jump in. Don't get me wrong you are going to need to take action to build you site. However you can save yourself a lot of time going back fixing mistakes by asking questions so you do not make them in the first place. Don't worry if you feel your questions are silly or too fundamental. I have been here a few months and still ask very fundamental questions. Good luck, I am going to drop you a PM I have a question for you.

[BlaqJack]

Thanks for the replies guys. You have all confirmed I am on the right track in some little way.

Edgar, I can't reply to your pm until I have 10 posts under my belt.
I used very basic Wp themes with a Fiverr type logo and tried to make the site look nice with lots of images rather than rely on the theme to sell the feel of the site.

[Moonlight Cat]

Hey Blaq

Welcome to the GPWA forum!

For every 100 visitors to my site, what sort of clickthru to a sponsor would I feel was about right, and then how many should be converting to paying players? (I know this is dependant on quality of process etc but any guidance will fill some gaps in my knowledge).

From $0 to $XX.XXX
For example: 100 visitors by search query "free casino money" or 100 visitors by search query "online casino for high rollers".

[sweetbet]

4. Find something different and do it well. It's a very saturated space and hard to compete with well-established sites unless you can, as you say, provide a point of difference.

I couldn't agree more.

[terier]

1) Focusing in specific niches is actually recommended. You can start with that and add additional ones once you start getting some traffic and conversion. I can tell you that slots, from my experience, is the most converting of these 3.
2) What do you mean by specific games? You mean like 'Spider-man slots' and such? If so, the answer depends in how you plan to promote the site. For example, in SEO it's great to have targeted words as possible. But note that you can't rely solely on these specific games and you need also some general phrases.
3) It's not an easy answer. It really depends on where you're bringing the traffic from. Generally I noticed that SEO traffic converts the best with around 1% conversion rate, email marketing converts much less and adwords converts even less and the ROI is lower. Also, as a newbe you should expect low conversion rates till you get the hang of things.
4) It's not a simple industry. The competition is fierce, and sometimes there's even back stabbing, but as long as you keep yourself honest, you'll meet more people like you. When you deal with affiliate programs, make sure you track the clicks on the links they provide. Some of them don't report the full activity and if the difference is big it might mean there's a technical problem or a fraud.

That's of course the tip of the iceberg, but hope this helps

[Louis - Income Access]

In terms of tracking, it's highly recommended that you double check your links and banners by clicking on them and registering an account to make sure that the click and registration are tracked. This only takes a few minutes and in the online casino world a single player can make all the difference in terms of your revenues, so you'll want to be 100% confident that tracking is working properly.

In terms of improving conversions, it's recommended to work with programs that offer special player incentives and ideally time sensitive offers, with good creatives and well-optimized landing pages. If you're not sure what makes for a good player offer, you can ask on here. If you're not sure what a good landing page looks like, here is a great guide:
http://blog.kissmetrics.com/c-o-n-v-e-r-t-s/

[BlaqJack]

Thanks Louis,

That's a very informative link. A lot of this I knew but had forgotten so a refresher is always appreciated.