GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 15 - January 2011

By Paul Reilly W hether you’re a big established af- filiate or a small affiliate newbie, you’re going to need to do SEO. And whether you do it yourself, speak to an expert or hire an agency, this article will look at the pros and cons of a number of options and give you a balanced view of how best to proceed in an industry full of sharks. SEO – doing it for yourself If you’re a newbie, this is the best single piece of advice I can give you: getting links – particularly in casino, poker and bingo – is 90 percent of SEO, and for this reason the first thing you need is a natu- ral-looking link profile. Any naturally occurring back link profile will have do- main/URL/brand variations as the most frequently occurring anchor or link text. Your target keywords – such as “online casino,” “poker” or “bingo” – should, in any natural situation, appear far less frequently than these “brand” varia- tions. Google tightened up this thresh- old in April/May 2010, and many op- erators and affiliates were slammed by the new policy. Here’s the reason why keyword-rich do- mains are beneficial: when your domain name contains, for example, the target keyword “example casino .com,” there are a number of anchor text (link text) varia- tions you can use: www.examplecasino.com http://examplecasino.com www.examplecasino.com/ example casino http://www.examplecasino.com All are naturally occurring variations and each contains the keyword token “casino.” I’ve seen a brand-new domain rank for “casino” within eight months by focusing on the natural brand or URL variations. • • • • • If you think you can link using purely “casino” or “online casino” links, then think again! Note: There is a common myth in SEO that suggests Google is now favoring brands! Google has no way or reason to distinguish a brand; just Google “Online Casino,” “Online Roulette” or “Chelten- ham Betting.” You’ll see keyword-rich do- main names peppering the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). If your brand or domain name doesn’t contain the target keyword, then create a subdomain: Casino .example.com Not only will this give you your target keyword in your domain link variations, but you’re also ready to roll with other products, such as Bingo.example.com, Poker.example.com or Betting.example. com. And a neutral domain such as .com, .net or .org will enable you to go after in- ternational markets: Bingo.example.com/SE Poker.example.com/DE Each of the following anchor text varia- tions would occur naturally. Link build with these variations most frequently: Casino .example.com http:// casino .example.com Casino .example.com/ Example Casino http:// casino .example.com/ Your target keyword token will be boost- ed without the need for obvious repeti- tious target anchor text. Ask yourself this: What is the statistical probability that the next five independent Web citations will use the anchor text “Online Casino” or “Play Online Casino Games”? It’s billions to one, and Google knows this! Note: Before you build any “casino” or other target keyword links, build the natural variations for at least five months. In fact, I’d go as far as to sug- gest that you don’t get a single casino, poker, bingo or betting link for five • • • • • • • months. Spend that time building vari- ation into your back links. Do a deal – JV with an SEO Alternatively, if you’re not confident with SEO, or you’ve never had success with SEO, find someone who has. Options include doing a joint venture (JV) with an experienced SEO. If they’re confident, they will put their money (or their time) where their mouth is. The JV should take into account exter- nal link costs, time invested, etc., and should work on a revenue share over an agreed-upon long-term basis. If you decide to pursue this option, you should collaborate with an SEO who has a proven track record in iGaming SEO. Creative deal making like this will reduce exposure to risk and incentiv- ize your SEO partner for the long term. Everyone’s a winner! I know plenty of fantastic SEOs who would gladly take up a win-win deal, so please feel free to message me (my details can be found at the end of this article). If you have experience in SEO and are happy to run a campaign on your own, then you already know how important back links are. I would recommend that you optimize your own efficiencies, thereby multi- plying the impact you have as your own SEO resource. Raventools.com is vital in tracking and managing your activity. Its features are too vast to mention here, but I suggest that you make use of the 30-day trial. For doing back link research, I can also recommend Opensiteexplorer.org. I use this daily and would recommend it based SEO: In-house team, hired gun or agency – what are my options? Continued on page 53 13 SEO: In-house team, hired gun or agency – what are my options?