GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 28 - April 2014

SEOCorner: There'sstill room for bingoaffiliates ByJoel Turner A quick look at search results for bingo-related keywords tells you everything you need to know about the organic search landscape for operators and affiliates. White-labeledofferings frombigpublish- ers, newspapers and magazines (in the U.K., think sites likeMirrorbingo.com and Takeabreakbingo.co.uk) pack out some of the top rankings positions. Some would say theyunfairly benefit from brand asso- ciations, and that their thin offerings don’t really justify strongorganic rankings. They would likely be correct in many ways. While Google publicly espouses the fact that anyone producing high- quality content (and sticks within their Webmaster Guidelines when it comes to linkingpractices inparticular) has an op- portunity to rankwell inorganic search, it seems that brand clout and deep pockets arenow theonlyways tosecurestrongor- ganic search rankings for big terms. The growth in white-labeled bingo rooms from publishers has also thrown up another problem: How are smaller operators and affiliates supposed to gain high-authority editorial links from these sites? These are the links that can take a goodorganic search campaign to thenext level, and in aworldwhereGooglewants us to at least “earn” aproportionof back- links, they seem invaluable. Add linkpenalties into the equation, both algorithmic and manual, alongside the fallout from the two Penguin penalties and things look a little bleak. But is it all doom and gloom?Or is there a future for bingo affiliates? Myanswerwouldbeyes, there isa future, but youhave to be farmore creative than ever before to succeed. Here are some of my tips on what to look out for in organic search if you’re a bingo affiliate: Knowyour linkprofile insideout Being a custodian of your site’s link pro- file has become more vital than ever be- fore. It’s likely that if you’ve not been hit by a penalty in the past 18 months, or struggled with a Penguin devaluation, you’re already very familiar with your linkprofile. If you’re not, there are several reasons to monitor it on amonthlybasis: • Negative SEO: Attacks from competi- tors are becoming a nasty reality in the iGaming space. Keep an eye on your profile and ensure you disavow anything that shouldn’t be there. • Dropped links: With links harder to acquire than ever before, keeping on top of links that have been lost but you still want to keep hold of should be apriority. • Future-proof your profile: The changes Google set inmotionwith the Penguin updates are going to getmuch tougher to deal with. If you think some of your links will leave you exposed to poten- tial penalization in the future, thendis- avowor remove them. Makeyour evergreen content standout Site reviews and comparisons are the bread andbutterof thebingoaffiliate,buthowcan youmakeyoursbetter than thecompetition? Reviews and comparisons tend to follow a similar template, focusing on software, networks and offers tohelpplayersmake a decision onwhere to spend their hard- earned cash. Butwhynot thinkabouthowyoucanadd additional value? Pull your referral stats to chart the most popular sites, provide high-quality screenshots, prioritizeplayer feedbackor producevideo reviews. This content is on most affiliate sites for a very good reason, as it gives search en- gines relevant content on the brands you promote–but thatdoesn’tmean it should beordinaryor boring. Think laterally What are the interests of people playing bingo?Because themainplaying segment is generally women, the typical respons- es are television, celebrity news and cute animals. Those responses certainly aren’t wrong, but they are a bit too stereotypical and don’t dig deep enough into the interests of your audience, or the sectors inwhich youcouldprovidehigh-qualitybacklinks. Think about niches with a number of high-quality sites that you can tap into. You could be looking at food and drink sites or television and film fan sites. Dig deeper into niches to find opportunities that haven’t been fully exploited. Checkyourself Looking inwardly at your brand is also a goodstep forward. Ifyoucanhonestlysay that your site and brand look great, then everything is in great shape from a con- tentmarketingperspective.But ifhandon heart youwouldn’t link to your site in its current state then it’s time to rebrand and refreshyour site. Focusing on developing your brand can pay dividends. While a blank canvas, withno real brand to speakof, seems fan- tastic, in reality it makes it harder to de- velop compelling content ideas that will stick.Withno real idea ofwhat the brand stands for (values, messaging, etc.), it is hard to formulate effective ideas. 41 SEOCorner: There'sstill room for bingoaffiliates