GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 38 - July 2017

Sunset image by KieferPix/Shutterstock From science to superheroes, GPWA webmasters are a well-rounded bunch This issue’s affiliate interviewees come from diverse backgrounds and have many interests. They found their way into iGaming through a variety of marketing and technology fields, or as a deliberate break from previous careers. Some enjoy traveling the world, while others would rather stay home and relax with friends and family. But they’ve all worked hard to get where they are, and they all are happy to share their stories with their GPWA colleagues. * Due to space constraints, we could not print the interviews in their entirety. The complete text is posted on the GPWA forums. From diamonds and jewelry to iGaming, this SEO expert has found his niche Roman Doroshenko - rdoroshenko How did you first get into the iGaming business? What did you do before be- coming an affiliate? I’ve been doing SEO for around eight years now. For the first three years, I was working in the diamonds and jewelry niche, promoting one of the U.S.-based big brands. During those three years I went from “what’s an SEO?” to “Hi, I can make your online business rock!” I liked the niche, but I felt like I wanted to try something different. For almost a year Iwasworking as a freelanc- er, doing awhole bunch of stuff like design- ing business cards and restaurant menus, building anddesigning small websites using WordPress, doing SEO for different sites and lot more. I liked that because it helped me gain experience in so many fields, and it really helped in my future career. But four years ago I decided to get a more stable job, and I was hired as an SEO spe- cialist to launch the experimental gambling project. It was experimental, as the company that hired me was working in the Russian gambling market, but other countries were something new for them. So, that’s how I began my first steps in the iGaming niche. Tell us about your sites. The first affiliate site I launched in the gambling niche was Slotozilla.com , four years ago. As I learned a lot about slot machines, their history and the features they have today, I’ve tried to build something really big in terms of this iGaming microniche. Once it became very successful – I got into the top three on most of the keywords and raised the traffic to 8,000 people per day – my boss told me to create a few more projects but for non-English markets. So I launched a few more projects in German, French, Spanish and Italian. And after some time, they got pretty good traffic as well. But the first money I saw only in a year I did the job, because my responsibility as SEO specialist was to get higher positions and more traffic, but in terms of converting this traffic I really struggled. That is why I de- cided to leave the company and change the place of work to one, where people were mainly generating money in all niches, and gambling was one of them. In that same time, I have launched my own website about slots, SlotsUp.com , to see if I can beat my previous success with Slotozilla.com . The first money from it I saw in only 3-4 months. Are you a full-time or part-time affili- ate? I have full-time jobwhere I’m the SEO team lead, with SEO specialists I raised from newbies to full-time project leaders, so each specialist has their own big project dedicated to a particularmarket. But, also I’m the affil- iatemyself, runningmy own home project, SlotsUp.com , trying to make the biggest multi-market brand dedicated to online slots. So, yeah, I’d even call it 24/7 affiliate. Do you have employees, or do you run your sites by yourself? At work, I have a team. At home, my girlfriend Marina is helping me a lot with the project, taking care of SMM and content management. Also, it is worth mentioning my devel- oper, Max – he is like a real genie who transforms all my ideas into code. Do you have plans for additional sites, or for adding additional verticals to your sites? I do plan to expandmy currentwebsite tomore markets. Work in eachmarket helps me learn more about the market, its specs and the world of gambling as a whole. Also, GPWA Affiliate Interview Series 42 w w w . g p w a t i m e s . o r g