GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 49 - April 2021

GPWA AFFILIATE INTERVIEW SERIES any value, then they won’t stay for long, nor will they return. Having fresh content adds some value to the user, be it a unique interview or interesting, informative game previews, or in-depth, accurate bookmaker reviews. All of these things grow your brand value and are key to having long-term success. The Russian site has a great “tipster” section and it keeps the all-time records so it is very transparent. This builds trust and the users like that. They also have an active dispute division which has helped return over €830,000 to players. I hope the U.K. site can replicate some of these things. What are the other keys to generating traffic and getting repeat visitors? I think it is a multi-strand thing. Firstly, you obviously need people to trust the website and its content. There are a few ways to achieve it — the GPWA seal being one — but they normally take time to gain that kind of information. Partnering with experts can help, as we gain from their reputation and look good by association. In terms of getting first-time visitors to the site, we have found that some of the most successful articles can come from niche events. Things that not many other sites have written about, but we did, which means we get a disproportionate amount of that traffic. We try to write articles and blog posts as far in advance as possible, so we can update the story as time goes by, but we always have something there. Ultimately though, it is about having a qual- ity product. In the future for the U.K., that is what we hope to have. The site will have many features, such as assisting with player complaints, genuine and thorough reviews, and a game center full of current statistics, as well as predictions and tips for players. If you were to look at legalbet.ru now, that is what I want legalbet.uk to be in the next few years. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started at Le- galBet Ltd? When I started, there was a guy working with me called Rihards Lozins, who was one of the most knowledgeable, efficient, hard-working guys I have ever worked with. He was a Stakhanovite! He moved on at the beginning of this year. I did not know he was going to be leaving and I wish I had learned more from him while he was there. What traits do you look for in an affil- iate manager and affiliate program? The program should have good reporting and ideally (this is rare) stats which update in real time and also allow you to hone in on your players and analyze what they are actually doing. After that, a decent commission rate obviously helps, but just being transparent at the start is better than having a high headline rate, then adding spu- rious deductions. Tracking correctly is also im- portant and something we have a huge problem with. We have estimated almost 90% of the systems don’t count correctly and have pretty opaque reporting. We are having particular problems at the moment with app downloads not being recorded correctly as a FTD. Any affiliate program to properly address this we would be very interested in. As far as a manager goes, it is important to have someone who replies to you reason- ably quickly, if not that day, then definitely the next day, but at the same time is not too pushy. Getting contacted four or five times a week over very minor new promotions or upgrades on a website can be a little annoy- ing sometimes. So an affiliate manager who also knows to keep their distance sometimes is good. At the same time, it is important to be friendly. I met a guy once just because he was an affiliate manager at Skrill and today he is one of my best friends! If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be? It would be nice if it was a bit more stable, and when you agree to a “lifetime revenue deal” then that does actually mean that. But due to a large number of factors it often does not. For this reason, I have never put all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. You need to diversify and have several rev- about A little bit more AndrewH. He is 39 years old His favorite food is My Mum’s Lasagna His sites are Legalbet.uk Legalbet.ng Legalbet.com.au His favorite book is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller He is living in Hua Hin, Thailand His hometown is Norwich, England Norwich photo by Christophe Cappelli/ Shu tterstock; Hua Hin photo by Oleg Lifestyle Travel Photo/Shutterstock; Lasagna photo by stockcreations/Shutterstock G P W A t i m e s . o r g 58