breathe SEO now, it’s something I’ve had to self-educate myself on, and I am still learning new things every day. SEO is constantly changing, and I frequently have to break myself of old habits and stubborn mentalities. I’ve discovered that I really enjoy the technical side of SEO, and spend several hours a day immersed in it. Recently, we began focusing on audits – finding and improving old content, updating and improving it as needed. A lot of times that means deleting outright, or merging with more relevant content. We are seeing success with that strategy and expect we’ll be focusing more on it, “content maintenance” is a big part of our current work load, and the process of doing it usually exposes more opportunities. How has SEO morphed over the last five years? What are some SEO myths that you often hear? SEO has changed considerably in the last few years. I regularly stay on top of news and the latest Google updates in order to stay relevant. One particular myth that always frustrates me relates to keyword domains. There is myth related to an old Google update that limited the bonus applied to exact match keyword domains, and now many people stubbornly think you shouldn’t use them. I’m here to tell you there is a big difference between using premium “category killer” exact match domains, and those that are what I’d call “long tail exact match” domains. The myth that you need to use a brandable domain, or an exact match domain, is a stubborn one. The best exact match domains can be both, I think an example of a strong domain that is also somewhat brandable is BettingUSA.com. How do you decide on which affiliate programs to work with? I always tell affiliates to pick their partners wisely, for example we’ve been working with bet365 for 15 years without a hiccup, while some of the newer programs come and go in less than a year. It’s inevitable that things will change, and it’s equally important that affiliates are good partners to the brands they work with, as the programs are to us. I prefer to work with operators that communicate quickly when I ask questions, solve problems efficiently when they arise, and are willing to take a look at our reviews and provide supplemental information and feedback. I rarely work with affiliate programs that cold call me, spam me, or bug me relentlessly for better positions. My best advice to inexperienced affiliates is to only work with the programs that you yourself would be comfortable playing at. I said this in our 2013 interview and I think it’s worth repeating again: sometimes the best programs for affiliates are the worst programs for players. It’s important to find the unicorns that tick both of those boxes. It’s alsomore important than ever to build personal relationships with asmany people at the programs youwork with as possible. A lot of great people work in a lot of roles in our industry, and I recommend beingmindful that people do change roles and companies over time, I regularly encounter people I’ve worked with in the past. Images by Sean Pavone/Shutterstock; Joshua Resnick/Shutterstock MJM about A little bit more MikeMurphy He is 43 years old His favorite food is Tacos His sites are BettingUSA.com OnlineBettingSites.com USGambling.com BettingBonuses.com TennisBetting.com He is living in his hometown Madison, Wisconsin (U.S.) His favorite movie is Young Guns As a teamof two, with a few freelancers, we are doing our best to compete with giant media companies. I like to think that the information we present on BettingUSA.com is genuine, authentic, and less commercial than our competition. 47 G P W A t i m e s . o r g
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