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Entering New Markets: What to Know With SEO
There are millions of new players all searching for a home to play at, and online casino operators are only too happy to provide this service. However, it should be a given that it is always important to consider effective marketing when entering a new market. In the case of iGaming, digital marketing has an especially important role to play.
Why SEO?
In the same way that traditional marketing helps companies and brands become household names, the same is true for digital marketing, more specifically SEO. Those who take the time to carefully plan and execute an SEO strategy will likely succeed when entering a new market. Naturally, more traffic to a website is always a good thing and optimising the website to appear higher on search engines like Google is the best way to break into a new market and adopt those all-important new customers.
There are many things that people will need to be aware of when planning how they’re going to improve their SEO, as it is not a process that can be taken lightly. In fact, the consequences of doing so can be even worse than not developing an SEO strategy at all, which is why those who are looking to enter a new market should arm themselves with the relevant knowledge.
When it comes to SEO, there are three main ways that its implementation benefits the company.
Brand Awareness
Building awareness is something that every company should be wanting to do when they put their brand out there. The name of the game is to have that brand be a household name, something that is spoken about in passing conversation without even realising. This is what SEO seeks to do, as any website that is at the top of a search engine will likely be one that people have heard of before.
Visibility
To increase brand awareness, it follows that operators would want to make their site as visible as possible. People can have one of the most optimised sites in the world, but this means nothing if it is not visible on the web. Effective SEO will make that site appear in more places on the internet, something which link building is especially good at.
Positioning
It should be clear by now that these three factors are interrelated in that doing one helps the others to succeed. The same is true for a website’s competitive positioning. Of course, the goal is to appear first on search engines, but this is not something that is easily put into practice. By continually monitoring where a website ranks against its competitors, it enables people to see any growth that has occurred and emphasise what is working. Similarly, it reveals if something isn’t working with the strategy.
Entering new markets
When a new market is entered, there is going to be several different aspects that one might have to consider. This will be an extremely competitive environment – it will be full of new operators looking to get a toe in as well as established businesses who have experience and expertise in the industry. Fortunately, there are a few key areas to focus on:
Launching a website
A website is something that is designed to be accessed by the public, which means that it should be of high quality. However, in iGaming, this notion is emphasised particularly as people spend more time on websites than usual thanks to the games that are normally hosted there. Given this, SEO fundamentals such as fast loading content, a mobile-friendly layout and an easily navigable sitemap are the things to focus on.
Understanding various player attributes
It is also important to consider the different types of players in the new market, and how they operate. This can refer to competitors by looking at how they bring in new players with their own strategies – are they looking for short-term or long-term gains? If this is understood, it might help inform another operator’s strategy.
However, a player can also refer to the customer, who might have certain attributes that players in a different region might not have. For example, UK players prefer to bet on football and horseracing more than anything else, but the same might not be true for different nationalities. Taking the time to know the customer will prove rewarding in the end.
Market regulations and advertisement policies
It is easy to get caught up in trying to plan effective SEO strategies while not paying attention to market regulations and advertisement policies. Again, this is a mistake that can prove disastrous to make as ignoring them can lead to hefty fines and even lawsuits. Operators can offer their services because markets are regulated, so it only makes sense that these regulations should always be adhered to by those who are seeking to keep their licenses.
Most regulating bodies have their rules in place to protect the public, and the same is true for the advertisement policies that are usually in place regarding iGaming. This is something to consider, especially when considering SEO strategies like PPC and link building as these are easy ways to mistakenly break advertisement policies.
New markets are arriving all the time as laws change, and those looking to get involved will need to be aware of how SEO can help them as they enter this new landscape.
Panoptic Media work with 5 of the top 10 operators and 6 of the top 10 iGaming affiliates globally. Are you interested in growing online visibility and player acquisition in new or growing iGaming markets? Whether it’s SEO, PPC, navigating advertising regulations or even just link building… we are specialists in iGaming and may be able to help you. DM us or email jyates@panopticmedia.co.uk for a free SEO and PPC audit.
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