TRAFFIC
This is despite both brands having been directly affected by the Penguin algorithm in previous years .
Across other industries , most brands rightly ( or wrongly ) began to recover from Penguin almost immediately in September or October , when the update started to roll out . For the igaming industry , there were very few recorded Penguin recoveries , which suggested that Google more wanted to see if the affected sites were to return to organic growth again .
The activity of Mecca Bingo and Genting Casino shows that there is a clear correlation between the growth in referring domains ( number of backlinks ) and the impressive visibility growth that these sites have experienced . Figure 3 expresses the aggressive activity of both brands when it comes to link acquisition .
It is no coincidence that Mecca Bingo and Genting Casino have almost tripled their visibility since the start of the year . Link acquisition has clearly been at
Figure 3 : The aggressive activity of the brands that achieved the most growth in visibility in terms of link acquisition — Genting Casino and Mecca Bingo
Genting Casino
Mecca Bingo
Figure 4 : Year-on-year , NetBet has been losing links as fast as it has acquired them
the core of their SEO strategies and Google has rewarded both sites with higher rankings .
Nearly 40 % of the sites we analysed recorded a decline in visibility since October 2016 . In contrast to the ‘ winners ’, many of these sites have failed to establish a compelling link acquisition strategy and other sites have capitalised on this .
NetBet , which has recorded the heaviest visibility decline year-on-year , clearly failed to establish any real strategy when it comes to link acquisition . Figure 4 shows that it is losing links as fast as it is acquiring them . Since October 2016 , the number of referring domains pointing to the site has dropped 36 %.
Even a brand such as William Hill has failed to address the need for link acquisition this year . Its 31 % decline in visibility would probably come as a surprise to many because of the sheer size of the brand . However , a 14 % decline in referring domains suggests link acquisition hasn ’ t formed a strong enough part of its strategy this past year and it has suffered the consequences ( see Figure 5 ).
Link acquisition is as important as ever Looking to 2018 , it ’ s vital for igaming brands and affiliates to take link acquisition seriously if they want to see organic growth . Big or small , no brand is immune . The evidence suggests that Google is rewarding sites quicker than they have ever done in the past . However , it ’ s equally important that sites are acquiring the right types of links — ones that aren ’ t going to be devalued down the line .
Based on what we have seen in 2017 , the premise for brands in 2018 is quite simple — take link acquisition seriously or risk falling behind .
Figure 5 : William Hill has suffered a 14 % decline in visibility year-on-year
JJ GRICE works as a digital strategist at St Ives Group-owned Branded3 , where he has worked with some of the UK ’ s biggest brands , leading and delivering search marketing strategies .
20 iGB Affiliate Issue 65 OCT / NOV 2017