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