iGB Affiliate 89_Q1 2022 | Page 23

JORDAN HILLIARD is a senior SEO Lead at Blueclaw Media . With nearly five years ’ SEO experience , Jordan has gained experience in a number of industries , with special focus on YMYL ( Your Money , Your Life ) sites and more recently on both operator and affiliate sites at Blueclaw . sure to check what your competitors are utilising and review current performance in order to decide what ’ s actually important to include – and how you should include it . Always stick to using tried-and-tested navigation features rather than creating something from scratch , and improve on this as you operate . And make sure to perform user testing as early in the process and as often as you can in order to continually identify areas of improvement .
ISSUE : Illogical transitions between web pages For many sites that are looking to display a large amount of data , it ’ s easy to provide confusing internal links to other pages that don ’ t make a lot of sense – for example , prompting users to visit an online slots page when they ’ re reading a football article – which can lead to keyword stuffing and cannibalisation due to illogical link paths repeated across different pages .
SOLUTION : Streamline relevant link paths Make sure that you ’ re only providing internal links or clickable CTAs to pages or services that are relevant to the page a user is visiting . Also , avoid redirects as this will improve the authority and trustworthiness of your site . In short , each page should adhere to Google ’ s Search Quality Rating Guidelines to avoid being interpreted as spam . This is particularly important for sectors that can struggle with reputation issues , such as igaming .
SUMMARY
Ultimately , providing a positive user experience that guarantees accessibility , findability and efficiency should be a top priority for affiliate brands to compete within a competitive igaming landscape . It ’ s no longer enough to offer attractive bonuses , a diverse profile of game titles or generous odds ; users are increasingly becoming used to navigating responsive and attractive apps and sites , meaning any factors that impair their interactive experience will be tolerated less and less as time goes on .
However , it ’ s important to note that Page Experience isn ’ t the be-all and endall when it comes to attracting a target audience . Here , Google still looks to rank pages that provide the best information overall , even if the UX is lacking . Page Experience doesn ’ t overrule having quality page content , and so optimising Core Web Vital factors should be a focus within a wider SEO strategy , rather than a standalone goal .
In order to evaluate how good the UX of your website is , you should undergo user testing for real-life insight into how users are interacting with your site , and also review conversion rates ; if your conversion rates are high , the user experience is probably positive . For more information , you can consult Google ’ s Core Web Vitals and Page Experience FAQs , or take Google ’ s Mobile-Friendly Test .
Q1 2022 • ISSUE 89 • 23