Ranking well on search engines has become more challenging. Check out our guide on why holistic is the way forward for iGaming SEO in 2020 right here

No other year has been more significant in terms of holistic iGaming content than 2020. Many industries suffered considerable losses in revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Out of all the products the sector offers, sports betting felt it the most due to the cancellation of matches and competitions.

Operators and iGaming affiliates have had to find creative ways to market other gambling products. What’s more, with the sports seasons back in full swing, the competition is hot for top rankings on search engine results pages (SERP).

Many website copywriters are still using the old method of keyword stuffing, as well as filling pages with material that’s not relevant to the topic. Today, we’re going to look at why the holistic approach is the way forward for iGaming SEO.

Search Engine Algorithm Updates

Google turned the SEO world upside down on 1 October 2019 by implementing the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT). Before then, iGaming affiliates were all too happy stuffing website pages with essential keywords. You’d read the same information several times within a few paragraphs, which you’d catch again further down the line.

Readers became intensely annoyed at this practice, and that’s why Google strove to change it. BERT forced site owners to find new ways to deliver content, with a greater focus on the bigger picture rather than on-page SEO. It’s a holistic approach where natural is king.

How does BERT do that? What elements does it look at when Google crawls your page? When it comes to iGaming SEO in 2020, how can you apply the new holistic approach? Let’s have a quick look.

Writing For The User, Not SEO

While BERT isn’t fond of keyword stuffing, it doesn’t mean you should ignore keyphrases completely. The only aspect that will harm your site is overuse and incorrect content placement. However, the algorithm still looks at keywords in terms of the context with the rest of the text.

In other words, it looks at how natural the articles are read, with a more holistic approach rather than a technical method. Quality has surpassed quantity. Your pages need to deliver answers to the reader’s questions, instead of merely writing to land the top SERP ranking.

Of course, you could make use of Latent Semantic Indexing. This method allows for content that has a similar meaning to your keywords, which lets you write about the same topic differently. It’s not about finding all the best synonyms; you’ll want to write sentences that deliver the same context for long-form SEO.

Here are a few tips for providing holistic information, specifically in the iGaming SEO industry:

● Stay away from flowery, highly descriptive words that are hard to understand.

● Be concise and clear, getting straight to the point rather than creating several paragraphs.

● There needs to be useful, new information, instead of a rehash of content you can find in hundreds of other online pages.

Topic Clusters

One of the best ways to explain how you can benefit from a holistic approach to iGaming content is talking about topic clusters. This term refers to a group of web pages that connect through singular pillar content. It helps you become the authority in a specific industry when more of your pages appear for one search query.

So let’s take a look at the first aspect of the topic cluster. Pillar content is the core of the group around which other site pages link. We recommend writing between 4,000 to 5,000 words, containing different elements of the primary subject matter. It’s a holistic overview where readers can find the most information from an eagle-eye perspective.

The next aspect is the cluster content. Now, you’ll break down different elements of the pillar content for a more direct approach. You’ll need to use long-form keyphrases for that specific topic, which links back to the pillar content. For instance, you wouldn’t write about the best martial arts if your core theme is iGaming.

Finally, you need to look at link building. Without this step, there’s no point in having pillar and cluster content. It consists of linking all your cluster pages to the core. It builds your authority on a subject matter and helps search engines find all the relevant information.

Here’s an example of a topic cluster for an iGaming affiliate.

User Intent Linked to Holistic Content

Linked to writing for the reader is the user intent. The first part looked at the curation, while this section refers to finding out what your audience wants to know. One of the main reasons that so many websites get low traffic is that they don’t contain interesting information.

You’ll soon find out why long-form keywords are vital when you hunt for user intent. Readers tend to ask their questions in long sentences rather than one or two words. By integrating various versions of these queries, you’re set to target more users than most other sites.

So, how can you make the most out of user intent? Here are a few things you can try:

• The Google autocomplete feature.
• The SERP section that reveals the frequently asked questions.
• The Related Searches area.

It’s essential that you don’t take these search results for granted. It means the difference between high web traffic and low views. If you make the extra effort towards holistic content that answers the user’s query, you’ll be rewarded.

New Ways Of Searching For Information

You need to keep in mind that search engine users find new ways to find answers to their queries. We’ve become so used to them typing in the text that we’ve ignored the latest technology that’s making their lives easier.

For instance, mobile searches are the new way to go. You may think it doesn’t impact how a user looks for something online, but this mistake is common. When someone is typing on their phone, they tend to ask their questions differently, sometimes including slang.

Google is also looking into voice searches, which adds a whole new dimension altogether. Have you ever tried speaking as you write in a casual conversation? It won’t sound the same. It won’t be long before iGaming affiliates include long-tail keyphrases to match how users ask queries verbally.

Viewing Websites As Brands

One of the most significant topics at the Chiang Mai SEO Conference in November 2019 was Google’s E-A-T holistic approach. The acronym stands for Expertise-Authority-Trustworthiness. It not only affects how you present the content but also changes your business model to view your website as a brand.

For this reason, iGaming SEO in 2020 is all about brand awareness. Search engines don’t only look at the relevance of your content and links. They also study the online effect your site is having on other channels.

Some examples include:

• Social media presence and engagement
• Google-My-Business (GMB) searches
• Company About and Contact pages
• Citations from other sources
• Quality backlinks from high-ranking domains

Therefore, your website content is only one aspect of taking a holistic approach to iGaming affiliate networking. You don’t only want readers to enjoy your reviews and information. Instead, you want a lasting relationship that keeps them coming back for more.

Top 5 Ways To Rank Faster For iGaming Content in 2020

Now that you’ve seen why a holistic approach to iGaming SEO in 2020 is so crucial, we’d like to highlight some ways that you can improve your site ranking. Some of these tips are quick and easy, while others may require more effort. Please keep in mind that you still need to present your information naturally, regardless of the below advice.

Here are our top 5 ways to deliver better and higher-ranking iGaming content in 2020.

Headline Variety

Experts often say that you should create a headline that’s attractive and draws the reader to your post. To achieve this goal, try different ways of styling your title. Present the same questions you find for the user intent with a quick call to action for the reader. Experiment with different wording until you find one that ranks well.

However, don’t make the mistake of reusing the same winning format over and over again. This advice is specifically relevant when creating headers for SEO snippets and social media. Each platform has differing ways of appealing to users, so ensure you make it robust and unique every time.

CDN For Loading HTML Files

A key aspect that relates to the reader returning to your site is the user experience. One of the top reasons potential readers close the page soon after entering is due to slow loading speed. Google’s BERT programming agrees, with your site receiving low SEO scores when it takes too long to load.

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) can help you out. You can host your large files on a CDN, which takes the pressure off your site. You can deliver content faster to readers worldwide, which will make them and search engines happier.

From Text To Images To Videos

Before visual media became popular, users enjoyed reading extensive pages of information, as long as it was informative and entertaining. Then the golden era of photos and images entered, which helped break the text lines and visually displayed what the content meant with graphic examples.

These days, search engines are capitalizing on videos. Users would much rather spend four minutes watching a video than ten minutes reading through the same information. Not only does it save time, but it’s easier on the eyes. Search engines rank relevant videos to search engine queries first before text content.

Local vs. International Content

Too many businesses are over-ambitious and try to rank their content against international results. The iGaming industry is massive, which means there’s so much material available worldwide. You’ll be better off targeting different regions and seeing how you rank locally.

Where you find high search volumes and low competition, you’re guaranteed to get the best ranking and high-volume traffic. You can apply the same principle when it comes to content in different languages. For instance, a country may have too much English content for your topic, but lack in Spanish. Try to use that opportunity to your benefit.

Revise Outdated Posts

If you have iGaming content that predates the 2019 BERT update, it’ll be worth your while going back and updating it. You can use the same methods we’ve mentioned above with a more holistic approach to meeting the user intent. In this way, old posts that didn’t do so well have a chance to win the SERP ranking trophy.

Updating posts is also essential for your SEO score. Search engines scan your entire site structure, working through new and old posts alike. The last thing you want is for your more recent ones to struggle against outdated material.

The Power Of Schema Markups

Before we end this article, we should briefly mention schema markups or plugins. It’s a recent development following the BERT update, which looks at your content’s quality and how you can improve it for SEO. International businesses have proven how schema markups have driven their posts to top rankings every time.

You need to keep a handle on which schema markups are still relevant. One schema you’ve been using for months may suddenly fail after a new Google update. It may also be linked to other plugins that are outdated and causing issues with your ranking.

The schema markup system is vital for iGaming SEO because some of them display ratings on SERPs when you review an operator or casino game. These star ratings quickly catch the readers high and give them a quick overview before clicking on your post. It’s a powerful method of gaining more views.

SiGMA Calendar:  

SiGMA Americas and AIBC Digital Summit were launched with great success in the past week, pushing the shifting grounds of the gaming industry towards LatAm and discussing the current developments in digitalisation. In a first for SiGMA, both the gaming and the tech segments of the conference were offered in 3 languages, English, Spanish and Portuguese.   

SiGMA will launch its next series of events in 2021, with SiGMA Europe headlining next year’s calendar. Inaugural summits in Asia and Americas are also set to dominate the year, with SiGMA Asia launching in May 2021 and SiGMA Africa in 2022! Explore the full agenda here and register now!