A balancing act

Online casino affiliates are locked in a fierce battle over who can rank the highest for big traffic search terms such as best online casino and slots sites.

The most competitive, of course, is new online casinos as players in the UK and other markets around the world seek out the latest online casino brand launches.

This has seen affiliates direct significant resources to their new online casino pages in order to create the most effective ranking content, striking graphics and engaging video.

In addition to this, affiliates have also had to spend time researching new online casino brands and partnering with them to ensure their players are the first to know when they are available.

This focus on new online casinos means that more established brands are dropping out of the top ten recommended sites and even off affiliate homepages altogether.

For some affiliates this is not a problem as their own branding and positioning is solely focused on new online casinos, but for affiliates that work with a wide range of brands this is a challenge.

While some players do prefer to play at new online casinos, others prefer to play at established brands that have built a solid reputation over the years and are highly trusted.

That’s not to say they won’t play at a new online casino at some point, just that they are reassured when they see recognisable brands being promoted by the affiliate.

So how can affiliates strike the right balance between partnering with new and established online casino brands and, equally, how can they ensure they create content around both?

Choose wisely

There are two approaches to partnering with online casinos – be selective and work with around ten brands or go for volume and work with hundreds.

Either way, it is important that affiliates work with brands that meet the wants and needs of their readers. Certain casinos just don’t appeal to readers of certain affiliate sites.

Affiliates should also be mindful of how many of their recommended brands are new online casinos and how many are established online casinos.

If they wish to promote more new brands that is fine, but for every two added they could look to add one established operator as well.

It can sometimes be the case that an established operator launches a new brand – as with bgo and Chilli Casino – which provides an opportunity for affiliates kill two birds with one stone.

Give exposure to both

If you look at most online casino affiliate’s top ten rankings, they will be packed full of the latest brand launches with few if any established sites included.

It is certainly worth affiliates reordering the brands they are pushing the most via their top tens and on their homepages to include more established brands.

Sites like 888casino, PartyCasino and Mr Green offer incredible player experiences and high levels of trust. And for some players, they will still be “new” if they haven’t signed up to them before.

Of course, positioning comes down to the financial agreement between affiliate and operator with new online casinos often a little more generous when it comes to securing top spots.

Despite this, we have looked to balance the exposure we give to new and established online casinos across Find My UK Casino, regardless of the commercial agreements in place.

Refocus content production

There is nothing wrong with focusing content production on new online casino pages and related articles and guides but it is equally important to write about any established brands being promoted.

A great way of doing this is to write a single guide that compares new and established online casinos, laying down the pros and cons of each.

Again, this provides readers with the information they need about both types of online casino, allowing them to make an informed decision about where to play.

And that ultimately is the role of an online casino affiliate. We exist to educate players about the different casinos available to them and the experiences they can expect to find at each.

Of course, huge numbers of players are searching for new online casinos and want to play at the latest brands and affiliates are right to create content around this.

But it is important not to lose sight that other players prefer to play at more established brands. To engage these players, affiliates must work with and promote such sites.

It really is about striking the right balance between new and established and providing readers with the information they are seeking in order decide where to play.

It is a challenge but that is what makes being an online casino affiliate so much fun.