SEO Tracker: Oddschecker sweeps the football betting search results through multiple rankings

The odds comparison site oddschecker has long led the way in the search results when it comes to the sportsbook sector, particularly in the football market. We have highlighted previously some of the ways in which the brand has managed to command much of the search engine real estate, and some of the techniques that it has used to get into those prominent positions.

As the sports crept back into life following their Covid-19-enforced hiatus, and as we head into a new season of the Premier League following a much-shorter summer break, it seems that the comparison site has not only held onto its lead, but enhanced the traffic that it generates from search in the process.

Oddschecker stretches its lead in the search results

Oddschecker now generates a visibility of 29,793 from organic search for the biggest 319 non-brand keywords related to football betting. This is an increase from the 27,213 organic non-brand clicks that we recorded in August 2019.

To put that figure into context, the second-most visible brand in the football betting market is Paddy Power, which generates an estimated 15,343 clicks from the same keyword set.

Behind these two brands, the competitors really do seem to be struggling for visibility. William Hill has seen a particularly notable drop year-on-year, from 7,766 to 2,359, but most of the bookmaking brands are competing for between 2,000 and 3,500 clicks from organic search. This makes football betting a much less competitive market than we have seen in previous years.

Oddschecker dominating the search real estate with multiple links and listings

A significant contributory factor to this situation is the fact that oddschecker has a considerable number of multiple rankings across the keyword set. Of the 319 keywords that we analysed, oddschecker has 519 traffic-driving rankings.

We can see the nature of some of these links when we look closer at where the brand’s traffic is coming from.

The brand has three listings for the term “premier league odds” (comprising of one main ranking and two supplementary rankings), as well as two rankings each for the keywords “championship promotion odds”, “champions league winner odds”, “championship odds”, “premier league winner odds”, “premier league title odds” and “premier league relegation odds”.  In each of these cases, the brand holds the first and second organic ranking.

It is these multiple rankings that have allowed oddschecker to command large proportions of the search engine results real estate and to, in effect, crowd out the competition.

So how does oddschecker command such levels of coverage?

Content a big driver of oddschecker’s multiple listings

There are undoubtedly a number of factors at play behind the brand’s success. Looking at their SEO strategy from the analysis that we have done in this column historically, oddschecker has long shown a good understanding of the keyword set and the importance of a diverse keyword strategy – particularly in a sector such as this which is heavily driven by event and competition-based keywords.

Proposition also clearly plays a role. Much in the way that price comparison websites have dominated the search results in financial services due to their perceived impartiality, oddschecker fulfils that role in the betting sector.

But oddschecker also has a strong proposition when it comes to informational and engaging content, with much of the brand’s content ranking prominently for many of these high-volume keywords.

Position two for “premier league relegation odds”

Position two for “championship promotion odds”

This allows the brand to cover different user search intents with its search strategy. Those that are looking for direct odds comparisons can be directed to those market pages, while those looking for match previews, market analysis or tips can find relevant content as well.

As the football season returns, the onus is on bookmakers to kick-off activity quickly

As sport paused during lockdown, so did much of the marketing activity at online bookmakers. Even as they returned, big-money markets such as the Premier League were something of a foregone conclusion. Understandably, many bookmakers reined in marketing activity as their income dried up.

But as the season is set to kick-off again in September, there is clearly some catching up to do. Brands will no doubt turn to paid search in an attempt to make up for the traffic that they have lost on the short term, but the long-term strategy has to be focused on regaining that lost organic traffic. The bookmakers may not be able to compete with oddschecker on proposition, but content, user experience and keyword targeting should all be major focuses in the coming months.