How to Identify Blocked Traffic Before You Lose Revenue
For most iGaming publishers, blocked traffic is invisible to them until they lose revenue. They see clicks, SEO positions, and visitors reports indicate that the website is doing well, but revenue from their online promotions is dropping. If publishers do not have the proper analytics in place, it can be difficult to gain an understanding of the issue.
Publishers typically have a surplus of traffic but the traffic that is coming to their websites is unable to find an eligible operator to join. Whether it is licensing issues, technical problems with the website or links, or even issues with the markets that the operators offer, users are being blocked before they can register with the company or deposit funds into their accounts.
The earlier that publishers can identify that traffic is being blocked, the easier it will be for them to recover the lost revenue from that traffic. The modern analytics and monitoring tools available to publishers will allow them to identify these issues before revenue is significantly affected.
Why Early Detection of Blocked Traffic is Important
When publishers do not recognize that traffic is being blocked, a variety of different metrics begin to decline over time due to the blocked traffic.
Those that may decline include the following:
Conversion rates
Earnings Per Click (EPC)
First-time deposits
Commissions
Campaign performance
The identification of these issues in their earliest stages will minimize the damage that the blocked traffic does to the publisher’s revenue.
Watch for Signs of Sudden Drop in Conversions
One of the first signs of blocked traffic is the sudden drop in the number of conversions. Publishers can investigate the following metrics to determine the reasons for the dropped conversions:
Geographic traffic
Availability of the operator
Functionality of the landing page
Performance of the redirects
The investigation should be rapid to minimize the impact of any issues on revenue.
Monitor the Performance of Traffic by Geography
Publishers should monitor the traffic coming into their website by the country or region of the visitors.
Metrics to review by region may include the following:
Number of clicks in the region
Number of registrations from the region
Rate of deposits from the region
Bounce rates in the region
Publishers can use these metrics to determine if the blocked traffic is the result of licensing restrictions on operators in specific regions.
Analyze the Success of the Website Redirects
Publishers should ensure that the traffic coming from their links to the online casinos or operators successfully finds its way to those operators.
Metrics to track may include the following:
The number of successful redirects
The number of failed redirects
The response time of the redirects
The availability of the destination sites
These metrics will provide insight into the technical issues, if any, that the publisher may be experiencing.
Review the Availability of the Operators
The operators may change the markets that they license. Publishers should review the availability of the operators of the sites that they feature to ensure that no traffic is being blocked due to the lack of licensing of specific markets by the operator.
The licensed jurisdictions
Active campaigns
Country availability
Promotional eligibility
Test the Affiliate Links
Publishers should ensure that their affiliate links are working. It is easy to assume that the links continue to work indefinitely.
Metrics that can be tested include the following:
Parameters in the link
Landing pages in the link
Campaign URLs
Redirect functionality
Any affiliate link that does not work properly can lead to revenue loss for the publisher.
Compare the Performance of the Website on Different Devices
Publishers should monitor the website’s performance on different devices.
Metrics to compare may include:
Desktop
Mobile devices
Tablet devices
The websites might function differently on certain devices, leading to potential revenue loss for the publisher.
Monitor the Health of the Landing Pages
The landing pages on the websites should be technical issues that prevent users from continuing past the registration step.
Elements of the landing pages to monitor include:
Availability of the landing pages
Loading speed of the pages
Error messages on the pages
Functionality of registration forms
Responsiveness of the page on mobile devices
The health of these landing pages will have a direct impact on the publisher’s ability to convert visitors.
Track the Number of Blocked Visitors
Many publishers may focus solely on the number of visitors that came to their websites and the number of conversions from those visitors. However, the number of visitors that are blocked before they can find an operator is also a critical metric.
Metrics to track for blocked traffic may include:
Number of blocked visitors
Geographic distribution of the blocked visitors
The rate at which the blocked traffic can be recovered
The number of failed redirects
The revenue that is recovered from the blocked visitors
Creating a dedicated report for blocked traffic will provide publishers with greater visibility into traffic issues.
Create Automated Alerts for Publishers
The monitoring of blocked traffic does not have to rely on reports from publishers.
Automated alerts can inform the publishers of the following:
Decline in the conversion rates
Increase in the number of failed redirects
Change in the availability of the featured operators
Change in the geographical traffic to their websites
Publishers can respond rapidly to these alerts to minimize the impact on their revenue.
Use Smart Traffic Routing Platforms
Traffic routing platforms will allow publishers to automatically send visitors to the best online casino or operator without the visitor having to be aware of the process.
These platforms will consider a variety of factors, including the visitor’s:
Country
Device
Browser language
Licensing of the operators
Campaign regulations
If the visitor is unable to access the first operator of interest, they will be automatically redirected to another one that is suitable for that visitor.
Learn from the Website’s Historical Data
Publishers can review the historical data of their website’s traffic to determine any potential issues or reasons for declined revenue.
Metrics to review may include the following:
Seasonal campaigns
Sporting events
Geographic traffic
Performance of the featured online operators
Any publisher that reviews the performance of their websites over time will have a better understanding of their traffic and can plan their activities to maximize their revenue.
Artificial Intelligence and Blocked Traffic
Artificial intelligence is dramatically increasing the ease with which publishers can identify blocked traffic.
AI platforms can monitor the website and identify the following:
Abnormal patterns in the conversion of visitors to customers
Anomalies in traffic routing to online casinos
Predictions of issues with the availability of operators
Recommendations for increasing the publisher’s revenue
Geographical risks in the traffic coming to their websites
These automated programs reduce the amount of manual monitoring of traffic by publishers.
Common Mistakes with Blocked Traffic
Blocked traffic is often ignored by publishers. Many of the reasons for this are due to the following:
Publishers only monitor the number of clicks on their links
They do not review the traffic by region
They do not test their links regularly
They review the conversions too late in the visitor journey
They rely upon manual reviews of the traffic
Publishers that increase their visibility into blocked traffic may be able to recover revenue lost due to these issues.
Best Practices to Identify Blocked Traffic
In order to identify blocked traffic as early as possible, the following practices should be employed by the publishers:
Monitor website conversions daily
Review the geographic performance of the visitors
Test the affiliate links automatically
Track the health of website redirects
Create alerts to monitor performance
Compare the performance on different devices
Maintain partnerships with multiple online casino operators
Analyze the trends in blocked traffic
By implementing any of these practices, the publishers will see an improvement in their revenue.
Looking Ahead
As the number of online casinos expands into new markets with licensing restrictions on the operators, the industry will evolve to include more sophisticated means of identifying blocked traffic.
Future platforms will include the following features:
Artificial intelligence programs to identify traffic issues
Traffic routing analytics
Automated online operator validation
Predictive analytics on conversion rates of website visitors
Performance scoring of individual publishers
The ability to embrace these features will allow publishers to identify issues early and recover their blocked traffic to maximize revenue.
Final Thoughts
If publishers do not take the time to monitor their conversion rates, review the geographic performance of their website’s visitors, test their affiliate links, and use traffic routing platforms, they will lose revenue from their blocked traffic.
The best publishers monitor these metrics on an ongoing basis to ensure that they do not lose revenue from any issues. In the world of iGaming, identifying blocked traffic early is one of the best ways to protect revenue.