Maximize iGaming Revenue Without More Traffic
Many publishers within the iGaming industry are of the mindset that if they would like to increase their revenue, they must attract more traffic to their websites. While increasing the number of visitors to a website can lead to an increase in revenue, it is often the most costly means of increasing earnings.
The most successful affiliates and publishers understand that it is possible to significantly increase the revenue they earn from their websites without attracting a single additional visitor. Through improving the monetization of their existing traffic and visitors, they can significantly improve their earnings.
As the cost of acquiring traffic increases for most websites, focusing on maximizing the revenue earned from existing visitors is one of the most effective means of increasing revenue within the iGaming industry.
The Problem With Chasing More Traffic
To acquire traffic for their websites, publishers must invest in various processes such as:
Content production
Search engine optimization
Link building
Paid advertising
Social media promotion
None of these strategies will necessarily ensure that the publisher earns more revenue from their website. A publisher that earns little revenue from their visitors may earn less than a publisher that has fewer visitors but higher revenue from each visitor.
Revenue per visitor is the most important number to track for publishers.
Understanding Revenue Per Visitor
Revenue per visitor is a basic metric for publishers to track. The formula for calculating this metric is as follows:
Total Revenue ÷ Total Visitors = Revenue Per Visitor
Improving this metric will allow publishers to significantly increase their revenue without investing in acquiring additional traffic.
For instance, two publishers may have the same number of visitors to their websites. However, if one earns more revenue from their visitors than the other, their revenue per visitor will be higher.
Audit Your Current Monetization Performance
Publishers should take time to review their current website to determine where they are losing revenue.
Metrics to review include:
Click-through rates
Earnings per click (EPC)
Registration rates
First-time deposit rates
Revenue share performance
Geographic conversion rates
Identify Underperforming Offers
Not all bonuses and offers from iGaming operators will perform as well as others. Some publishers may experience issues with the following:
Low conversion rates
Poor user experiences
Weak onboarding processes
Limited payment options
Through reviewing the performance of offers from different operators, publishers can ensure that they are not losing revenue due to poor performing offers.
Optimize Offer Placement
The placement of offers on a publisher’s website can significantly impact the number of visitors that perform the desired actions on the publisher’s site. High-performing placements for offers may include:
Comparison tables
Top recommendation sections
In-content recommendations
Bonus review pages
Mobile-optimized buttons
Reduce Decision Fatigue
When faced with too many choices, the human mind begins to fatigue from making too many decisions. By focusing on the most important offers and highlighting them on the publisher’s website, publishers may experience an increase in the number of visitors that take the desired actions.
Benefits of focusing on the most important offers may include:
Improved click-through rates
Better conversion rates
Stronger user experiences
Segment Traffic for Better Monetization
Not all visitors to a publisher’s website have the same intentions. A visitor that is searching for information on sports betting will have a different experience from one that is searching for information on casino bonuses. Additionally, visitors from different regions may have a better response to certain offers than others.
Geographic Segmentation
Publishers from different regions of the world may experience differences in the results they receive from the same offers from their partnered iGaming operators. Factors that may differ between regions may include:
Licensing availability
Operator acceptance
Payment preferences
Market competition
Similarly, the device on which visitors access a publisher’s website may also have an impact on how well an offer performs. Mobile devices have taken over much of the iGaming industry these days.
Device-Based Segmentation
Factors to consider when segmenting traffic based on the device upon which the visitors access a website may include:
Mobile conversion rates
Page load speeds
User experience metrics
Registration completion rates
Diversify Revenue Models
Most publishers currently rely upon one type of revenue model to generate their revenue from the offers they feature on their websites. This limits their potential earnings.
Balance CPA and Revenue Share
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) models allow publishers to earn revenue from the visitors that take a specific action on the publisher’s website. Revenue Share models provide publishers with revenue over time from the visitors that perform the required actions on the website operators’ platforms.
By balancing the use of these two revenue models, publishers can ensure that their revenue is more stable and they have a variety of income streams.
Explore Sponsored Content
Many iGaming operators spend significant effort and money to gain visibility within the industry through various publishers. They may seek to partner with publishers to feature their products and bonuses. Such a revenue stream is independent of the revenue generated from the visitors that perform specific actions on the websites of the partnered operators.
Sponsored content opportunities may include:
Featured reviews
Market reports
Industry analysis
Product launches
Improve User Experience
The user experience is one of the most important aspects of a publisher’s website. The more difficult it is for a visitor to navigate the website or find the information they are seeking, the less likely they are to earn revenue for the publisher.
Increase Site Speed
Slow websites typically have lower conversion and revenue rates than fast websites. To increase revenue, publishers should focus on increasing the speed of their websites by:
Reducing page load times
Optimizing website and article images
Improving hosting providers
Increasing mobile website performance
Simplify Navigation
Visitors will be searching for specific information on a publisher’s website. Publishers should create an easy to navigate website that allows visitors to quickly find information about:
Casino reviews
Sportsbook comparisons
Bonus information
Payment details
Use Data to Drive Decisions
Data can help publishers significantly improve their revenue. By tracking the data described in the following bullets, publishers can track their success and what improvements they may need to make to their websites:
Revenue by page
Revenue by traffic source
Conversion rates by operator
Geographic performance
Device-level performance
Test Continuously
A/B testing can reveal significant improvements to a publisher’s websites. Such improvements may include:
Call-to-action buttons
Comparison tables
Landing pages
Offer positioning
By continuously improving these aspects of a publisher’s website, the publisher will begin to see an increase in the number of visitors that complete the desired actions on the website.
Recover Lost Revenue Through Traffic Routing
Publishers can lose revenue when visitors fail to take the required actions on the websites they visit. This can occur for various reasons such as:
Operators reject traffic from certain regions
Specific offers do not perform as well as others
Smart traffic routing software will automatically route visitors from the publisher’s website to the most suitable operator that can provide the visitors with the information they require and earn revenue for the publisher.
Benefits may include:
Higher conversion rates
Improved earnings per click
Reduced blocked traffic
Better monetization efficiency
This is especially true for publishers with international interests, as there are numerous opportunities to generate additional revenue.
Build Long-Term Audience Assets
Publishers often exclusively focus on earning revenue from traffic to their websites. However, there are additional ways to monetize their traffic in the long term.
Grow Email Lists
Many publishers use email as a means of promoting their websites and offers to their existing visitors. This is one of the highest-converting channels of traffic.
Benefits of creating an email list for visitors may include:
Direct access to their audience
Improved audience retention
Repeat engagement with their content
Reduced reliance on traffic from search engines
Strengthen Brand Authority
The trust that visitors have in the publisher will directly impact the revenue that the publisher earns from the operators’ websites.
Publishers that offer:
Accurate reviews
Transparent comparisons between operators
Use educational content to inform their audiences of specific terms and processes within the industry will earn better revenues over time than those that only promote the offers from their partnered operators.
Common Monetization Mistakes
Many publishers unknowingly make mistakes that prevent them from earning the maximum revenue from their websites.
Some of the most common include:
Relying upon a single operator to bring in the majority of their traffic and revenue
Ignoring mobile optimization for their websites
Failing to track their performance data for their websites
Using information within their articles that is out of date
Neglecting to segment their traffic based upon the reasons for which they visited their websites
Avoiding A/B testing their websites for areas of improvement
Addressing these issues will significantly improve the revenue that their websites earn.
The Future of Publisher Monetization
As the industry grows, the future of publisher revenue will focus on increasing the efficiency of their websites rather than the number of visitors they attract.
Some of the trends within the industry for the future may include the implementation of AI software that can automatically maximize revenue for publishers, the use of first-party data to improve user experiences, traffic routing software, the personalization of the experiences that are offered to their visitors, and the implementation of real-time analytics to monitor the performance of the websites.
Publishers who are committed to embracing these technologies will have the best chance of maximizing the revenue that they earn from the visitors who come to their websites.
Final Thoughts
While increasing the traffic to a website is important for the publishers who feature offers from iGaming operators, it is not the only, nor often the fastest, means of increasing revenue.
By focusing on the aspects mentioned in this article, iGaming publishers will find significant improvements to the revenue that they earn from the visitors to their websites.
Publishers who can find ways to maximize the revenue earned from their existing visitors will have the best long-term success within the iGaming industry.