How to Measure Blocked Traffic in iGaming
While most iGaming business owners spend a considerable amount of time measuring the effectiveness of their marketing channels in terms of clicks, registrations, and depositing players, one of the most important metrics goes unnoticed.
The blocked traffic metric indicates how many people visited a website but did not have the opportunity to become customers of the business. This population of users does not show up in any of the website’s conversion reports but can represent a significant percentage of revenue that the company is losing.
The best way to solve the problem of revenue loss due to blocked traffic is to learn how to measure it. By understanding the traffic that is being blocked, businesses can make better decisions regarding their marketing channels to maximize the value of each visitor to their site.
Why Measuring Blocked Traffic Matters
You cannot optimize what you do not measure.
The best reasons to measure blocked traffic include:
Identifying revenue leakage
Improving marketing campaign targeting
Reducing acquisition costs
Increasing the registration and deposit conversion rates of marketing channels
Optimizing affiliate programs and partnerships
Strengthening regulatory and compliance programs
Without measuring the number of users that are being blocked from the gaming company’s services, any efforts to optimize marketing channels will be based on incomplete data.
What Counts as Blocked Traffic?
Blocked traffic is any traffic that comes into the website but cannot proceed through the registration and depositing process due to a variety of reasons.
These can include:
Blocked by geography
Using unsupported jurisdictions
Identity verification failures
Licensing issues
Operator availability
Payment method failures
Technical redirect failures to registration and depositing pages
These users came to the website with the intention to register and play but were unable to do so.
Start With Funnel Analysis
One of the best ways to identify the number of visitors that were blocked from playing at all is to review the funnel for the gaming company’s website.
By measuring the number of people that visited each part of the funnel, from the landing page visits to qualified players, the company can identify where the greatest number of visitors were blocked.
Compare the number of clicks on the landing page versus the number of registrations to calculate the registration rate. A low registration rate could be due to blocked traffic.
Compare the number of clicks to the number of players to determine if the traffic to the gaming site is resulting in blocked users.
Analyze the geographic performance of clicks and registrants. Review the clicks and registrations according to the country of origin of the visitors. This can help the company determine if certain geographies are creating revenue loss due to licensing restrictions.
Measure the device performance of players. Compare the number of players that came from smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. A low performance rate of one device category indicates a technical problem with the user journey.
Track operator acceptance rates. Publishers may work with various operators. Reviewing the clicks and registrations according to each operator can create an understanding of the eligibility of audiences to register and play at each operator.
Identify any technical issues that may be blocking revenue. Review redirect failures, affiliate links, page loading speeds, and server availability to determine if there are any technical problems that result in blocked traffic.
Review the reasons for compliance program rejections. Many operators utilize compliance software to reject players with any issues that may prevent them from being eligible to receive prizes at the gaming site. Understanding the reason for these rejections can reveal any revenue loss caused by the operators.
Monitor the number of players that register but do not make deposits. These players may have difficulties with the deposit and payment process. The registration and deposit ratio can help determine if there are any issues with the deposit process at the company.
Build a Dashboard to Monitor Blocked Traffic
Instead of reviewing each of these reports individually, building a dashboard for the gaming site can show all the metrics related to blocked traffic.
Such a dashboard can include the following elements:
Total number of clicks on the site
Registration rate
Deposit rate
Geographic performance of players
Device performance rate
Number of players blocked by region
Number of players lost to redirect errors
Comparison of players accepted by each operator
Having all of these metrics in one location makes it easier to review and optimize the marketing channels.
Set Performance Benchmarks for Your Traffic
Each gaming company should have a benchmark for the performance of their traffic. Metrics to track can include:
Registration rate
Deposit conversion rate
Earnings per click (EPC) rate
Geographic performance averages
Mobile conversion rate
Establishing these benchmarks will allow the company to easily recognize if any marketing channels are not performing as they should and to take corrective action.
Use Real-Time Analytics to Monitor Traffic
Traffic performance can change rapidly. Using real-time analytics will allow the website and marketing channels to recognize any sudden drops in registration or deposit numbers.
Such a program will allow the company to take immediate action to resolve any issues causing blocked traffic.
Combine Analytics Data With Other Departments
Data from each department is essential to understanding blocked traffic.
Marketing departments track traffic from various channels.
Engineering departments track redirect failures and affiliate links.
Compliance departments recognize the reasons for rejected players.
Affiliate departments monitor which players registered with which gaming operators.
Sharing the analytics data between these departments will give each team a better understanding of blocked traffic.
Use the Data to Take Action
Data is useless if not used correctly. With the analytics data on blocked traffic, companies should take action to:
Improve their geo-targeting programs
Optimize the traffic routing to the gaming sites
Expand their operator partnerships with the greatest potential for revenue
Fix technical issues in the user journey that may be blocking the potential players
Update the content of their landing pages
Refine their targeting with marketing channels to ensure the traffic that arrives at their site contains the best potential players
By taking such action, blocked traffic will eventually be reduced to improve the revenue of the company.
The Future of Analytics and Blocked Traffic
Analytics programs for websites are becoming more intelligent and capable of recognizing problems with traffic without requiring the website owners to monitor different departments and metrics separately.
The future of analytics for gaming company websites will include the ability to:
Use AI to recognize blocked traffic automatically
Predict traffic potential for players
Provide automated recommendations to optimize traffic
Perform real-time compliance checks for players
Match players with the gaming operators that will accept them
These automated functions will make it easier for website owners to gain greater visibility into their blocked traffic.
Other metrics to track include the following:
Click-to-registration rate
Registration-to-deposit rate
Geographic conversion rate
Operator acceptance rate
Landing page abandonment rate
Device conversion rate
Redirect success rate
Revenue per visitor
Earnings per click
Traffic recovery rate
Monitoring these key performance indicators will allow publishers to build a solid foundation to optimize their traffic.
Despite the potential revenue that can be generated by the best iGaming websites and operators, the blocked traffic metric is one of the most overlooked.
While most of the industry’s resources go into optimizing clicks, registrations, and deposits, the reason that users do not reach the finish line can reveal significant revenue opportunities.
By measuring the blocked traffic statistic using the methods mentioned in this article, publishers and gaming company operators can make better decisions in their marketing channels. By continuously measuring and optimizing blocked traffic, companies will recover revenue, gain an advantage in the marketplace, and enjoy growth in their revenue streams.