Preventing Blocked Traffic in iGaming Campaigns
Every click possesses value within the iGaming industry. Whether the traffic comes from search engines, affiliate websites, advertisements, or social media channels, both the publishers and the iGaming operators put in significant effort to attract traffic to their websites.
Despite the efforts invested in attracting users to their websites, not all of the traffic is successful in reaching the conversion stage. Every day, thousands of users from specific countries are blocked from accessing the websites due to licensing issues.
Despite the possibility of recovering the blocked traffic, the best strategy is to prevent this traffic from being blocked in the first place. By minimizing the instances of traffic being blocked, the publishers and the operators will maximize the value of the traffic they attract.
Why Prevention is Better than Recovering Blocked Traffic
Recovering the traffic that is blocked from accessing the websites is a strategy that is made possible through the use of redirect and offer websites for the users. However, preventing the traffic from being blocked altogether eliminates an additional stage in the conversion process for the users.
When users encounter any difficulties in accessing a website, they tend to abandon that journey in search of another operator that will offer them the desired experience.
Preventing blocked traffic will provide the following advantages to the iGaming industry:
Higher conversion rates
Better user experience
Improved advertising efficiency
Increased affiliate revenue
Lower acquisition costs
More accurate reporting on the performance of the advertising campaigns
Keeping eligible users within a smooth and effortless journey to conversion is the primary objective of every user and marketing campaign in the iGaming industry.
Understanding Why Traffic is Blocked
There are various reasons why traffic can be blocked by users from reaching the conversion stage on the websites.
Some of the common reasons for blocked traffic include:
Geographic restrictions
Licensing restrictions
Age verification issues
Operator restrictions
Payment issues
Technical issues
Anti-fraud systems
Some of these issues are unavoidable, but most can be prevented with better planning and the implementation of suitable technology within the iGaming industry.
Start With Better Geographic Targeting
One of the most common reasons for blocked traffic is the incorrect targeting of geographic locations.
The licenses obtained by the iGaming operators are limited to the countries in which they are licensed to operate.
By sending traffic from another country to these websites, the users will be blocked from accessing the offers on these websites.
Segment your traffic according to the markets in which you plan to promote your offers. By segmenting the markets based on the following factors, you will find that the blocked traffic will significantly decrease:
Country of visit
State of visit
Language of visit
Regulatory market
By creating region-specific offers on these websites, the user experience will be significantly improved for the visitors.
Ensure that the traffic targeted at these websites is matched with the operators that license these countries.
Before launching any of your campaigns for the iGaming operators, verify the licensing of the companies and which countries they feature:
Licensing of company
Locations of players that are accepted
Accepted payment methods
Registration eligibility
By maintaining a database of these operators and the licenses under which they operate, you will be able to avoid sending any traffic to companies that will block the users from the websites.
Improve the qualification of your audience for the offers
The traffic that you allow to click on your links will be the source of your revenue. To ensure that this occurs, improve the qualification of your audience before they click on your links.
By including the following information on your links and advertisements, you will significantly improve the quality of the traffic that you receive:
Eligible countries of visit
Age of visitor
Accepted payment methods
Licensing of the company
Optimize your landing pages
Your landing pages will play a vital role in optimizing the user experience for your audience members. If the experience on your landing pages is poor, users will abandon the journey to register for the offers that you promote.
Improve the mobile experience
A significant portion of the traffic that visits your websites is from mobile devices.
Therefore, your landing pages should be optimized for mobile devices with:
Fast loading times
Mobile-friendly layout and navigation
Easy calls to action
Keep the promotional information up to date
Ensure that your promotions and bonuses are up to date.
Review the following aspects of your offers regularly:
Welcome bonuses
Bonus terms
Promotional dates
Links to landing pages
Use intelligent traffic routing systems
Traffic routing will help prevent traffic from reaching the blocked operators.
An intelligent traffic routing system can assess the user’s location, device, language, and the available operators and automatically route the user to the best offer for them.
Dynamic selection of operators
If an operator will not accept a user from their country, the traffic routing system will automatically direct the user to another operator.
Monitor your campaigns
The blocked traffic will be gradual. However, by monitoring the performance of your campaigns, you will be able to adjust the offers to improve the experience for the users.
Assess the following metrics for your campaigns:
Registration rates
First-time deposits
Geographic conversion rate
Landing page abandonments
Click to conversion rate
Any changes to the conversion of your traffic may indicate issues with your traffic routing or eligibility to the iGaming operators.
Improve your technical infrastructure
The technical infrastructure of your company may be an instance of blocked traffic.
Test your website’s technical infrastructure to ensure that the following are functioning correctly:
Redirects to other websites
Tracking software
Availability of landing pages
SSL certificates
Server availability
Improve your collaboration with your affiliate partners
Ensure that your collaboration with the iGaming operators is such that you work together to improve the experience for your audience.
Some forms of collaboration include the following:
Sharing data on the traffic conversions
Sharing information on the blocked regions
Updating the offers that you promote
Reviewing the campaigns together
Collaborating with your affiliate partners will significantly improve your traffic performance.
Build compliance into your campaigns
Ensure that your campaigns are designed with compliance with licensing and regulatory requirements as one of the primary considerations from the start.
Some of the aspects to review include:
Promotional content
Eligibility of jurisdictions
Responsible gambling content
Licensing references in the promotional content
By including these aspects into the planning of your campaigns, you will be able to avoid the issues caused by non-compliance with licensing requirements.
Reduce the friction that users encounter during registration
The process of registration for iGaming companies can be complex for the users, leading to blocked traffic from users who abandon the registration process.
Operators should review the registration process and find a way to reduce the number of steps required to register.
Improve the experience of the following registration aspects:
Length of registration process
Steps in identity verification
Design of registration form
Mobile registration process
Prepare for regulatory changes
The regulations for the iGaming industry are subject to change from time to time.
Therefore, prepare your companies to react quickly to changes in the regulations by having processes in place to:
Monitor regulatory changes
Launch revised campaigns to follow the changes in regulations
Update landing pages with new offers
Train your marketing teams on changes in the regulations
Technology will continue to improve the prevention of blocked traffic
The technology used in the traffic acquisition and management process will continue to improve in the future.
Some of the technologies that will prevent blocked traffic for users in the future will include:
Artificial intelligence traffic qualification
Predictive traffic routing
Automated compliance systems
Real-time operator availability monitoring tools
Dynamic audience segmentation tools
The implementation of these technologies will significantly reduce the number of instances of users being blocked from the offers of the iGaming operators.
Best Practices Checklist
Publishers and iGaming operators can use the checklist below to review their current traffic acquisition processes.
Check the following best practices:
Only target the countries in which the company is licensed to operate
Ensure that the operators targeted at the users are licensed to accept players from the visitors’ countries
Optimize the landing pages for mobile devices
Ensure that the offers are up to date with bonuses that are active and valid
Monitor the conversion rates of your traffic every day
Use traffic routing software to direct visitors to the best offer
Review the licensing requirements of your offers
Test and ensure that your redirects and tracking software are up to date
Work with different iGaming operators to diversify your traffic
Review and optimize your marketing channels according to their performance data
Following these best practices will significantly improve the traffic acquisition process for iGaming companies and publishers.
Final Thoughts
Blocked traffic within the iGaming industry is among the most preventable issues for publishers and operators.
While the recovery of this traffic is beneficial, the best outcome will be preventing it from being blocked in the first place.
By focusing on improving the targeting of the traffic to licensed countries and operators, using traffic routing software and improving the user experience on all landing pages, reducing the number of instances of technical issues, and focusing on compliance with licensing requirements, publishers and operators can significantly reduce the issues of blocked traffic.
As the regulations increase for the industry, having a strategy to prevent blocked traffic will give your company a significant advantage over your competitors.