A new report from WhichBingo recently highlighted the problems being faced by the online bingo operators in the UK and ways to overcome it. It focused on Google’s EAT update which is changing the market for both operators and their affiliates.
The report highlighted that the online bingo organic search market has been very competitive historically. It is also one of the most volatile markets in the UK. It has several operators, publishers, and affiliates trying to use different tactics to gain attention for a small number of keywords.
However, Google’s EAT update and its Search Quality Evaluator updates introduced in August 2018 have made the market more stable over the years. The search engine giant is looking to improve the quality of search results using three key principles- expertise, authority, and trust.
Operators that already followed these practices were benefitted by the change as the update now favors trusted brands and established domains which follow the best practices on security, usability and page speed.
Stickyeyes analyzed 319 non-branded keywords with the biggest search volumes in the UK and found that the term “bingo” still gets 38% of all the online search volume in this industry. Surprisingly, it is also the most competitive keyword in the industry. The term could bring traffic of 26,543 if the website is ranked number 1. The next two top keywords for the industry were “bingo sites” and “free bingo.”
The report also suggests that the trends are now favoring one or two hot keywords for each category in the iGaming sector- like “bingo,” “casino,” and “poker.” The longer-tail search terms are now a thing of the past. Even two- or three-word keywords are experiencing a downward search data. This trend also helps the more established brands in the industry to rank higher.
However, the report still suggests that brands should work on “keyword sets” instead of individual keywords to diversify their risk. It is also a more valuable strategy from a customer acquisition point of view as it helps brands in driving more organic traffic to their websites. It is also important because focusing on just one keyword could punish their click rates. Falling from rank 1 to rank 2 for the keyword “bingo” could cost a domain as many as 13,000 clicks.
Adding one or two words to existing high-volume keyword adds some diversification, helping businesses sail through better. Using these keywords may also present some opportunities for an upsell.
The report praised Gala Bingo for its SEO efforts and said that it is the most visible brand in the UK bingo market. In 2018, the brand increased its organic search visibility from 32,409 to 35,694. Over 74% of its visibility came through the word “bingo” which is down from 82% in 2017. However, it still had 2.5x more visibility than the second most visible brand.
The other two brands with great visibility during the year were Wink Bingo and Mecca Bingo. Other brands are working in a highly competitive environment, all gaining nearly the same amount of visibility.
