How to start a casino affiliate website

If you are considering launching a casino affiliate business, you have come to the right place. We did thorough research and simplified the process of becoming a casino affiliate for you. After all, as an iGaming content agency with years of experience in the industry, we’re well aware of the challenging yet straightforward road ahead of you.

What do you say? Are you ready to learn how to become a casino affiliate and launch your new business venture right now?

What Are Casino Affiliate Businesses?

Let’s start with the basics. In short, casino affiliates are online marketers that redirect players toward the online casinos they are in partnerships with. That is usually achieved by publishing well-written articles that heavily rely on SEO (search engine optimization) marketing. The content can easily reach its target audience with detailed research and the proper keywords. And that’s exactly what a casino affiliate business does.

Shortly explained, an online gambling affiliate is the business model of generating a profit by sending leads to gambling businesses.

How Do Casino Affiliate Businesses Make Money

You may wonder how casino affiliate businesses earn money because they are not under the direct employment of their online casino partners. The answer is pretty simple.

The gambling affiliate sites get special tracking links (referral links) they embed in their content. Once the content with the links is published, every time a new player uses the link to register and play on the casino’s website or app, they receive an appropriate commission.

Every affiliate program is different, but most of the time, it requires a referral to click the link and complete a transaction to be eligible for a commission. Sometimes revenue depends on how much the referrals spend in the online casino. Other times they rely on the number of times the affiliate link is clicked.

As we already mentioned, each casino affiliate program is different, and it’s up to you to find the best one for your business. We’ll go over the most common revenue models next.

Casino Affiliate Revenue Models Explained

As we already mentioned, there are several different payment methods.

• Cost Per Click (CPC) – The CPC affiliate program offers a small fixed fee for each link click. This payment method is one of the rarest affiliate programs in the online casino industry and one of the least paid ones, with rates up to $1 per click.
• Cost per Lead (CPL) – Some casino affiliate programs include a commission for every new registration on their website or app. As soon as your referrals make an account, you can earn between $5 and $15.
• Cost Per Action (CPA) – With this affiliate program, you will earn a fixed fee for each referral’s first deposit. Depending on the deposit size and location, you can earn between $50 and $500 for every first deposit.
• Revenue Share (RS) – The RS is one of the most common gambling affiliate programs, which offers from 10% to 60% of the casino’s revenue made by your referral. In some cases, the revenue share can get as high as 90% or even 100%. That said, keep in mind that you will earn as long as your referral is spending money. If they win, since the casino is losing, so will you. But this is a topic for another day.
• Hybrid – Some affiliate programs offer the hybrid deal as a combination of CPA and RS, which usually includes $30 CPA + 20% RS.

It’s important to note that not all of these are offered by all online casino affiliate partners. Moreover, what deal you get heavily depends on your authority in the industry. For example, someone who just started probably won’t get a 50% rev share. Instead, the casino affiliate site will have to prove its value to the partner first by sending enough traffic and first-time depositors.

Are Casino Affiliate Websites Profitable

As with any other website, there is no guarantee that it will be profitable. As a website business owner, you may earn $10,000 or even $100,000 per month, or you may not earn anything.

One leading brand when it comes to iGaming affiliate success stories is AskGamblers. The brand has been around for years and reports annual revenues of $6 million. Yet, it takes time, dedication, knowledge, and money to get there. Having one casino affiliate writer and another person responsible for everything else is rarely the road to success. Instead, you’ll need an entire team of iGaming professionals who will know what your visitors and partners want.

Even when making money, your profits may vary from month to month, with some months being high and others barely bringing anything. With so many affiliate gambling sites out there, the competition is high, and you will have to offer something unique to the market to stand out from the rest.

In other words, gambling affiliate sites can be very profitable, as proven by some businesses already, but there is no sure way of achieving that goal. Building a successful casino affiliate business will take a lot of time and effort and many ups and downs.

How to Start Your Own Online Casino Affiliate Website

Starting an affiliated business in the casino industry may feel overwhelming, but don’t worry because we have your back. We created this comprehensive step-to-step guide to help you navigate the whole process easier. Follow our advice, and you will have a casino affiliate website in no time.

Step 1: Choose a Topic and Name

The first step in launching your casino affiliate website is choosing a topic. We highly recommend choosing a narrow topic to ensure you get traffic faster. Do your research, check your competition and pick a relevant topic for your business. You can never go wrong with slots or sports betting if you are unsure where to start.

Once you have your topic, it’s time to decide on the name of your affiliate online casino website. Keep it short and simple. You want something your audience will remember easily so they can return next time they need information. The idea is for them to be able to easily recognize the name and choose to click on it without much thinking.

Last but not least, we also recommend choosing a specific country. Selecting a particular country will make things even easier for your first gambling affiliate website. At the same time, it will simplify your research and help you produce quality content much faster.

Please note that the more specific your topic is and the fewer countries you target, the lower your earning potential is. Yet, unless you can afford a solid team to create enough content weekly, it’s better to simplify things. You can start small and expand once you start earning some money.

Step 2: Familiarize Yourself With All Regulations and Possible Restrictions

Once you have chosen the topic and possibly the country, it’s best to do some research about any regulations and possible restrictions. Don’t forget that gambling is not legal everywhere, especially when it comes to online betting. Restrictions can make things a tad bit complicated for your business. You can even consult with a lawyer to ensure that your website will cover all regulations and that you will operate within the law.

For instance, in markets like the US, affiliates need to be registered and have special permission. In the UK, Sweden, and Germany, there’s a long list of how to operate in compliance with local regulations. One small misstep can result in you being banned from that market and slapped with a massive fine.

Step 3: Domain Registration

You already have the name of your casino affiliate website, so now it’s time to register a domain. There are two types of domains: new and aged. Both new and aged have pros and cons, so it’s up to you to choose the one that works best for your business.

We recommend a new domain for those running on a limited budget and with a specific website name in mind, while the aged domain is a better choice for those with a higher budget and who are willing to take a risk. An aged domain may already have some good backlinks that can lead to a fast high rank in Google, but there is always the risk that the domain may have had prior penalties. That may negatively impact your casino affiliate business.

Step 4: Website Theme

The first question you need to answer here is how tech-savvy you are. If you have a website-building background, we highly recommend taking your time and creating the website yourself. Making the website yourself will lead to you getting exactly what you want. If you don’t know how to build a website, don’t worry. There are plenty of other options.

Depending on your budget, you can hire a web designer to build a website from scratch or a premade theme on a website platform such as WordPress. If you choose the second option, there are both free and paid website themes that can fit a casino gambling business perfectly. And it doesn’t require prior knowledge to set up the site.

Step 5: SEO and Content Strategy

At this point, you already have a domain and a website theme, so now all you need before the launch is to create an SEO and content strategy. While this may look easy at first glance, we assure you it’s the most challenging step. Planning your SEO and content strategy will take time and research. But don’t worry. Once you get the hang of it, things will go a lot faster.

With SEO, you can get free organic traffic to promote your casino affiliate company, that’s proven to get better results than paid traffic. Moreover, a good SEO strategy combined with quality and professional gambling content is the best way to find your target audience and quickly start earning from your links.

And while we are on the topic of SEO, here is a little free advice. While all types of keywords can give you excellent results, we recommend focusing on longer ones. Research showed that longer keywords account for 70% of all Google searches. In other words, longer keywords will help you gain a higher Google rank in a faster time, especially if you don’t have the time and money to invest in outreach to build your backlink profile.

Step 6: Launch the Website

First, we highly recommend having several articles written before launching your gambling affiliate website so that it won’t be empty once it’s live. It’s also a good idea to have prepared articles for publishing at least a week ahead so you can keep up with your competitors. It will be challenging in the beginning, so every little thing helps.

Once the website is live, promote it on social media. Every social media has advantages, so make sure to use them to grow your online casino affiliate website. They are free but time-consuming, so always plan ahead, as with the articles.

Step 7: Grow Your Content

Producing content regularly is one of the best ways to get a higher rank on Google. And the higher your rank, the more traffic it generates. Every business is different, so they all have a unique tempo. While it’s beneficial to research your competitors and learn how often they publish new content, ensure that you are working at your own pace. You don’t want to burn out before you even start.

You should always put quality before quantity, so you must do thorough research and write in-depth content on your gambling affiliate website to reach better rankings. While you are writing, keep in mind that according to serpIQ, all of Google’s first page results are over 2,000 words. That is why we highly recommend aiming over that number.

Don’t aim too high, though, because while people enjoy well-researched content, they also don’t like reading too much. According to HubSpot, the goldilocks zone of content length is between 2,100 and 2,400 words.

Step 8: Apply for Casino Affiliate Networks

Once your website grows and gains its audience, it’s time to start applying for casino affiliate networks. Before applying, ensure that the network offers a program with the payment method you prefer and the payment option. On the other hand, keep in mind that there aren’t any best casino affiliate programs. Every program is different, and it will suit a different business best.

Once you apply, you won’t have to wait long. Most reply within 48 hours.

Step 9: Add Your Affiliate Links to Your Website

Once you are a part of a casino affiliate program, you will get unique affiliate links. Once you have them, add them to your website. Also, ensure that the links are a natural part of your content, so your audience doesn’t feel you are forcing them to click on them.

Moreover, it’s considered a fair and responsible practice to inform your players about how your business generates money. Explain that you have referral links leading to casino sites and that you make money from them. But also explain that you never lie or offer misleading information.

Being honest and transparent is essential in this industry if you want to play the long game.

Regularly Update Your Website

If you want to ensure that your casino affiliate earnings will keep on coming, you have to update your website regularly. Ensure that all content is up-to-date, all research is based on the newest released data, and you are using the latest numbers available.

Update All Data, Keep Content Fresh

No one wants to read outdated information. However, if your readers notice that your content is not updated, the chances are that they will not return. That is why keeping your content fresh and continuously updating your articles is crucial.

For example, casinos often add new games, change their promotions, or get new licenses. All this should be added as soon as possible because neither readers nor Google appreciates inaccurate information.

Email Marketing

Email marketing can be one of the best casino affiliate marketing plans. As one of the most powerful marketing tools, email can help you reach your most loyal readers and new audiences. Our research showed us that personalized emails are one of the best ways to reach your customers and create a memorable experience for them.

Social Media Presence

Keeping your social media alive is one of the best ways to grow and engage with your community. Many tools can help you regularly post on your social media and respond to your fans swiftly. That will not only help you maintain a good relationship with your audience but also help you learn more about what they want. Later, you can use this data to make better decisions about your gambling affiliate marketing plan.

Track Performance, and Make Changes to Improve It

Tracking the performance of your content, marketing plans, and links is one of the best ways to understand what your audience likes and doesn’t like. Of course, your end goal is to get as many clicks as possible on your links, so reaching the people with the highest tendency to click on them should be your priority.

Reach Out to Affiliate Managers to Get Better Deals

Lastly, it would be best if you always kept in touch with the affiliate managers of your network to stay up to date with the newest happenings and be the first to get the latest deals. Moreover, the better your business relationship with them, the better deals you will get.

Final Words

Answering the question of how to become a casino affiliate is not a simple one. There’s no short list of steps that will help you get started in a day. This competitive business requires hard work, time, and finding out what works for your concept. However, with the knowledge and guidance on this page, you will know where to begin and how to progress this – possibly very profitable – journey.

FAQs