How to Build Gambling Backlinks That Boost Your Rankings and Revenue?
What are gambling backlinks?
Gambling backlinks are links from another website that point to your gambling and casino sites. Getting such links means that other websites trust your content.
When that happens, a search engine like Google will also trust your website. It’s an effective way of improving search engine rankings in the gambling and casino niche.
However, you must follow white-hat link building strategies to secure Google-approved backlinks.
What are these white-hat tactics? Here are basic principles you should consider:
- Relevance: Aim for backlinks from another casino or gambling site. According to Semrush, backlinks carry more weight when you get them from websites in your niche.
- Authority: Secure backlinks from relevant news outlets or directories in the gambling and casino niche. A well-planned PR link-building campaign can help you build a strong backlink profile.
- Dofollow vs nofollow: Nofollow links can still diversify your backlink profile. But dofollow links directly provide SEO value, thus they’re more important. Tools like Moz and Majestic filter your backlinks for dofollow and nofollow links.
Why gambling backlinks are different from regular backlinks
Tight regulations. Publishers that don’t want anything to do with the online gambling industry. Google’s stricter policies.
You have to tiptoe through a tightrope to get gambling and casino links. That’s what makes it different from regular backlinks.
- Legal and regulatory restrictions: The gambling niche is still heavily regulated. Gambling regulators, including the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) and Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), limit gambling advertising practices like exchanging or selling links. You must comply with gambling marketing laws before launching a casino link-building strategy.
- Hesitant target websites: Many website owners still hesitate in linking to gambling websites. This makes it difficult for casino websites to reach out to potential partners for link placements.
- High scrutiny from Google: Google places stricter policies on Your Money, Your Life (YMYL) categories, and gambling is one of them. Low-quality backlinks won’t go unpunished in Google’s search engine guidelines.
- Higher cost per link: You might have to pay more to buy casino backlinks from relevant sources. Risk factors and a limited network of trusted domains drive up the prices of gambling and casino links.
It’s more difficult, but the rewards are more valuable. Getting high-quality backlinks can be a game-changer for gambling and casino companies.
Different types of gambling backlinks explained
Backlink diversity refers to the categorical types of backlinks you get from relevant sites. This can help avoid raising red flags in Google, especially if you naturally acquire gambling links.
Here are the different types of gambling and casino backlinks that you should be aiming for:
- Editorial backlinks: These are the best backlinks to aim for. It’s when a website owner naturally uses your content as a valuable reference for their article.
- Guest post backlinks: You’re tasked to write helpful content for a high-authority site in your niche while placing a link back to your casino or gambling site.
- Directory backlinks: A link to your casino site is included in an online gambling directory. These directories list reputable gambling and casino companies.
- Forum and community backlinks: When referencing a forum topic, you and other users could include a link to your online gambling website.
What makes a high-quality gambling backlink?
High-quality backlinks are characterized by where they came from and how they are acquired.
These are factors that high-quality casino backlinks should have:
- Domain authority and relevance: Focus on relevant websites with high domain authority (DA). You can use free DA checkers on Moz and Ahrefs.
- Placement context: Aim for link placements inside the article rather than on sidebars or footers. This means that your link provides real value to the article. That’s more natural in Google’s eyes.
- Clean link profile: Link builders should also analyze the backlink portfolio of the linking site. Stay away from websites that connect to link farms and spammy directories.
- Organic traffic and engagement: High-quality links also come from websites with real organic traffic. These websites should have a steady flow of daily traffic.
How to find gambling backlink opportunities
Exploring backlink opportunities in the online gambling industry requires a targeted approach, starting with a backlink audit of your site.
- Conduct a backlink audit. Connect your site to an SEO tool like Ahrefs or Google Search Console. Identify broken links, optimize anchor texts, and disavow backlinks from sites with high spam scores.
- Identify high-authority, relevant sites. Assess target sites through particular indicators like website traffic, domain rating, and user engagement metrics.
- Analyze competitors’ backlink profiles. Look closely at your competitors’ link-building tactics. Identify their top linking sites and the topics they’re writing about. You can target these websites for guest post outreach.
Link building tactics for gambling sites
Gambling and casino websites should have these strategies in their link-building playbook.
Digital PR and editorial outreach
Reach out to reputable gambling media platforms like iGaming Business, eGaming Review, or Gambling Insider. Better yet, target gambling and casino links on sports publications like ESPN and Yahoo Sports.
You can also develop research-based reports on major gambling statistics. Start with Statista’s gambling reports, and make infographics that will attract audiences.
Guest posting and content collaboration
Guest posting is still one of the best gambling SEO tips in 2025.
But to get relevant links, you must target relevant platforms as well. You don’t have to limit yourself to casino websites or poker websites. Partner with other niche blogs in the crypto, sports betting, and finance sectors.
Pitch a blog post that shows real value for their audiences. Here are examples of topics you can pitch:
- Tax implications of gambling winnings
- Crypto adoption in online gambling
- Blockchain’s role in fair gaming
- Decentralized prediction markets
Tiered link building and PBNs
Tiered link building is an overlooked casino link-building tactic. For example, you received a primary backlink from a high-authority news website. Your online casino website can write articles or posts that point to the linking website.
It’s either you write them on your own website or include that link in a guest post. This helps you make the most out of the link juice from high-authority sites.
Private blog networks, or PBNs, can also be an option. However, this is still a link scheme, something that violates Google’s guidelines.
It might be best to stick to natural casino link-building efforts, even though it’s more difficult.
Sponsored placements and affiliate links
When done right, sponsored backlinks can also contribute to your gambling site’s SEO playbook. It must adhere to Google Ads’ policies on gambling, or your site might be punished.
Ensure that you follow these guidelines when placing sponsored links:
- Paid links should have nofollow and sponsored tags. Attributes like rel=”sponsored” and rel=”nofollow” tell search engines that these are paid placements.
- Have clear disclaimers on affiliate links and referral traffic. Always include a “This is a sponsored post” or “This article contains affiliate links”. You can place these disclaimers at the beginning or end of the article.
Resource link building and broken link strategy
Another strategy for getting inbound links is through resource link-building. You create helpful content that websites in the casino realm will refer to.
Here are examples:
- Guides for playing games like poker, blackjack, or roulette
- Glossaries of gambling terms
You can offer these resources as replacements for broken links on other websites. Use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to find broken links on websites, then offer the resource guides for content.
How to outreach for online gambling sites?
Building long-term partnerships through outreach is essential to your casino link-building campaign.
- Role of personalization: Thoroughly research your potential partner site and identify their audience engagement. Personalize your outreach by mentioning how you can help their audience.
- Try different channels: Acquire website visitors from various channels, including social media and emails. Diversifying your traffic sources can establish a good image in Google’s eyes.
- Establish relationships with key players in the industry: You can’t be a hermit when improving your site’s authority. Casino sites are also partnering with influencers these days. A successful influencer marketing strategy can boost your site’s visibility and link authority.
Mistakes to avoid in gambling link building
Gambling is already a difficult niche to get a high-quality backlink. So you want to avoid mistakes that could waste your efforts.
- Over-optimization of anchor texts: Anchor texts should be used naturally. Don’t overstuff them with primary or secondary keywords.
- Buying from low-quality PBNs or link farms: Just stay away from private blog networks and link farms. These sites will just increase your spam score. According to Google’s spam policies, they can detect spammy backlinks from these low-quality sites.
- Ignoring page-level relevance: Aim for backlinks in relevant platforms only. Getting a gambling backlink from a cooking blog, even if it has high authority, offers little value.
- Overlooking diversity in referring domains: Don’t just get all your backlinks from one website. Google also looks at the number of unique referring domains.
Moreover, don’t try launching a campaign on the fly. Link building in the gambling niche should be carefully planned.
You can partner with SEO agencies like Fortis Media to future-proof your backlink profile. Our link-building services have boosted the visibility of more than 80 gambling websites in our portfolio. You can connect with our SEO experts to get a free proposal for your website.
FAQs about casino backlinks
What is link building for gambling sites?
Link building for gambling sites refers to getting backlinks from relevant websites that point back to your gambling platform. If acquired in a natural way that complies with Google’s regulations, these backlinks could help increase the visibility of your gambling website.
How do you get backlinks for casinos?
Online casinos can acquire backlinks by creating high-quality content, guest posting on relevant sites, and building relationships with the gambling community. Acquiring backlinks to boost search engine rankings requires white-hat SEO strategies, such as content creation and professional outreach.
Are backlinks still important?
Yes, backlinks are still important for SEO, although there have been changes in assessing their impact. To have the utmost value, a backlink must be acquired through white-hat SEO strategies. Focusing on quality and earning backlinks organically makes for an effective link-building campaign.
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