iGaming Backlinks: A Guide to the Best Strategies

Just like product recommendations, iGaming backlinks serve as trust signals to your website. High-quality links tell Google that another website trusts your iGaming website.

This results in higher search rankings. According to a Backlinko study, the top result in Google usually has 3.8 more backlinks than results #2-10.

Gaining the trust of search engines is more important in the iGaming niche than in other sectors. That’s something we can’t stress enough.

According to iGaming Today, the additional scrutiny from Google makes iGaming link-building more challenging. This guide takes on those challenges and provides answers to your link-building questions.

Learn from our iGaming link-building experts and apply these strategies to your website.

What Are iGaming Backlinks and Why Are They Important?

iGaming backlinks are links from other websites that point to online casino, sports betting, or affiliate platforms. For example, a sports news website publishes an article that references and links to your online sportsbook. These links are what we call online casino and gambling backlinks.

Just from an iGaming definition, ranking high on search engines is more difficult. Since it’s a tightly regulated niche, Google scrutinizes iGaming websites a lot more. A link from a respected site, like Forbes and other relevant websites, tells search engines that your platform is safe and reliable.

Thus, you increase your search engine rankings.

This isn’t just a theoretical claim. DraftKings increased its organic traffic after sports news sites like ESPN and Sports Illustrated linked to its expert betting analysis. Today, DraftKings have a total of 4 million backlinks, with 44 thousand referring domains.

Investing in backlinks will improve a site’s search engine ranking. But it’s not just about quantity. The challenge is how to get authoritative links from relevant sources.

Challenges of Link Building in the iGaming Industry

Gambling has overcome an uphill battle to get to where it’s at right now. Yet, it still carries a stigma of being risky and irresponsible.

This poses a huge challenge for an iGaming link-building strategy.

Here are examples:

• Many publishers set “no gambling” policies to avoid controversy. Local news outlets might report on the iGaming sector. But it’s unlikely for them to link to gambling websites.
• Google now requires advertisers to obtain Google certification for gambling-related ads. This comes after Google updated its gambling and games ad policy.

In addition, some countries and states don’t allow gambling-related marketing campaigns. In the US, these states prohibit online casino link-building and advertising:

• Alabama
• Alaska
• California
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Minnesota
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• Texas
• Utah

It’s an example of just how tricky it is to navigate gambling regulations. Even social media platforms have varying ad policies for each country.

Therefore, online betting sites must understand local regulations before initiating their link-building efforts. Acquiring quality backlinks requires resources. Plus, you can’t afford to be flagged by Google and lose your website’s visibility.

Once you’ve navigated these regulations, you can start brainstorming for a successful link-building strategy.

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Best Types of iGaming Backlinks

An avid sports fan is searching for a legal sports betting website in their area. They found a Forbes list of the “Top 5 Sportsbooks in Las Vegas”, clicked through a review, and signed up.

Quality backlinks from relevant sites do wonders for your website traffic and Domain Authority (DA).

There are different types of backlinks you can target in the iGaming sector. Here are the most effective ones for a crypto, gambling, or casino site:

• Guest posts: Reach out to relevant blogs and contribute helpful content. The key is to provide a valuable resource to their target audience, first and foremost. Then, they will be more open to including links pointing to your website. For your content campaigns, you could refer to these tips and tricks for iGaming content.
• Sponsored posts: Have your website featured on mainstream websites like Forbes or Wired. It might require a significant upfront cost, but it’s crucial for maintaining a healthy link profile. Buying links is officially penalised by google  and Sponsored Post will be marked as Sponsored to let Google know that it was paid for.
• Link insertions: Find existing articles with gambling-related keywords that rank high on search results. Reach out to these publishers and pitch a link to your site. The link placement must be natural and should offer value to the article.
• PR placements: A press release creates trust in the iGaming community. It’s one of the best backlinks to target in the gambling niche. Landing on Business Insider or Reuters can bolster your website’s authority. You could reach out to a link building service to get quality PR links to your website.
• Casino affiliate backlinks: Get listed on trusted casino review portals like AskGamblers.com or Casino.org. These websites are affiliates that earn a commission for successful referrals to your website.
• Crypto-specific backlinks: Most iGaming brands now accept cryptocurrency for payments. Reach out to crypto news desks like CoinDesk or Decrypt to see if they offer quality backlinks to an iGaming website.

If you don’t have the resources to request link placements, focus on creating high-quality content on your platforms. After all, iGaming content marketing is still the most efficient way of improving search engine rankings.

How to Identify Valuable Backlink Sources

Google’s recent policies have changed every iGaming website’s link-building approach. You can’t go around buying links or acquiring links from irrelevant websites anymore. Otherwise, you’ll see your website’s ranking and organic traffic crash.

High-quality backlinks from relevant sources: this is the recipe.

When looking for gambling or casino backlinks, we recommend looking beyond the numbers. What do we mean by that? Here are points to consider:

• Strike a balance between domain authority and topical relevance. For instance, let’s compare a DA 45 home design blog to a DA 35 news website. For an iGaming website, it’s better to reach out to the news website, even though it has a lower DA. A media outlet provides topical relevance, which is more important in the iGaming industry.
• Joining link farms is a no-no. Link exchange is a red flag in Google’s eyes. These link farms have an excessive number of outbound links and are brimming with spun content. This will just result in low-quality links, which pull down your rankings.

Avoid low-trust websites and don’t engage in link exchanges. Most importantly, choose relevant platforms as your linking page. This is what’s most important in building links in the iGaming industry.

Reliable Link Building Strategies for iGaming Sites

An iGaming link-building strategy isn’t just about collecting links. Instead, you become an investigator who ensures that each link adds credibility to your website.

Our experts curated a list of effective link-building strategies for you. We recommend that you consider these tips. These proven strategies helped them establish reputable iGaming websites over the years.

• Content outreach that’s not “sales-y”. Your content outreach should not feel like a sales pitch. Instead, offer real content value based on trending topics and their target audience’s pain points. Aim to establish long-term connections, not one-off sales.
• Sponsor content creators and their streams. Content creators have become a reliable source of information in the iGaming world. Take advantage of this by sponsoring their streams on Twitch and other streaming platforms. You could get mentioned on their video description or their website.
• Find broken links on gambling sites. Use tools like Ahrefs or Screaming Frog to find broken outbound links. Then, offer to replace that broken link with your content. They’ll be more likely to reward you with high-quality links.
• Create infographics about gambling trends and new games. For example, you can make a chart about sports betting odds for an upcoming tournament. Other websites might grab your content and include valuable links to your website.

Guest posts and link insertions are still effective. However, you must also be creative in other areas.

Tips for successful link building

Remember, link-building is not a one-time task. You’ve got to look at the bigger picture, too.

You have to establish partnerships.

As such, you must be genuine in your approach to iGaming link-building. We recommend that you follow these tips:

• Research before reaching out. Your partnership outreach shouldn’t feel generic at all. Never use a template. Instead, scan their website, socials, and audience sentiment. Other sites should feel that you know their stuff well. Otherwise, how can you contribute true value to their platform?
• Offer real value in your guest posts. Quality content on trending pain points is the formula for successful outreach. Make your own data charts or create a technical guide for their audience. These content types will get you gambling and casino backlinks.
• Diversify your link profile. Don’t just rely on guest posts to get the job done. Google might become suspicious that you’re just buying backlinks to your casino site. Get your site listed on gambling directories or sponsor a gaming community forum. Mix and match your link-building efforts.
• Follow up, but be polite. Editors might have too much on their plates to respond right away. You don’t want to nag them about your email, nor do you want to leave it be. Follow up gently after 7-10 days so they’ll know about your genuine intention.
• Track the quality of your backlinks. Use SEO tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz to track the quality of your gambling and casino links. Also, check if there are broken or nofollow links. Contact the linking website if you encounter issues like these.

Personalization is the key to acquiring high-quality gambling and casino backlinks.

Actions to avoid when building links for igaming sites

As in any other SEO strategy, there are traps that marketers fail to avoid. These pitfalls affect Google Search results, especially in a competitive market like online betting.

Our years of experience in link building services exposed us to these common mistakes. We made a list so you’d know what and which to avoid:

• Buying links. Don’t be enticed by “link experts” selling bulk backlinks at cheap prices. They might reach out and offer you “500 backlinks for $50”. That’s too good to be true, as these might be low-quality backlinks from link farms. You might find these traps in community sites and forums.
• Stuffing keywords in anchor texts. Don’t overthink and overmatch your anchor texts. You can put in keywords if they naturally match the sentence. Otherwise, just stick to the original flow of the sentence or CTA you’re writing.
• Participating in link exchanges. Some websites might offer to include a link to your site, with the condition that you link to theirs. Don’t engage in this iGaming link-building malpractice. Google detects this as manipulation of search engine algorithms. You’ll receive penalties for this link-building approach.

Link-building malpractices could affect your entire off-page SEO playbook. Stick to content-valued guest posts and PR links to maintain a healthy backlink profile.

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How to Choose the Right iGaming Link Building Agency

iGaming is a very tricky industry to launch marketing campaigns in. For instance, US, European, and Asian markets all differ in gambling policies. Then, you have these varying audience preferences in each region, too.

For these reasons, iGambling websites struggle to do their SEO strategy in-house. It’s just too much, with all the other business aspects they’re attending to. So, how do successful websites boost their search rankings more efficiently?

They partner with a reputable iGaming link-building agency. Be careful in selecting the right agency, though. Link-building experts should have these attributes in their portfolio:

• Industry experience and case studies: iGaming is an industry that requires experience in building links. An agency with a list of successful clients is knowledgeable in navigating local regulations and audience interests.
• Transparency in pricing and reporting: Agencies should have flexible, performance-based pricing models. This lets you know that they won’t have a run at your money. Also, ensure that they’ll provide detailed reports weekly or monthly. There should be an agreed-upon number and quality level of backlinks.

For example, we are iGaming SEO services agency with expertise and experience. With more than 80 websites in our portfolio, Fortis Media has a 90% client retention rate. That’s a very good percentage.

Plus, they’ve been in the iGaming industry for 13 years and counting. They’ve seen the highs and lows of the market.

We can scale your link-building campaign any time, without compromising backlink quality. Plus, you don’t have to spend anything on SEO tools. We’ve got that covered as well.

If you’re aiming to expand to multiple markets and platforms, we recommend working with a link-building agency. It’s more cost-efficient, and you’re more confident that your campaigns will produce results.