A year on from being dominated by one brand, the battle for organic visibility in the slots market is tighter than ever, with only 27 estimated monthly clicks separating Betfred from William Hill.
This is representative of a highly competitive and congested sector, one which has seen a 9.5% increase in search volume over the past year, while previously dominant 32Red has seen rivals eat into its organic traffic.
Competition in the sector is also evident in the fact that the top 10 most visible brands now rank for an average of 130 keywords, up from 110 a year ago. And unlike what we see in some sectors, there is no brand with a much smaller keyword profile present in the top 10 solely due to a strong ranking for one highly-searched term.
32Red sees lead cut as competition increases
A year ago, 32Red had a near-23,000 monthly click lead over the nearest challenger, yet now it finds itself as only the eighth most visible brand in the sector. Despite significantly increasing the number of keywords it ranks for, the brand has lost 70% of its organic traffic in the past year.
The clearest indicator of why this has happened comes from the fact that its average ranking position has fallen from a sector-leading five to 14, meaning that it is seeing far less return in traffic from the keywords that it is ranking for.
While 32Red still has a number of position one rankings, the average traffic it now receives for these terms is 4.7 monthly clicks, compared to the average 856 clicks it previously received across position one keywords. It still generates strong traffic from the keyword ‘slots’ despite being overtaken for the position one ranking, but is now far more reliant on this one keyword providing visibility.
This is because the heightened competition in the sector has seen it pushed down the rankings for a number of medium-volume search terms, such as ‘online slots machine’ (was position one, now position five) and ‘online slots UK’ (was position two, now position nine).
The key for 32Red here is that while it has seen competitors take key ranking positions for a number of keywords that previously generated a large volume of traffic, the brand is still ranking relatively well for them, and it is in a good position to turn the tide and regain a lot of traffic.
Betfred and William Hill drive competition for top spot
With neither brand having been in the top 10 for visibility in this sector in our last analysis, it’s a surprise to see that these two brands are now competing to be the most visible overall. It’s not entirely surprising to see them dominate in igaming given the pedigree of their respective brands, but both have seen dramatic increases in organic traffic over the past year.
Betfred has seen traffic increase by 119% to lead the sector, having ranked just outside the top 10 a year ago. Meanwhile, William Hill’s huge growth in traffic seems to be the result of an increased business focus on the sector, with the brand not prominent for many keywords in last year’s analysis.
Betfred’s improvement has come from building on ranking in position one for ‘free spins’. Last year, this was its only position one ranking, and one of only eight keywords that the brand held a top 10 position for. As a result, it contributed the vast majority of the brand’s traffic.
Often when we see this, it leads to the brand being in a precarious position as any change in how it ranks for that keyword will have a huge effect on the overall traffic that the brand receives in the sector. However, Betfred has been able to use the position one ranking for one of the most-searched terms in the sector and strengthen its presence in the sector through showing up in the top three positions for several low- to medium-volume keywords, such as ‘UK slots’.
This building out from one key term has not only added considerable traffic, but greatly reduced its reliance on one key term. While it still ranks in position one for ‘free spins’, and that keyword brings in far more traffic than any other individual keyword, Betfred is now in a position where it will still be in a strong position in the sector even if its ranking changes.
Its ability to retain position one for such a highly sought after keyword will only have been helped by these improvements elsewhere, with the brand showing that it is an authority in the space. It also raises the possibility of further increasing its organic visibility by improving its ranking for ‘slots’, currently ranking in position eight for the sector’s most-searched keyword.
William Hill had far less to build on. Although it ranked for 116 keywords last year, only one of them was in the top three positions. However, those 116 keywords provided the platform for the brand to build upwards by improving positions for existing keywords rather than looking for new opportunities, and it now ranks in the top 10 for 35 keywords. The highlight of these, among medium-volume terms that represent future opportunities, is a position one ranking for ‘slots’.
As the most-searched keyword in the sector, this could risk William Hill falling into the scenario of overreliance that we have already discussed, but the brand’s presence in the top 10 for numerous other in-demand terms, and its current trajectory, suggest that the likelihood is that William Hill will continue building on this, and continue challenging Betfred for top spot in the sector.
Overall, here are three key takeaways from what we have seen in the slots market:
- Increased competition can quickly eat into organic visibility. If a number of competitors are strengthening, your brand needs to keep strengthening its own keyword profile to stay ahead.
- Authority can be built out from one key search term. If your brand has one ranking that brings in a lot of traffic, look to build out from this with improving positions for a wide range of lower-volume terms to consolidate your position and avoid overreliance.
- Often, focusing on improving what you already have is the best way to improve visibility. If you already rank for a range of keywords but aren’t seeing the traffic you want, look for how you can improve these existing rankings before trying to expand. There may be some quick wins that could help boost traffic.
To find out more about how Stickyeyes could help your brand to establish and maintain organic growth in the slots market and beyond, please reach out to William Conboy, director of igaming at Stickyeyes at William.conboy@stickyeyes.com.
