Guest Blog Post by David Newstead, Co-Founder Slots Choice

David NewsteadGambling traffic is still a lucrative source of income, and slots sits at the top of the tree. What can slots affiliates do to ensure they get the best share of this prize pot?

Slots affiliate sites are all over the web. If you search on Google for any popular slot title from Microgaming, IGT or any of the other big development houses, you’ll find a host of fan sites.

All of these will be trying to sell you a casino opportunity or bonus package on the back of their offering in order to earn a commission from signed-up players. In this increasingly competitive industry, what can slots affiliate sites do to set themselves apart from the pack?

Traffic Conversions

Everyone in the affiliate game is understandably concerned about getting traffic. Whether this is garnered from PPC campaigns, social media or good old fashioned SEO techniques, the formula remains similar: the more visitors that reach your site, the better the returns.

However, many sites are let down by their usability. It seems there is a lack of understanding of basic online marketing techniques. The conversion process for site visitors needs to be a simple one to effectively deliver affiliates’ desired outcomes. By using effective visual calls to action (CTAs) and driving players towards casinos to try free play slots, sites could achieve higher sign-up rates.

Social Media

If you watch videos talking about the latest social media broadcast techniques, or if you want to go a little old school and read marketing blogs, they’ll all suggest that you key into the large stream of social media interest that exists for your particular product or service area. However, few people in the online casino business are currently perfect at sharing blogs or crafting innovative social media posts.

Is this simply down to the fact that the gaming audience seems less likely to respond to more sophisticated content? Or is media for them to respond to limited at present? There is a certain school of thought suggesting that if online casino operators and affiliates were less guarded about their traffic, they could develop a more synergistic approach and create a noise that could not be ignored.

Exciting Content

In the slots world the standard review is often little more than a regurgitation of the gameplay and bonus rules. It is rare to find slots affiliates sites that do things a little differently. Some of the best take a theme and run with it, like some of the video-based sites that focus purely on big prize paying sessions of bonus rounds or instructional videos on how to play the game.

What is definitely missing from the industry, however, is an expert voice. There seems to be no authority on slots games who constantly compares new releases to the catalogue of existing machines in a critical and receptive light. This could make all the difference to sites that are trying to build a relationship with a player base and also push down their bounce rates.

An Emphasis on Originality

There seems to be a standard out-of-the-box recipe for putting together slot sites. This consists of a fairly familiar structure with fact boxes that go through the different aspects and elements of the site together with pictures, pay-tables and even videos.

Why not have a site that’s structured around a video slot machine, complete with buttons for navigation and reels for different bands of content? The rest of the web has moved away from sites that simply offer large amounts of content and lists of features, so isn’t it time this new vison was applied to affiliate sites too?

It’s difficult to talk about such innovation without illustrating ideas, but everyone who is involved in the internet should be able to come up with at least four ideas that differ from the norm. What are your top four ideas? Tell me them in the comments section below.About David NewsteadDavid Newstead is a huge fan of slot machines. He has spent the last five years playing, reviewing and critiquing these games, cultivating an unparalleled knowledge of the mechanisms, trends, styles and fashions within this fast-paced industry. His affiliate website is www.slotschoice.com.