SEO snapshot: Can challenger brands compete in the crowded US market?
Martin Calvert, marketing director at ICS-digital, provides a comparison on the search engine performance of five US gaming brands
In mature markets worldwide where online sport and casino betting is well established, SEO is one of the most ferocious battlefields – but also (pound for pound) one of the most cost-effective channels over time.
When looking at the US landscape, it is quite clear that some of the older, venture-backed and digitally savvy brands have had the heritage and marketing insight to establish some impressive rankings.
Others are leveraging their established land-based brands to build traction. Likewise, major European (and global) operators are looking to use their established industry knowledge, bank balances, and local partnerships to build market share in contrast with wholly new, locally grown startups entering the fray, building products and propositions from the ground up.
Data gathered week commencing April 12 via Semrush
Looking at the table of keyword rankings here shared between the five brands listed, it’s striking just how well DraftKings and FanDuel are performing for non-brand Google rankings in the US.
That table contains keyword rankings that all listed brands are currently in competition for, sorted by the approximate number of monthly searches in the US. As we can see, even among these high-volume terms, there are examples of quite specific queries related to individual states that show good intent-to-bet.
While Williamhill.com’s US-facing content lags way behind, Foxbet.com and Betmgm.com do hold some potential – but only if they choose to seriously prioritize SEO – and it may well be that brands such as these are content not to do so.
For those who can excel based on brand strength and the development of the domestic affiliate market, the rationale may be to focus more on publicity, experience, and trust than try slugging it out in SEO.
As an observer, it’s not possible to be totally conclusive about the strategies of different brands but nevertheless, the data shows there are significant opportunities in SEO for those who can’t compete based on brand recognition or customer familiarity with land-based operations.
Digital-first
Once again, while Fox Bet, BetMGM, and William Hill have serious strengths in terms of brand awareness, offline operations, and global experience respectively, it’s notable that established, digital-first brands like FanDuel and DraftKings organically rank for the keywords that are most costly to bid on.
In these cases it’s even more stark quite how far behind the other brands are and while, once again, it might be the case that these brands are simply not interested in pursuing SEO excellence, it does feel like the gap is notable.
To sum up, while there are some huge partnerships being made in the USA and there is some cynicism about the scope for ambitious independents to really make progress when up against huge, household-name brands, the SEO opportunity is a compelling one.
Brand targeting the US market can be encouraged by this but it’s also worth noting that competition will only heat up. To control costs, make fewer missteps, and compete more effectively, it makes sense to apply relevant learnings from the ultra-competitive European market.
In doing so it’s important to put ego and assumptions to one side to truly understand, anticipate, and respond to the non-brand search queries used by US audiences – mindful that in such a fast-moving industry, these will develop and evolve over time.