SEO Tracker: Is organic visibility in the sports betting sector now a three-horse race?

Two horses have become three in the sportsbook rankings, as William Hill has somewhat closed the gap to long-time frontrunners oddschecker and Paddy Power. A 55% increase in traffic has left the leader looking slightly less commanding, although Hills still dominates search results in the sector.

While the gap between the two leaders remains small, oddschecker has seen its lead expand from the minimal 1,109 clicks in September 2023 to 8,697 now.

A combination of a slight increase in oddschecker’s traffic, partnered with a slight decrease in Paddy Power’s, has seen the gap between the leaders open, but it remains a gap that could be changed by movements in the rankings for a few keywords.

While we now have three brands out in front, if we look past AceOdds as the fourth most visible brand, we see that the brands ranked fifth to tenth most visible in the sector are tightly packed, with only 2,842 monthly clicks separating them. This leaves the chasing pack open to significant changes in visibility relative to their competition, which is something we have seen over the past year.

Oddschecker and Paddy Power

The key to oddschecker extending its lead over Paddy Power has been its improved average ranking position, going from 15.8 to 12.4. This improvement has meant that even though it ranks for 25 fewer keywords than a year ago, it has seen monthly clicks increase by 2,006.

While this isn’t a huge increase, it is still a strong performance given that the sector as a whole has seen monthly searches decrease by 4.9%, and the strength of oddschecker’s keyword profile means that large increases in visibility are less likely without overall market interest growing.

Paddy Power, on the other hand, has seen a 6.9% decrease in traffic, so a slight underperformance compared to the market. This is in part due to a lower average ranking position, as well as having fewer keywords ranking in position one (89 now compared to 138 last year).

However, there are positive signs for Paddy Power, with an improvement in its ranking for ‘betting’ from position six to position two greatly improving the traffic it brings in for one of the sector’s most-searched keywords. The brand has also seen a slight increase in ranking keywords from 869 to 874, which may have contributed to a lower average ranking (15.6 compared to 12.2 last year), although Paddy Power will be looking to avoid any further losses towards the top of rankings.

Can William Hill challenge the top two brands?

William Hill’s 55% increase in search traffic shows that it is possible to eat into the gap that the top two created between themselves and other brands in the sector. And the fact that it has done so when the top two brands haven’t lost much traffic between them shows that there is plenty of opportunity in the sector to grow organic visibility.

A key reason for this increase in traffic has been that William Hill now ranks in position one for ‘betting’, with this keyword alone bringing in an extra 7,177 monthly clicks. However, the majority of the new 21,033 monthly clicks that the brand receives comes from ranking improvements across its keyword profile. Its average ranking position has improved from 20.9 to 18, thanks in part to 16 new position one rankings.

Whether William Hill can keep this momentum up and truly challenge the two brands that have dominated this sector for so long remains to be seen, but it could have a big impact on organic visibility across the market.

Lots of movement behind the top three

Behind the top three, AceOdds continues as the fourth most visible brand in the sector, bringing in an impressive amount of traffic from a relatively low number of keywords.

Beyond AceOdds, however, we see a lot of movement with some brands losing organic traffic and others entering into the top 10.

Sky Bet in particular has suffered, dropping from fifth to tenth in terms of visibility, with organic traffic decreasing from 35,635 to 24,322 monthly clicks. While this 32% decrease is far greater than the overall market decrease, the fact that the brand has seen its average ranking position improve suggests that the keywords it no longer ranks for were lower-ranking terms already.

It may be that a large portion of the traffic it has lost is due to changes in rankings where a highly searched keyword has changed ranking by a few positions, as is the case with ‘betting’ having previously ranked in position one, but now ranking in position three. This is of course a minimal change in ranking performance, but has a significant impact on overall organic traffic

Moving in the opposite direction is The Jockey Club, which has moved into the top 10 as a result of a significant increase in searches for ‘Cheltenham races’, for which it ranks in position one. This generates the vast majority of the brand’s traffic, so while the brand averages into the top 10, it will be susceptible to considerable seasonal peaks and troughs as interest in that key search term waxes and wanes.

Overall, the key takeaways from what we’ve seen in this sector are:

• Review your strategy: Even in sectors that are dominated by one or more brands, there are opportunities for significant increases in organic visibility by improving overall SEO and targeting the right keywords.
• Look at wider metrics: Headline figures can be misleading when it comes to judging overall performance. Ranking positions can improve, but misfortune with searches decreasing for a keyword that drives a lot of traffic can have an outsized impact.
• Relevancy is king: While individual keywords can have a large impact on organic traffic, the best way to ensure you’re capitalising on these opportunities is by improving your ranking position across a range of relevant keywords.

To find out more about how Stickyeyes could help your brand to establish and maintain organic growth in the sportsbook market and beyond, please reach out to William Conboy, director of igaming by Stickyeyes at William.conboy@stickyeyes.com.