SEO Tracker: Slots market shows the value of a broad keyword set

While in last month’s column we looked at a sportsbook market which has two well-established market leaders, this month we’re analysing the slots market, which has seen changes throughout the top 10 most visible brands in the sector.

The market as a whole has continued to grow, with a 28% increase in monthly searches showing that demand within the sector has increased at an even faster rate in the past six months than it did in the six months leading to our last analysis.

This increased interest means that the metrics required to be one of the 10 most visible brands have also changed, with the 10 sites in the chart below ranking for an average of 133 keywords (up from 127 in December) and receiving an average of 12,863 clicks (up from 9,844 in December).

In terms of the top-ranked brands, it is Betfred that climbs from being the third most visible brand in the sector to now being the most visible, ahead of 32Red and Coral. While when we last analysed the sector in January, Betfred had seen a decline in organic traffic and had been overtaken by Paddy Power, the brand has since seen a 100% increase in traffic to vastly outpace the overall market growth. These 10,959 extra monthly clicks have given the brand a lead of 4,318 monthly clicks over second-placed 32Red.

Interestingly, in that analysis we identified ‘free spins’ and ‘online slots uk’ as search terms that had seen an increase in search volume and that Betfred could benefit from. Now, Betfred ranks in position one for both terms, with ‘free spins’ being the highest volume search term in the sector and bringing in 7,987 monthly clicks on its own.

Another key shift in ranking positions has been the improvement from position four to position one for ‘slots’. While search volume for the term has decreased by roughly 6,000 monthly searches, the change in position was enough to generate an additional 4,043 monthly clicks. The fact that the brand saw such an increase in traffic despite interest in the search term decreasing demonstrates why improving search rankings is key for any site.

With opposing fortunes to Betfred, former leaders in the sector Paddy Power saw a 46% decrease in traffic as the brand fell to fifth-most visible in the market. While some of the loss of visibility can be attributed directly to the new market leaders, such as losing position one for ‘slots’, Paddy Power has seen ranking decreases for a number of key terms, resulting in the loss of 10,736 monthly clicks.

As you can see from comparing the graph at the start of this article with the graph below, showing visibility in December 2022, Paddy Power has actually seen an increase in the number of keywords that it ranks for, but has lost a considerable amount of traffic. This is the result of losing high-ranking positions for high-volume terms, which is also shown by a worse average ranking position. Whereas Paddy Power ranked in position one for 17 keywords in December, it now only ranks in the top position for 10.

However, a broader ranking profile does present opportunities for Paddy Power, providing a wider base from which to improve. Of course, that’s easier said than done, and improving rankings for the highest volume terms in the sector is not a quick fix, but ranking for new keywords (132, up from 121) is a positive sign for future visibility.

While Betfred was already ranking strongly as the third most visible brand in the sector in December, their current nearest competitor has seen a much more dramatic increase in visibility.

32Red has gone from ranking outside the top 10 brands and receiving 2,650 organic clicks per month to being the second most visible brand in the slots space, seeing 17,563 monthly clicks. This 663% increase in organic traffic is incredible, but the brand hasn’t come from nowhere in the way that the organic growth may suggest.

While 32Red’s traffic was considerably lower in December, it already ranked for 189 keywords, which was more than all of the brands in the top 10 bar Casino.org. Currently ranking for 192 keywords, the increase in traffic isn’t the result of a range of new ranking search terms, but instead an improvement in ranking position across the strong keyword profile that the brand had already built.

The key change has been significant ranking improvements for higher search volume terms. 32Red already ranked in the top two positions for 17 keywords, but they only brought in an estimated 89 monthly clicks. Now, however, the brand’s position two ranking for ‘slot’ brings in more traffic (3,352 clicks) on its own than its entire keyword profile did in December.

32Red now ranks in the top three positions for 125 search terms, making up the majority of the total keywords that it ranks for. Crucially, these keywords include many medium-volume terms, which have been pivotal to improving visibility. Reassuringly for the brand, there are also terms such as ‘online slots’ where it has room to improve its ranking, and due to the search volume for the keyword, doing so would have a noticeable impact on overall visibility.

32Red’s improvement in the rankings also demonstrates how Paddy Power’s situation is far from doom and gloom. It might not experience a 663% increase in monthly clicks, but ranking for the third-highest number of keywords in the sector gives it a great platform to build on.

Overall, the key takeaways from what we’ve seen in this sector over the past six months are that:

• Relying on strong search volume from a selection of high-demand terms is tough to maintain in the long-run.
• Building strong foundations with a wide-ranging keyword set before optimising for ranking positions can bring rewards.
• If a solid base is in place, rapid growth is attainable with a holistic approach covering all areas – technical SEO, optimising content and UX.

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.