SEO Tracker: A two horse race in organic rankings for bingo

As we said goodbye to 2023, where organic rankings changed so significantly across various sectors within igaming, it was almost refreshing to see the same two brands leading the way in the bingo sector.

That being said, while the two brands at the top are the same, they have changed places and also pulled away from the other brands in the top ten.

Gala Bingo now leads the sector after seeing a 55.5% increase in estimated monthly clicks, an impressive achievement in a sector where interest has essentially remained flat since our last analysis.

Previous leader Buzz Bingo was closer to the overall market trend with a slight decrease in traffic, which still leaves it well clear of third-most visible brand, Paddy Power.

Gala Bingo makes big gains

Gala Bingo’s increase of 9,254 clicks per month was enough to vault it to the top of the organic search rankings, despite only ranking for the third-highest number of keywords out of the top 10 brands.

The 233 keywords (out of the 319 analysed) that it ranks for is by no means a small amount, but it highlights that the quality of keywords ranked for, and where a brand ranks for them, can make all the difference to organic visibility.

Gala Bingo has the strongest average ranking position of any brand in the top 10, followed by Buzz Bingo, appearing in the top three positions for a number of significant search terms.

In terms of keyword quality, bingo is one of the sectors where one search term has an outsized impact on organic visibility. That is of course ‘bingo’, with 74,000 monthly searches. The traffic from this term makes up the majority of Gala Bingo’s clicks and demonstrates how if a brand wants to dominate visibility in a sector, it needs to hold the top ranking for the biggest term or terms in the industry.

Buzz Bingo holds steady despite key loss

In this regard, Buzz Bingo’s loss has been Gala Bingo’s gain, as it was Buzz Bingo that held the top position for ‘bingo’ in our previous analysis.

The fact that the Buzz Bingo brand has only seen a minimal decrease in organic traffic of 5.7% despite moving to position two for a term with such a huge search volume is impressive. Buzz Bingo also ranks for fewer keywords (237, compared to 310 in our previous analysis), but these keywords were not in traffic-generating positions, as shown by how both their traffic (excluding ‘bingo’) and average weighted ranking position has improved.

The brand has more than doubled the number of keywords that it ranks in position one for, as well as doubling the number of top three rankings it appears in. The search volume for the keywords it ranks highest for has also improved, with ‘bingo sites’ (8,100 monthly searches) and ‘bingo online’ (2,900 monthly searches) among the keywords Buzz Bingo now appears in the top three for.

At its current search volume, the difference between ranking in position one rather than position two for ‘bingo’ is an estimated 8,702 monthly clicks. If Buzz Bingo were to regain position one while maintaining the improvements it has made elsewhere, the swing in traffic would turn the bingo sector into one dominated by Buzz Bingo.

WhichBingo sees dramatic fall in traffic

Outside of the top two brands, the top 10 is mainly made up of the same brands as appeared in our last analysis. Leading the chasing pack is Paddy Power, which had a slight increase in traffic during a period where brands that were above it experienced a traffic decrease, meaning it now sits in third position for overall visibility.

The brand that previously occupied the position of third-most visible, WhichBingo, has been the biggest casualty of traffic falling, seeing a 77.2% drop in organic traffic and now ranking as the 10th-most visible brand in the sector. In this instance, the combination of a worse average weighted ranking and ranking for fewer keywords suggests that the brand has seen significant negative changes in its rankings for traffic-generating terms. Still ranking for 274 keywords though, the brand has the ability to build organic traffic to its previous level again.

Overall, here are three key takeaways from what we have seen in the bingo sector: 

1. There are many sectors where one keyword, or a few keywords, have a disproportionate effect on visibility. If this is the case, ranking in position one is key for dominating organic traffic.
2. However, neglecting other highly searched terms is a mistake, as the traffic gained from ranking improvements across high-to-medium volume terms can quickly add up to make a significant difference.
3. Your brand does not need to rank for every keyword in the sector to have strong overall organic traffic. Identifying the important keywords that you have a right to rank for and improving your position will make more of a difference than chasing a number of keywords regardless of relevance.

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