The Dark Side of SEO: How to Avoid the Risks in the iGaming Industry

In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is vital to the success of any business, specially in the iGaming industry. One of the most important aspects of building an online presence for your casino, sportsbook, game provider, platform provider, is search engine optimization (SEO), which involves optimizing your website and content to rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). However, not all SEO partners are created equal, and a bad SEO partner can actually harm your online business rather than help it.

Here are some ways in which a bad SEO partner can harm your online business:

• Harm your brand’s reputation: When failing to keep their part of deals with third-party companies or partners, the result is bad reputation for your brand. For example, if your SEO partner promises to provide backlinks or mentions from reputable websites, but fails to deliver on those promises, it could reflect poorly on your brand’s credibility and trustworthiness.
• Negative SEO: A bad SEO partner may use unethical tactics such as negative SEO, which involves using black hat techniques to harm a competitor’s website’s rankings. This can result in your website being penalized by search engines, and ultimately harm your online business.
• Poor Quality Content: SEO and content go hand in hand. If your SEO partner is not producing high-quality content that engages your target audience, then it is unlikely that you will rank high on search engine results pages. This can harm your online business by making it difficult to attract and retain customers.
• Keyword Stuffing: Another black hat technique used by bad SEO partners is keyword stuffing. This involves using irrelevant keywords or stuffing keywords into content to try and rank higher on search engine results pages. This can harm your online business by making your website appear spammy, unprofessional and ultimately harm your search engine rankings.
• Slow Website Speed: Website speed is another crucial factor in SEO. A bad SEO partner may not optimize your iGaming website properly, which can result in slow loading times. This can harm your online business by making it difficult for users to navigate your website, ultimately leading to a higher bounce rate and lower conversion rates.
• Lack of Transparency: A bad SEO partner may not provide you with regular updates or reports on the progress of your SEO campaign. This can harm your online business by making it difficult to measure the effectiveness of your SEO efforts and make necessary adjustments to improve your online presence.

Take, for instance, the case of Vodds, a well-known online sports betting platform that trusted the wrong SEO partners. These partners failed to deliver the promised results, while also neglected to keep their end of the deals our company. As a result, Vodds suffered not only financially, but also reputationally, as the company’s name was associated with poor-quality services and unethical business practices.

In conclusion, it’s important to carefully vet potential SEO partners to avoid harm to your online iGaming business. Look for partners that have a proven track record of ethical SEO practices, transparent reporting, and a focus on producing high-quality content and optimizing your website for speed and user experience. A good SEO partner can help your online business grow and succeed, while a bad one can do just the opposite.