FEATURE
AIDEEN SHORTT,
PARTNER, RANDOM
CONSULTING
For the past few months,
there has been widespread
panic and fear-mongering
about ad-blocking. Globally,
over 300 million people have
downloaded ad-blocking
software, although estimates
suggest only half of that
number have actually installed
it. While this has little effect
on the day-to-day activities of an affiliate who is driven by search
optimisation rather than cookie retargeting, it does have a more
significant effect on the operators themselves, who are gradually
seeing one of their acquisition channels being curtailed. This leads
to an increased reliance on other key sources of traffic, and because
television ads have, quite literally, a finite inventory, it’s possible that
affiliates will see somewhat of a resurgence in importance.
2016 will also continue to see consumers growing more
comfortable with voice search. Siri was a bit of a damp squib to
start with, but it’s hitting its stride now and the phrase “OK Google”
which kickstarts Google Now search, is being heard with increasing
frequency. With global mobile usage reaching 3.2 trillion sessions in
2015 it’s very clear that mobile is king and trends on that platform are
arguably the most important determination of acquisition success.
Additionally, new products such as eSports and skill games will
emerge from the shadow of daily fantasy sports, each demanding
affiliate attention and generously rewarding the earliest movers.
ONLINE CASINO REPORTS
Upsurge in bitcoin use. Online gambling operators have
continually proven that they value innovation, especially for
payment methods. Well, bitcoin has already increased its presence
among gambling sites since early-2015. Expect for the larger
operators to integrate bitcoin in 2016 and for the rest of the
industry to gradually follow their example.
New opportunities in EU. Spain was the EU’s major player for
online gambling regulation in 2015. In June, it has announced that
more than 20 foreign operators would receive licenses. Germany
could be the next country to regulate, but progress was halted in
May 2015 when it emerged that 2014 legislation was holding up
plans to award 20 licences to gambling operators.
More all-in-one operators. Industry heavyweights have been
providing multichannel gambling services for years, but now it
appears that smaller operators are following suit. Currently, there
is no shortage of operators that can offer sports betting, casino
games, l ive dealers, mobile access, and more gaming options from
the same site; expect to see the trend growing in 2016.
Focus on user-driven SEO. Google is shifting its algorithms to
ensure users find content that satisfies them beyond their first click.
Therefore, Affiliate sites with a high bounce-rate which haven’t
been optimised for mobile devices could struggle to drive traffic in
2016 and beyond.
XX, XX
JUDITH LEWIS, SEARCH
DIRECTOR, DECABBIT
xxxx
Back to Basics: SEOs have been too busy looking
at how to game the latest algo update when they
should have been focused on fundamentals as
much as updates. Although SEO is constantly
changing the fundamentals remain the same, and
many SEOs have lost sight of this.
Technically Optimised: 2016 will be the year
the technical SEOs will get to say “I told you
so” as the move back to basics includes code
optimisation along with canonicalisation and
hreflang fixes, schema.org implementation and
more technical SEO ‘fixes’.
Link Love’s Labour’s Lost: There is a hard
limit on what links can do for you. There is only
so much £10k in link buying is going to do for
your technically pants site no matter what you do.
Once you’ve got technical SEO right, then start
throwing money at links in a smart way (focus on
the placement and the traffic flow from that, not
just the link itself). Also, wheels still go ‘round
and round’ so don’t discard old for new willy nilly.
SEO Is a UX Issue: Focus more clearly on the
user journey in 2016. The most common question
I ask in client meetings is why do we need to
optimise for this keyword? Why are we landing
users here? How can we make it simpler and
easier? Google rewards a good user experience so
get smart about user journeys.
Bold Branding Brings Bonuses: If 2016 doesn’t
become the year your affiliate site becomes a
brand, it could be the year you vanish. As more
and more affiliates become brands in their own
right, affiliates who have been relying on other
traffic drivers could see CPC go up quite a bit and
any organic visibility they had go down.
iGB Affiliate Issue 55 FEB/MAR 2016
49