How lucrative is the affiliate industry?

[Mozaik]

Hi guys,

I've been wondering this for a while now. I'm thinking of starting my own website in Dutch about the online casino industry and present them the best offers available. I've been gambling for more than 10 years now in land-based casinos and 5 years at online casinos. As a freelancer I've wrote more than 10,000 articles regarding online gambling for several multilingual affiliate websites. I never asked them about their earnings, since I thought it was a bit inappropriate.

I'm a Dutch content writer and have a very good understanding of the SEO requirements (title/meta tags, keywords, density etc). So basically I don't really need anyone but myself to write compelling content. I notice many affiliate websites in Dutch are poorly written and lack some information, Dutch players really would be interested in knowing about. I think that with my experience and knowledge I'll be capable of bridging the gap between Land-based and online casinos. The Dutch market will officially be legalized on 1 January 2015, so there is a huge potential in my opinion.

I'll either start from scratch with a total new concept, or I'll buy an already established domain name with a decent Google Pagrank/content/backlinks etc. and tweak/add content so it matches my concept.


But before I'll start to put in all that work, I would like to know about the experiences of other webmasters. I'm in particular interested in the earning models, but also statistics;

1) How much of your visitors actually sign up to an online casino you promote on your website? I imagine this being a low percentage of 0.5-1%, considering the average CTR rates.

2) How much does an average player you delivered to an online casino earn you on monthly basis? (I understand if this is a bit too personal)

3) How do you know you're not getting scammed by the affiliate program? I'm assuming you can check the stats, but is there a way to verify whether you delivered any players or not? I'm planning to only promote the most popular names in the industry. Is there an accredited affiliate list here on Casinomeister as well?

4) What commission model do you use or prefer? Pay per subscription of pay on life-time value.


If you guys have any suggestions or other important information, feel free to reply to my thread

 

[PaaskeDenmark]

But before I'll start to put in all that work, I would like to know about the experiences of other webmasters. I'm in particular interested in the earning models, but also statistics;

1) How much of your visitors actually sign up to an online casino you promote on your website? I imagine this being a low percentage of 0.5-1%, considering the average CTR rates.
I would say that really depends. You could have a very high traffic but not really good quality and therefor low signup %. I have quite low traffic but higher quality so my % is somewhat higher. I would say its prob a bit higher 1%.
2) How much does an average player you delivered to an online casino earn you on monthly basis? (I understand if this is a bit too personal)
It is also really hard to give amount here. As you could have 100 signups at a casino and only maybe 2-3 depositors. I have had over 100 signups at Vera John and only 6 depositors. But 2 have made quite high deposits in 2 months over £2000. And earnings also been good. Around £2-300 each month last 2 months.
3) How do you know you're not getting scammed by the affiliate program? I'm assuming you can check the stats, but is there a way to verify whether you delivered any players or not? I'm planning to only promote the most popular names in the industry. Is there an accredited affiliate list here on Casinomeister as well?
Hmm not really checked proper for this hehe. I think the meister has got some sort of list somwhere. But you should use GPWA or Affiliate Guard Dog. I would mainly highly recommend Affiliate Guard Dog as they are most honest bunch I know. GPWA or other bigger ones seems to be more after the money they can get.
4) What commission model do you use or prefer? Pay per subscription of pay on life-time value.
Never go with CPA unless its Bingo or Poker. For Casinos always stick to Revenue Lifetime. And always negotiate a good percentage. I have managed to get 35-50% with most of my programs. Also if they have a negative carrier over try negotiate for them to remove this same goes with minimum player rules. I have managed to get that remove with some as well. Or else avoid these programs having that.

If you guys have any suggestions or other important information, feel free to reply to my thread

Good luck

 

[Simmo!]

I'm a Dutch content writer and have a very good understanding of the SEO requirements (title/meta tags, keywords, density etc). So basically I don't really need anyone but myself to write compelling content.

SEO is changing. Density and tags are far less relevant now but you hit the nail on the head with your last statement "compelling content". That's where you should focus to make i work.

I notice many affiliate websites in Dutch are poorly written and lack some information, Dutch players really would be interested in knowing about. I think that with my experience and knowledge I'll be capable of bridging the gap between Land-based and online casinos. The Dutch market will officially be legalized on 1 January 2015, so there is a huge potential in my opinion.

Good idea IMO. If you can do it well (ie: knowlegably) then I think that could be a good route to follow.

...I'll buy an already established domain name with a decent Google Pagrank/content/backlinks etc. and tweak/add content so it matches my concept.

Personally I wouldn't go that route unless you are 100% the links are all natural and authoratative. I wouldn't even worry about pagerank anymore...some history helps but only good history LOL.

1) How much of your visitors actually sign up to an online casino you promote on your website? I imagine this being a low percentage of 0.5-1%, considering the average CTR rates.

Depends entirely on your audience and what you are telling them. Relevance is the key although if you are working on bonuses, free stuff etc then it can be less than this. Get the relevance to your audience right and it can be much higher.

2) How much does an average player you delivered to an online casino earn you on monthly basis? (I understand if this is a bit too personal)

Same answer as above.

3) How do you know you're not getting scammed by the affiliate program? I'm assuming you can check the stats, but is there a way to verify whether you delivered any players or not? I'm planning to only promote the most popular names in the industry. Is there an accredited affiliate list here on Casinomeister as well?

I'd say don't worry too much about the affiliate program: concentrate on the casino. In general, if the casino treats it's players well it will apply similar principles to other people it works with. And you have to know your casinos yourself anyway in order to be useful to your audience. If you are more bothered about the affiliate program and how they reward you then you are approaching it wrong in my opinion. 5% of something is better than 100% of nothing.

4) What commission model do you use or prefer? Pay per subscription of pay on life-time value.

Lifetime.

If you guys have any suggestions or other important information, feel free to reply to my thread

Be unique, be honest.

Good luck

 

[Mozaik]

Thank you for your response PaaskeDKnowUK and Simmo! I really appreciate it

2) How much does an average player you delivered to an online casino earn you on monthly basis? (I understand if this is a bit too personal)
It is also really hard to give amount here. As you could have 100 signups at a casino and only maybe 2-3 depositors. I have had over 100 signups at Vera John and only 6 depositors. But 2 have made quite high deposits in 2 months over £2000. And earnings also been good. Around £2-300 each month last 2 months.

Did Vera & John Casino have a no-deposit bonus or free spins promotion when you had that many players sign up? I don't really see why so many players would sign up to a casino, without actually depositing and playing. I believe free play can always be done without registering.

4) What commission model do you use or prefer? Pay per subscription of pay on life-time value. Never go with CPA unless its Bingo or Poker. For Casinos always stick to Revenue Lifetime. And always negotiate a good percentage. I have managed to get 35-50% with most of my programs. Also if they have a negative carrier over try negotiate for them to remove this same goes with minimum player rules. I have managed to get that remove with some as well. Or else avoid these programs having that.

Would you say that a lot of online casinos enforce these minimum player rules? I'm assuming most webmasters won't have much to say when the traffic is slow and they bring in only very few players.

3) How do you know you're not getting scammed by the affiliate program? I'm assuming you can check the stats, but is there a way to verify whether you delivered any players or not? I'm planning to only promote the most popular names in the industry. Is there an accredited affiliate list here on Casinomeister as well?
I'd say don't worry too much about the affiliate program: concentrate on the casino. In general, if the casino treats it's players well it will apply similar principles to other people it works with. And you have to know your casinos yourself anyway in order to be useful to your audience. If you are more bothered about the affiliate program and how they reward you then you are approaching it wrong in my opinion. 5% of something is better than 100% of nothing.

Most definitely! I think I'll start making a decent website first with some nice content and a good number of visitors before actually promoting any brands, but it's just something I always wondered in general in the affiliate industry, whether it's gambling or other markets. I've wrote tons of casino reviews in the past. Most Dutch affiliate websites pretty much are owned by companies in Israel and promote brands like EuroGrand Casino, 888 Casino and Europa Casino a lot. While it was my website, I would never even think of promoting them because they have a pending period of 4 days prolly some predatory progressieve terms.

 

[Simmo!]

I think I'll start making a decent website first with some nice content and a good number of visitors before actually promoting any brands, but it's just something I always wondered in general in the affiliate industry, whether it's gambling or other markets. I've wrote tons of casino reviews in the past. Most Dutch affiliate websites pretty much are owned by companies in Israel and promote brands like EuroGrand Casino, 888 Casino and Europa Casino a lot. While it was my website, I would never even think of promoting them because they have a pending period of 4 days prolly some predatory progressieve terms.

I'd say you definitely have the right approach to making it work. Just one minor thing I'd add: an affiliate can choose to become a "salesman" or a "guide". As soon as you start using the term "promote" you have chosen the former...both can work but it's an important distinction.