There are many individuals that dream of starting an online casino. After all, the gambling industry can present many lucrative opportunities. However, the perception is that the steps to getting started are too difficult to undertake. Casinos are seen to be risky, complicated to run and full of pitfalls. In this article I will explain that the process is not as hard as many would believe. Moreover I will provide six step guide to getting started in the casino and gambling industry. By the end of this article you should have a clear idea of what is required to start an online casino. Step #1 - Choose What Casino Games To OfferThe first consideration to make is what type of casino games the platform should offer. The casino games are going to be the front end of the business. They will be what attracts users to the casino so will be a major influence on what provider and software to use. In order for a casino platform to have an edge in the market it may be necessary to opt for unique or niche targeted games. However, a casino that is aiming to reach the market as a whole will need to offer many of the standard games on offer to maximise reach. Deciding on what games to offer will have a significant bearing on Step #2.... Step #2 - Choose a Casino Software Providerhow much does it cost to start an online casinoThe gambling software is the backbone of an online casino. The entire casino's operations will be managed by the software. This will include:
Ensuring that the casino software can support heavy graphics, video playback, etc are also important considerations. There are two kinds of casino software provider:
A further consideration is how much does it cost to start an online casino. A casino entrepreneur must deiced whether to rent the software by way of a monthly fee or make a one time payment for access to the source code. The second option will provide full access and complete control over data. The Top Three Game Developers Playtech, NetEntertainment and Micro Gaming cover around 60% of the market for casino products. They are known as being leaders in the casino market with premium and award winning games. Any casino provider looking to compete in the market should offer games from at least one of these providers. That said, they don't come cheap. So when evaluating the cost to start an online casino consider the following: Each of these developers has a minimum charge of EUR 10,000 per month plus a 15% cut of the casino's royalties. An all round solution from one of these will cost a minimum of EUR 120,000 per year. Other Casino Games Providers There are, of course, other options for casino games providers. BetSoft, EveryMatrix, 1ClickGames and Finnplay offer packages of casino games from up to 10 different suppliers. If finance is an issue a further option to cut down on costs over the long term is to look into CasinoWebScripts. They offers a complete gambling software solution along with game customisation and development. Together with this, the pricing policy on offer allows for a casino brand to purchase games without sharing royalties. A complete solution from CasinoWebScripts will cost around EUR100,000 but the license will be available for an unlimited time. Helpful Tip - Choosing a casino platform provider takes careful consideration. Requesting information from a wide range of providers will provide a good overview of the market and allow for a well informed decision to be made. Step #3 - Get a Casino LicenseWithout a casino license it is illegal for an online casino to operate. At some point every online casino will need to have it's own license. However, to keep costs down a B2B Casino platform supplier will often provide a sub license. This means that the online casino will be able to operate legally without the need to obtain their own casino license. Another option to cut down on costs at the beginning is to open a BitCoin casino, as this would not require a casino license. How to get an online casino license will vary across different jurisdictions. For instance Costa Rica or Curacao provide a very cheap option (around EUR20,000 per year). With a license from one of these two countries an online casino can legally accept gamblers from a large number of non regulated countries world wide. Other jurisdictions are much more expensive. The UK or Malta, for instance, can cost as much as EUR150,000 per year. Step #4 - Choose Accepted Casino Payment Methods.With a casino license at the ready the next stage is to set up a variety of casino payment methods. This will allow the online casino to accept deposits from players, administer payouts and prizes and manage withdrawals Credit cards are the preferred payment method in the gambling industry. So a processor that accepts credit card payments and can verify whether or not a player has access to sufficient funds is paramount. Helpful Tip- It's well worth shopping around for suitable payment options but a casino games provider should always make sure that they have the preferred payment methods of choice for the target market. Step #5 - How to Market an Online CasinoOnce an online casino is up and running, fully licensed and with games at the ready it is time to start doing business. Attracting players is what will determine success. The only way to do this is through marketing an online casino. The more time spent on casino marketing campaigns the more players will be attracted, so it is advisable to spend the most time on this. Below is a list of a few fundamentals that should help define a successful online casino marketing plan:
Step #6 - How to Deal With The ChallengesAn online casino can bring many additional challenges that don't arise in most other online businesses.
Below is a shortlist of potential areas to watch out for that can harm casinos of all sizes:
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With more an more information on the web, marketing in the highly competitive world of advertising is becoming harder. To be successful with internet marketing requires investing in ever more targeted niches. As the web develops the online casinos and gambling industry have been at the forefront. With their reliance on bright graphics the gaming industry, online casinos, and gambling are well suited to internet marketing. Finding a Niche for Casinos and GamblingOnline gambling platforms are more in demand than at any time previously. What's more competition is constantly growing. Marketing companies are seeking out new ways to enhance online casino, gaming, and finance SEM to rise above competition and obtain higher success through gaining new visitors and customers. In his affiliate marketing blog Charles Ngo lists the ever increasing expenditure on native advertising in the casino business over the last 6 years. As you can see with such increase spending on native advertising alone the competition is high in the casino industry. But what is encouraging is that such spending demonstrates that there is still money to be made and new niches to be discovered! So what exactly is it that constitutes a niche in the casino and gambling industries? Assuming your site will rely on site traffic from search engines, it will take less effort to rank for a niche topic than it will be to rank for a competitive keyword. For instance, the search term "casino" is a general search term that could apply to an online casino, a casino book, casino the movie or a local bricks and mortar casino. Refine it further to a term such as, "online casino," and still you will end up with a list of generic options searches, such as play casino for free, or play a casino with a first time deposit. With "online casino bonus" as a search term, this could be a search of potential value. Again though does it apply to someone who would potentially play in a casino for money? A more targeted search term would be "online casino bonus cashback." This kind of search suggests that the user knows exactly what they are looking for. Also, the term cashback implies that they will be playing with real money and would be interested in receiving something in return. As you can see by refining the original search term it is possible for the marketer to drill down into the niche. Search terms will decrease for more niche searches such as these but it will take less time for a site to rank. What's more this will free up more time to focus on the conversion process. Which Gambling or Casino Niche is Profitable?For marketing purposes it is advisable to target a range of niches within the gambling and casino market. That way each niche relevant website could be viewed as a measure for which niche is the more likely to generate profitable results. How well site pages rank will be a solid indicator of which sites will perform better. A calculated projection can be made of that niche by assessing how much traffic is generated and what is the value of each conversion. Aside from using the search engines to generate ideas on what might be worth pursuing, there are some additional tools to help you learn more about a business and see what it is worth. Niche Research ToolsAny serious marketer hoping to get real results from SEO will need to be equipped with the very best niche targeting tools available. The good news is that you don’t have to spend a ton of cash to become an niche finding SEO expert. Here is a shortlist of some of the popular tools by some of the top internet marketers in the business:
There are many more tools out there that can bring great results for targeting niches using search terms. These are just a few of the most popular and easy to use. ConclusionOnline casino games have become a massive source of revenue for various companies. This makes it harder for a new company to stand out separately and grow new visitors and customers. Niche marketing and SEO strategies will help open up new markets upon which toe build a brand. Not only will SEO services help rank a company higher on search engines, it builds company credibility.
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AuthorEliran Oved is an Internet Entrepreneur, specialising in SEO and Online Marketing. He has had a keen interest in the World of Online Gaming for some time now. Archives
July 2017
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