Top 9 Strategies for Your Online Casino

Every successful online casino needs something that will separate them from the competition. Whether you are offering visitors a wide variety of bingo games, exciting roulette action, or high-stakes poker tournaments, you need to provide them with something special. The industry is highly competitive but extremely profitable.

There is so much advice out there to starting an online business but very little of it is targeted toward those who are running an online gambling enterprise. We’ve compiled a list of some of the best ideas on how to make your online casino a success or take your online gambling operations to the next level.

Make a Plan

You will need to consider your overall business’s structure, articles of incorporation, staff, board members, and several other practical aspects that are a part of any successful online business. Do your research. Read and subscribe to relevant trade publications, talk to others who have already gone through the process of starting an online casino and make notes. Once you have a forma business plan, you can use it to get a loan from a bank or attract investors to your enterprise.

Have All Necessary Licenses in Place

When you are running an online casino, it’s important not to run afoul of the law before you even get started. To do this, you will need to have obtained all required gaming licenses even before you build out your website. Every state and territory within the U.S. will have its own set of requirements and separate gaming commissions. Some states will require casino owners to have a background check in addition to being legally bonded before they issue your gambling license and allow you to open your virtual doors.

Gaming licenses granted, regardless of state, also require that any applicable taxes are paid by the casino and winners at your site and reported at the federal and state level. Making sure that all of the necessary licenses are in place and reporting transactions to the IRS and state departments of revenue ensures your business is running above board.

These licenses establish both accountability and trust. A licensed site shows guests that your venue is trustworthy and all gaming conducted on the site is fair. So, if someone comes to your site to play online slots, for example, they want to be sure that they will be paid if they win and that the game is a fair one.

Name your Domain and Register It

After you have your licenses, you’ll you want to choose a name and a domain for your casino. It’s best to use names with catchy spellings so that visitor can find it through their favorite search engine. Once you have found something that no one else has, register it with a domain registration service. Be sure to keep your registration current so that no one else picks it up if it expires. If that happens, getting it back can be costly.

Design Your Logo and Graphics

After you’ve decided on a name for your online casino, it’s a good idea to create your logo and any other related graphics. Eye-catching graphics that incorporate bright colors, and either casino or popular culture themes can also help entice visitors to come to check it out.

Choose Your iGaming Software Package

One of the most important decisions you will make is what gaming software package to choose. Most casinos don’t program their own packages from scratch. Read reviews and go with the most reliable option that you can afford. The iGaming software package that you choose will likely be the most significant investment you make for your business. Depending on the options you want for your online casino, the price range for any gaming software package from an established and reliable vendor can cost between $25,000 to many hundreds of thousands of dollars. In general, the larger your operation, the bigger the price tag will be. Some software companies will offer their clients the ability to lease their products or to purchase them on contract to help cut down on your initial expenditure. Most will also offer customizable options in terms of colors, graphics, and features to suit the needs of each online casino.

Whichever iGaming software provider you choose, be sure to look for the seals of approval that the gaming industry puts in place to ensure fair gameplay. It’s also important to practice due diligence to determine whether the software provider you are thinking of going with has any current or past litigation filed against it and the outcome of these lawsuits.

Select a Payment System Provider

Your iGaming software package will include several payment processing options for transactions going into and outside of your casino. These will let your casino visitors put funds into their accounts and allow you to pay them when they win. Be sure that there are secure options for both credit card payments or to transfer funds via the visitor’s bank account. Check to ensure that the payment system is compatible with the type of gaming license you have and all laws where your business is based.

Build Your Site

Once you have your licenses, gaming package, and graphics, it’s time to build your site. You will want to make sure that it is easy to navigate and that all functions work before opening it to the public. You’ll also need to make sure to display any seals or legal information required by law before opening for business.

Marketing

Now it’s time to draw customers to your casino. The most common way for would-be visitors to find an online casino is through a web search. You’ll need to investigate SEO strategies that will work for the audience you’re trying to draw in and the games you have. You may also want to use a blog to talk about current specials and new games on your site.

Be sure to have a presence on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other popular networking sites. Use these sites to announce promotions, special events such as tournaments and link to content on your online casino blog. The more presence you have in these venues, the more likely it is for potential visitors to find your site, share with others and return again and again.

Whether you have just started your online casino or have been around for a while, consider putting an introductory offer in place for first-time visitors or put an affiliate program in place to encourage them to bring friends and family to play, too. Any promised promotion monies or bonuses should be paid out as promised in a timely fashion.

Customer Service

Finally, one of the most important things to do for your business is to provide customer service available for your visitors. The money you spend on this will pay for itself many times over in return business. Ensure that reps can answer any questions or to help casino visitors sort out any potential problems on the site.

This is a simple checklist to help you get your casino up and running, but each step has a lot of details. However, if you’re willing to do your research and jump through the necessary hoops, then getting an online casino up and running is possible.