The number 1 reason why a player will look up a casino brand online? They are frustrated with it. So your writing should help users find and fix such frustrations within minutes.
Identifying potential or existing problems and voicing them within your content is what makes an average iGaming writer great in my opinion.
So, without further ado, here are my top 3 tips for identifying user pain points in gambling-related topics and addressing them effectively.
Tip #1: Know What To Look For
User pain points when it comes to online gambling can be a number of things and are not always set in stone, so to speak.
But there is a very clear guideline that can push you in the right direction. Here’s what I usually do when researching a casino and its reputation:
I check the ownership and licensing
Red flags here include shady companies with no real physical address or real people listed in their contact pages.
Curaçao is what I consider an offshore and, logically, a lower-tier gambling license. The same goes for licenses issued by Anjoua and Tobique.
The bigger alarm goes off if I stumble upon a casino that claims a “private” jurisdiction issues the license. Common on! What does that even mean?
I do a background check and connect the dots between this casino and its sister sites
Why are sister sites so important when reviewing a casino? They may uncover potential problems that users may face when registering for an operator run by the same company as other problematic sites.
I am a firm believer that a rotten apple
will spoil the whole barrel. So if a sister site has notoriety among players, that’s not a good sign at all.
What I will do next is warn players of the affiliation between the two operators and explain why this observation is something they need to consider.
I personally go through the steps a player would take to test the casino
So, basically, I do what any player would when coming across a new casino site.
First, I ask fellow writers or players (usually my co-workers) whether they’ve heard of the brand before. They share their experiences and thoughts about it.
Then, I register a new account, verify my profile, and make a deposit. To try the casino for real from a user’s perspective, I try to activate the welcome bonus on my first deposit or look for a no-deposit bonus that doesn’t require me to risk my own money just yet.
I do need to meet the wagering requirement for the bonus, so this gives me the perfect chance to test the casino games.
This process allows me to see how long the bonus turnover takes and whether the offer’s terms and conditions are reasonable. Do I have enough time? How do game contributions work? Is the win cap appropriate considering the efforts you put into the playthrough?
Ultimately, I request a withdrawal soon after the bonus money is transferred to my real-money balance. This gives me an opportunity to really test one of the players’ main pain points when it comes to online gambling – making a withdrawal.
I’m paying attention here to see if there are any surprising additional fees. Plus, I need to know how long the process actually takes.
Tip #2: Know Where To Look
Moving on, I would say that simply using your own experience as a benchmark for addressing user pain points won’t cut it.
You need to do some real research, but this time not on the brand’s details, but on its reputation among players.
So, how do you find out what real players think about a casino? My advice is to go where the players are – online forums, social media chatrooms, etc.
Trustpilot
is a great start, because let’s face it – people go there to complain and rarely to give kudos. So you need pain points? Real people spell them out right there for anyone to see.
The brand’s official social media channels are also worth checking out for all writers. Especially those that suggest player-operator interaction, like Twitter, Telegram, and Discord.
Some big brands have their own forums, like Stake.com. However, those will have moderators working for the casino in some capacity or other. So, I don’t really think complaints made there often see the light of day.
Instead, go to affiliate forums – that’s a golden tip right here. And I’m not gatekeeping my secrets.
The best ones, or at least the ones I use the most, are Affiliate Guard Dog, Casinomeister, and GPWA.
And you might say these are for affiliates, not for players. That’s true! But consider this – if an operator is shady with their partners, they won’t be any different with their clients. Plus, many of the topics discussed concern specific players’ complaints and problems with the platform.
I’m telling you, those three forums are a goldmine!
Tip #3: Build Your Own Brand So Players Come To You
Okay, so I’ve talked about the importance of building your E-E-A-T persona as an iGaming author. And it’s mainly to do with personal branding, getting your name out there to land more writing gigs, and letting Google and other search engines know that you exist.
But there’s another tick in the pros column here!
And, yes, it is the visibility you get as an iGaming expert that is approachable online. A real human that players can actually reach out to if they have a problem.
I’m not saying this happens often. But this is what I work towards the most. I want to become someone other players trust.
I would love to receive a DM on LinkedIn asking me for advice or help with a real-world gambling-related problem.
And if this blog and my work so far make that possible, it would all be worth it.