Dealer Dan, pictured here with WWE Superstar Mick Foley, has been in internet marketing since 1996. He likes hugs, long walks on the beach, and making money while wearing his jammy jams. For more information, you can read all 
Welcome to Part 2 of It’s Not Just About The Tips. If you missed it, go back and read part one.
Now in part 1, I wrote about the two categories of people who could run sports betting tips where it WAS all about the tips. Category 1 was proven sports bettors, and Category 2 was the “car salesman” type marketer, who could take an 0-3 night and somehow convince you from that, to sign up for their premium picks.
I fall into both of those categories.
With something like NBA or NFL – I’ve been lucky enough to provide winning public tips on those for the past few years. So when it comes to marketing, I’m able to rely mainly on my existing record.
But I also know how to market from the “car salesman” aspect. I don’t take it to the extreme that some do – but you do need to know how to market verbally when running a mailing list. For example – assuming you’re offering tips at the standard -110 lines and you’re a winning tipster – you’re still only going to be winning about 55%-58% of the time. That’s standard, and any smart sports bettor knows that. However the casual punter doesn’t – so no matter your record, they’re going to be freaking out if you go 0-3 one night.
That’s where you need to put positive spins on it – you don’t send out an e-mail saying you went 0-3. You send out an e-mail reminding them that despite the loss, you’re still 24-16 for the season or whatever, and still up money. I personally haven’t went to the extreme that some people do – but I subscribe to a wide variety of sports tips mailers and watch them all. Some people outright lie, others will have a horrific losing season, but then focus on their overall results where they’re still up money going back a few years when marketing. Methods like that are generally standard in the sports betting tips market these days.
Then there’s the third method of a tips site, and the whole purpose of this article.
Sports Betting Tips Websites That Aren’t About The Tips.
Take my latest website – BetNHL.ca. That website isn’t about the tips. Not at all. At a glance it may appear to be about the tips – but it really isn’t. The tips are just another way to grow my site, another method for getting visitors, another way for getting links. For the most part, they’re on there purely for SEO purposes.
Do I put thought into the tips? A little bit. Do I want them to win? That’s a nice bonus. But it’s not the end of the world if they don’t. I don’t plan on making ANY money with the tips. If I do then great – but I have zero long term plans in regard to selling the tips, or building a huge mailing list.
It’s the non-tips content that matters.
The non-tips content is mostly targeted at people looking for information OTHER than tips. These are the people I’m going to be able to convert to. The daily tips are there purely to keep the site fresh and updated, and help add to the sites credibility. Would you read and trust a sportsbook review from a site that wasn’t updated since 2008? But you’re more likely to trust a website that’s been updated every day for the past 100 days.
I’m not saying the tips content won’t make you money. But the problem is most people starting tips websites consider it as their only source of income, and as already covered it can actually be quite difficult to make money. Despite your domain or website name being focused on “tips”, it needs to be just a small part of your overall site.
If your entire sitemap plan is “tips” then go back to the drawing board – you’re not going to make much money.
I’m going to give you just TEN examples of content you can add to these websites. None of this is a secret – play around with Google Keyword Tool for an hour and you’ll also have a host of content to add. The trick to this sort of content is knowing who is searching for it, and how to convert them to to sportsbook affiliate programs.
Let’s get started:
- Sportsbook Reviews: Let’s get the most obvious one out of the way first – because whenever I look at a tips site, if they have expanded beyond tips it’s with reviews. Really not the best type of content – but it’s a start.
The problem is the reviews are SO generic. You have a core audience – why the hell are you not writing for THEM? It’s like poker bonus websites. I see so many poker bonus websites who offer poker room reviews – but their poker reviews barely even mention the bonus! Or live dealer casino game websites whose reviews don’t even mention the live dealer games! Take a look at my Bet365 Review. My audience? Canadian Hockey Fans/Bettors. Notice how the content is personalized and geared 100% towards that audience. - Live Betting Odds: And no – I’m NOT talking about the generic “live odds feed” you can get from Bodog or whomever. I’m talking about displaying live bettings odds from multiple sportsbooks on your website, so people can compare – something like this:
People are always looking for odds and sharing odds websites – niche sites listing odds do great. Have a look at BestFightOdds.com and their backlink portfolio is impressive – many shares over the likes of forums, blogs, twitter and facebook.
On top of that – this is a great way to educate the visitor about switching sportsbooks. Writing “You can get this bet for -105 at Bodog compared to -110 elsewhere” is as useful as pissing in the wind. However lay out the cold hard facts in a nice table format displaying all of the odds and people will take notice.
(Sidenote: If you are looking for live betting odds, contact my coder Frank at F@DealerDan.com as he can do them for a good price)
- Futures/Interesting Odds Content: Load up the sportsbooks that you are promoting, and look at the betting odds they offer for Futures, as an example. I mean as of this writing in January 2013, books are offering lines on the MLB World Series, the NHL Art Ross Trophy Winner, the Superbowl Winner, the Davis Cup Winner. All content that people are searching for.
Think about the person who is searching for the “MLB World Series Odds”. This is a visitor that is clearly interested in baseball and betting. But it doesn’t mean they have a sportsbook account already. They could just be curious, or they could be doing some sort of pickem rankings. A lot of this traffic is non-bettors or casual bettors, and it’s a great method to get links, traffic and conversions. - Special Bet Analysis: You know what you can bet on during the Superbowl? Well, EVERYTHING. One bet for example – you can bet on how long the National Anthem is going to be. This is a great example of special bet analysis.
Write 2000+ words on this! Analyze it to death! Go through the history of the National Anthem, go through the history of this person singing the Anthem – embed videos etc. Lots of people are searching for this content. There’s forum threads on it everywhere – especialy on non-betting forums. I see the same threads on football forums every year. And suddenly you get football fans who don’t bet, going to your article and reading it. And it’s so ludicrous that they just HAVE to bet on it – clicking that link to sign up at the sportsbook you recommend that they bet this at. And boom – you have them. - Betting Related News: I’m talking about sports news but with a betting perspective to it. You’re not writing about Gronk being injured or Rooney getting suspended for 3 games – you’re talking about how that affects the betting lines.
This sort of unique perspective is great for turning people into returning visitors. From the casual bettor who is ready to trust any website or tipster, to the serous bettor who is interested in your analysis of how it affects lines. And you can also use this to release news about when lines are added. “Hey guys the 2014 Superbowl Winners Odds were just released at 5Dimes – click here to see them”. - Betting Statistics: Providing betting statistics is a great method for quickly gaining the trust of visitors, and also converting them to sportsbooks. Provide stats, even useless ones, when it comes to betting. How a team has been against the spread on the road, how a team performs in the first half when they’ve played back to back games, how a team performs in a double header.
This immediately accomplishes two things: (1) The visitor trusts you because who doesn’t trust numbers? And (2) The visitor starts thinking from a stats/math-orientated perspective. And that’s when you’re able to lay out the math in regard to betting at Sportsbook A, and why it’s more profitable. - Blow Them Away with Unique Betting Options: Your average bettor who is looking for tips probably has no idea all the type of bets one can make. Sure you can bet on the winner of the game, the winner against the point spread, and the over/under. But some sportsbooks offer a ton of crazy bets that are amazing for conversion.
Capture your visitors eye – whether it’s some huge CTA at the top of the site or within the content itself. Write content specifically about those bets. Even gear your tips content towards this. At Bet365 for example, you can bet “Race to 20 Points” on NBA Games, Highest Scoring Period on NHL games, and how many corners in a soccer game. This is killer content that’s able to convert people. This season on my NBA Tips mailing list for example, I started offering First Half/Second Half Tips(ie: Raptors to be leading the 1st Half, but Lakers to win the game) which is only available at a couple of books. Signups were through the roof. - Explain The Bets: Depending on the sport that you are writing about, write down the most basic bets. Football for example would be the spread betting, the money line and the over/under. Now go through every sportsbook and see what OTHER betting options they have, and then explain every freaking one of them!
Some people may be browsing your site and see the articles and be like “Wow – I can bet Race to 14 points on NFL Games at Bet365?” Others will be betting at Bet365, and see that betting option and think “Hmmm, maybe I should Google it and see what people say about it”, finding your site in the process.
Then you do what you do to get that specific traffic converting to other books. Let me use the whole “rush poker” thing as an example. If you’re offering rush poker strategy or rush poker information – the majority of your search engine traffic will have accounts at Full Tilt right? So no point promoting them. But then you can use that content to push people towards Titan Poker and their “Speed Poker”, saying the players are stupider or whatever you need to say.
It’s all about knowing where your traffic is coming from. If you know they’re coming directly from Bet365 for example, you can target them personally and focus on getting them to switch to another book that offers the same betting option, but with better odds or specials. - Mobile Betting: Similar to the unique betting options above – it’s about opening peoples eyes to things they weren’t aware of. You’re working as an informational resource while providing top conversion options.
In this case, you’re writing articles explaining to the user that they can bet on their smartphone. It may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t understand how to do this correctly. The idea of betting on your phone is AWESOME – I bet on my phone all the time when I am out, and I have people amazed you can do this and asking me where they can sign up, or if it works on their iPhone. - Beginners Content: This is similar to the “reviews” content I mentioned at the start. I often see sites offering some sort of beginner content. But it’s the thinnest bloody content imaginable. It’s basically “Hey you’re a beginner – go sign up at Bodog. There. All done.”
Think of the person who is new to sports betting. Do you know how many people I get that follow my tips, but don’t understand spread betting? Or the people that don’t understand the difference in American, Fractional or Decimal odds? Lots. And they’re just BEGGING for someone to explain it to them. Many are wanting to know “how to bet nhl online” but have no idea how to do it. Provide detailed step by step guides explaining it all to them – showing them how to bet, where to sign up, video reviews, pictures etc. Become a real “for dummies” guide.
Whew – okay, hopefully I’ve got you started and you’re seeing your current or prospective tips websites in a whole new light. You’re probably sitting there thinking “Woah – this is a lot more complicated than I imagined”. That’s a GOOD thing – now you’re ready to make some money from your sports betting tips website, rather than join the graveyard of most tips sites.
And if you’re a webmaster who DOES fall into the categories where you can make it “all about the tips”? It still wouldn’t hurt to add the sort of content listed above. Lots of it is great for building long-term trust with your users, and bringing in new visitors that you wouldn’t get if it was “all about the tips”.
One final tip: Grow a thick skin.
If you’re running a sports betting tips website, you’re going to need it.
This article was written on January 30, 2013 however all articles are looked at on a monthly basis and updated to keep them relevant.
If you need to contact Graeme, please see his Contact Page. If you are an affiliate manager wanting promoted please see this page.
