Casino Affiliate Guide / Casino Traffic Tips & Tricks

A number of online casinos offer the games for free to their affiliates as an advertising tool. The ones listed below were provided by Gold Club Casino. We recommend joining their affiliate program so that any visitors who opt to go to the live casino are credited to your account.

1. Download each game below and save it to your computer. Unpack all files from the .zip file into the appropriate directory on your website, such as "BlackJack," "Slots," etc.

2. The .zip file also includes a text file (URL.TXT). You'll need to modify the URL in this file so that when a visitor to your site clicks on the Gold Club Casino link in the game, the referral program will register that the visitor came from your site. Find the row shown below within the text file and replace the bold text (referralcode) with your unique referral code.

url=http://www.goldclubcasino.com/re/re/referralcode

3. To embed the Shockwave files into your web page, simply copy the code for the correct game below and paste the code into the body of your .html page.

Listed below are some of the sources that we use to obtain graphics for our web sites.

On the Web - Altavista provides an excellent image search function on their web site. They will comb the web and find graphics that match a key word search you enter. Try Casino, Black Jack, Gambling, Craps, Slot Machines, Cash, etc... when searching. Be aware that many of the images returned will be copyrighted through one of the major images houses like Corbis or Getty and should be licensed before using. To do an Altavista Image Search Click Here.

Paid Graphics- There are a number of sources which will custom design static or animated graphics for your site. The main benefit to paying for graphics is that you then have a unique image that exactly meets your requirements.

The cost for graphic designers varies widely, so shop around before deciding on a final source. Our favorite source for free and paid graphics is Animation Factory. Click here to see their extensive galleries.

Were you encouraged to stay at the site very long?

After about twenty seconds of wait most first time visitors will opt to leave your site. Casino web sites tend to be some of the worst offenders of the Beat the Clock rule. Most new webmasters simply can't resist adding dozens of flashy animated buttons and banners to their pages. The logic being "The more offers I make available, the more money I am going to earn". Nothing could be further from the truth.

The banner farm approach to casino marketing does not work effectively. You can improve sales considerably by ensuring that all your pages load in a reasonable amount of time, I call this the 20 second rule. Your main page and all sub pages should open in 20 seconds or less if you wish to capture the majority of visitor's attention.

2. A series of quickly navigated, fast loading pages is always preferable to one large, slow loading one.

3. Always optimize (**see below) the graphics that you do use. The maximum resolution for online viewing should be 72dpi (dots per inch).

3. While JPG files load faster then GIF files, they are not compatible with all older browsers or computer platforms. Use optimized** GIF images instead.

4. When choosing banners always opt for the smallest one that effectively conveys the message.

Land based casinos know that some players can and will wager huge sums of money while gambling. These players are commonly referred to as whales and a casino will go to virtually any length to attract them and then keep them coming back. Lavish suites, free show tickets, gourmet meals and expensive gifts are all readily available to these VIPs.

Online casino gamblers are no different than their land based cousins. If you can attract whales to your site, and keep them coming back, you will earn considerably more money as an affiliate than one that attracts only minnows. When designing your site and implementing promotions remember to always target the whales.

Here are a few tips for attracting Real Players:

1. Do not target freebie hunters. There are many users on the Internet who do nothing but search down free offers. They have no intention of purchasing anything, they just love collecting freebies. Do not advertise on or actively exchange links with free sites as the resulting traffic tends to have little or no value.

2. Choose the casinos you promote carefully. Look for player comp programs and frequent promotions for existing players. The majority of your profits will be earned on repeat players, not new users, so keep this in mind when choosing partner casinos.

3. Advertise offline for players. There are numerous player and sports oriented magazines that accept advertising from casinos. Choose publications that would appeal to your target audience and run a small test ad to gauge the results.