How to Start an Online Casino
Choose Your provider
The first thing you’ll need to do to start an online casino, after buying a URL, is to find an online provider. These are the companies that provide the software that you business will be running on. The “content” if you like. This software is the backbone of your entire operation. it will not only include the games on offer, but also the back-end. This includes such things as payment processing, fraud management, account management. You get the picture. On the whole there are two types of provider. Those that develop their gaming and back-end platforms themselves and the other, (B2B) who offer a complete package, with games and content from other providers. With the former you get lower fees, but are stuck with their game offerings. With the latter you have much greater gaming choices, without having to make separate contracts with each developer, though will pay higher premiums.
Start an Online Casino: Types Of Provider
Talking of money, you have the choice of going with a company that charges monthly fees plus a % of your profit, or straight up buying into a platform and getting the source files from the get go. Net Entertainment, Playtech and Microgaming are games companies and they have around 60% of the marketplace in casino products. Their games certainly convert and you should ensure that you have some of them at your online casino. To work with them , you’ll be needing to pony up around 10,000 Euro each month. Also, they would be taking 15% of your profits. No one said this was a cheap business to get into! buying a turnkey solution from any of these players will set you back at least 120,000 Euro per year.
B2B Providers
Then we have the B2B suppliers. These include names such as, 1Clickgames.com, Finnplay and EveryMatrix.com. They all offer at least 10 games from different developers, and all the popular favorites. With these companies, you pay a one-off fee, get the source codes with a licence, (which is normally valid for around 100 years) and you get to keep 100% of your profits. You can buy as many games as you want and you’ll receive free updates and life-time support. They can also design specific games just for you and your casino, along with a comprehensive casino software package. The fees are around 100.000 Euro. When you start an online casino, this is a good option at the beginning.
Obtain a Casino License
Now, if you’re gonna go with a B2B supplier, then there’s a good chance that they can furnish you with a sub-licence. This’ll allow you to run your casino without the hassle of obtaining your own licence. This is a huge money and time save. But…assuming that you’re gonna grow your business, then it can work out more expensive in the long term. Remember that without a casino licence, then you can’t legally operate a casino, online or off. OK, it’s true that you can have a Bitcoin casino as there are no licencing requirements for that. But that’s another topic all together. For your online casino you need to decide for what countries you want it to serve. Country restrictions are essential according to the best jackpot site ratings.
Have a Look In Central America
For example, a licence from Costa Rica or Curacao is relatively cheap to obtain (around $30,000 -$40,000 per year). Others are more expensive such as Malta and the UK ($180,000 per year). If you get yourself a licence from those two South American countries, then you’re able to accept players from unregulated countries. Just set up an offshore company first and they’ll be the face of your casino for licencing purposes. Oh…and you don’t have to live in the country that issues your licence.
Start an Online Casino: Accept Payments
So now we have our provider and or licence. What more do we need? well, we need to be able to accept payments from players living all around the world. Also this will allow you to payout winnings and withdraw money for yourself. Because credit cards are probably the most common form of online payments, then you’ll be needing to find a credit card payment processor. hey handle all the unseen stuff and you pay them a % of all the transactions. You’ll find there are any number of credit card processors and all offering great services at low fees.
Get Your Site Noticed
Well, we’re ready to go. The site is up and running, we have a licence and can accept payments. The problem is that having a site is just the beginning, as no one will know that you even exist. So here comes the real work. How to get yourself noticed. All online businesses rely on Google search to be found. you need to be on the first page of Google search for the relevant terms that’ll eventually bring those punters to your door. The one word that’ll decide whether you business stands or falls: marketing. This can include TV ads, radio ads, print ads and good old fashioned SEO (search engine optimization). Decide what countries you want to target first. Then start to point your advertising campaigns in that direction. It’s a long hard slog, as there’s always lots of competition chasing the same players.
Start an Online Casino: Hello Google
Running a Google Adwords campaign can bring in some results, though the competition for keywords is very strong. The problem is that you’re paying for clicks and it’s difficult to turn those into customers. We suggest paying a company that specializes in ranking sites. Another option is to have a proprietary game on your site. Something that’s unique and will help make your site stand out. Of course it goes without saying that you must optimize your website to offer the most options possible. An example of this is to offer as many different languages as possible. You also need to hold regular events, anything that will give players a reason to return. Also it’s very important that you have incentives for the players who are spending the most. At the end of the day, you’ll see that it is this small proportion of gamblers that’s keeping you in business.
The Day To Day Running
Finally, now you’re up and running and are building a good customer base, you will need to be constantly fine tuning your business. First things first, always double and triple check your website security. Nothing will kill your business faster than if you get yourself hacked and your clients details are stolen. Check your stats daily for any problems. For example there could be a huge number of visitors, and yet no conversions of any of them to customers. That could point to a problem on your sign up page. make sure that you offer every deposit system possible and the same goes for payouts. Check how long your customers stay playing at the games you are offering. If they move on too quickly it may point to a weakness in the gaming experience. To that end, make sure your games come with clear playing instructions and are simple to understand. Make sure you have a large enough selection of games to play and that they are all compatible with all devices and all web browsers.
So, now you can see that it’s true, anyone with some cash can set up their own online casino. But like all things, it’s a lot of work. Most people would prefer to be playing at online jackpot sites, rather than run it.
