Digital gambling platforms are not a new thing, as the first one went live in 1994. In recent years, they have gained traction thanks to widespread smartphone adoption. In 2019, the online gambling market had an estimated size of $58.9 billion, and according to a report posted on ResearchAndMarkets.com, this figure should hit $93 billion in 2023. Contributing factors also include increased internet penetration, the rise of blockchain technology, and laxer worldwide legislation.
In the past two years, internet casinos have reported user growth by as much as 70%. Thus, the rising demand for content creation within this niche is becoming more evident each month as more gaming and affiliate sites pop up. Since gambling is a billion-dollar industry, the casino-vertical offers excellent opportunities for marketers equipped to work in this highly-competitive sector.
The High Demand for Content SEO and Writers
In today’s world, anyone that wishes to build an audience has to become smarter about content creation. It is about presenting useful information and analysis and understanding how search engines rank articles, what writers need to do for their content to attain a wider audience. SEO has become a hot word in the tech industry these past few years, and it is a vital digital marketing tool made up of multiple facets. It is crucial to understand each, and SEO as a whole, because it makes a website more visible, which entails more traffic, and more chances of converting prospects to customers.
The online gambling niche competes mainly through Search Engine Results Pages, also known as SERPs for short. These are the results displayed by search engines such as Google upon a user’s query. SERPs can include organic searches, Featured Snippets, Knowledge Graphs, videos, and paid Google Ads. When you ask the engine a question, it responds through SERPs, determining how your site appears on its first page. The two most crucial categories are organic and paid results. A ranking depends on an algorithm that numbers websites in terms of relevancy, going by the software’s best guess.
SEO copywriting is both an art and a science, and it’s something that takes time to master, which is why those with this unique set of talents are in demand. They know what readers want to consume and how engines like Google feels about some phrases. Therefore, they can create content that targets specific consumers and provides adequate solutions for their problems.
Where to Look for Talent and Jobs
- Mediabistro
- The Creative Group
- Content Tools
- Upwork
- Glassdoor
- Freelancer
First off, know that you shouldn’t limit your search to the phrase content manager if you are looking for someone that works in this field. Experts may also label themselves as Managing Editors, Directors of Content Marketing, Editorial Directors, Content Marketing Managers, Web Content Managers, etc. These are all different titles that encapsulate the same skill set.
Naturally, most employers that look for full-time staff will begin their search by skimming through LinkedIn results. LinkedIn is a platform with over 430 million users and is the go-to place to find professionals in any sector – content managers included. It has a ProFinder feature, an internal search engine that can help you locate top local freelancers. Most employers need to feel assured that the person they are contacting is a reliable and hard-working talent. That is why recommendations are a useful tool that leads to well-educated choices. Do not be afraid to reach out to previous employers through mutual associates.
Mediabistro is a platform founded in 1999, and it offers quality resources for media professionals. It is a community of over one million users, with creatives that work in all industries. The same applies to Upwork, formerly known as Elance-oDesk. It is the most established freelance site globally, a marketplace of over eighteen million registered workers, and over five million clients. It offers an abundance of worldwide talent that are willing to work for affordable wages.
Other avenues worth exploring are staffing agencies, such as The Creative Group. Content Tools is another professional network that provides free access to writers, designers, editors, and of course, content managers.
Skills Required
Content Managers for the online gambling niche come from all walks of life. While most are traditional marketers, some are entrepreneurs, others are journalists, and there’s even a chunk of former designers. However, they do not necessarily have to originate from the mentioned industries, but they need to have a diverse skill set applicable in this field.
Since English is the most spoken language globally, and most people use it when searching online, a manager must be able to speak and write in it at a native level and have exemplary grammar skills. The use of proper English affects an article’s ranking, so a good manager must be able to instantly notice grammar or phrase misuse and pay attention to text consistency. Having excellent communicational skills will also contribute to more meaningful interactions and aid in overall team efficiency.
On top of having a basic knowledge of SEO, keyword optimization, an analytical mindset is another must. It helps managers competently assess the performance of their website, its effectiveness, and that of their marketing campaigns. A quality manager must understand what happened, why it happened, and what he must do about it. After conducting this analysis, his role moves to a strategic one, devising SEO plans that fall in line with long-term business objectives. The ability to identify industry trends and conduct fair competitor analysis is also necessary. The manager must know the audience and how they consume their content. Young people do most of their internet browsing on their phones. Therefore, content tailored for them has to get written with mobile browsing in mind, meaning short sentences and paragraphs that are not longer than four lines.
Marketing is a 24/7 job. It is not one where work-related thoughts leave your brain once you punch out. Ideal candidates are ambitious, have side-projects, and are continuously looking to master tools to start new endeavors. SEO is a field that requires thick skin, drive, and adaptability. The industry is ever-changing and small modifications to search algorithms can have massive effects on content ranking.
Online Tools Content Managers Must Have Mastered
To scale any-sized marketing program, a marketer must have the right tools and understand how to use them. Continuously creating quality content is essential. However, as mentioned, this content must get optimized so that the employer gets the most for his buck and that customers can quickly get access to what they are trying to find.
Quality content entails being succinct, swiftly getting to the meat of the matter. An online tool, such as Grammarly Premium, uses artificial intelligence to detect grammatical errors and provide suggestions that help reduce redundancies, improve sentence structure, and locate colloquial verb phrases. It also features a plagiarism checker that identifies and cites text that isn’t original.
Once an original and readable text exists, it has to get published on the internet. The easiest way to do so is via a WordPress site or another open-source content management system. Given WordPress’s popularity, most of those working in the sector are familiar with it and create media-rich layouts via content blocks. Thus, always look for candidates that have a good grasp of it.
Yoast SEO is the top WordPress SEO plugin, and it helps with website optimization leading to more visitors through Google and social media while increasing reader engagement. A content manager must have a decent understanding of the importance of meta titles and descriptions, what are tags, snippets, and more.
Links are the connective tissue of the internet. Link quality in articles directly relates to their target audience’s discoverability, whether through search or direct visits. Impact links fundamentally affect ranking, so any potential candidate must have mastery of tools such as Ahrefs, Majestic, or Open Site Explorer. Link tracking services crawl and an astounding amount of data that rival Google’s volume. Thus, they are an indispensable resource in every marketer’s toolbox.
Given that manager means a person responsible for administrating a group, those in these positions must be well-versed in multiple management tools such as Basecamp, Asana, or Trello. Good management reduces unnecessary conflicts among team members. It also improves employee relations and establishes a sense of trust. It is essential in maintaining a positive company culture and promotes project completion. The mentioned tools allow managers to set up tasks, view projects, add notes, coordinate teams, and more. Mastering Google Drive and Docs can also offer additional assistance in these areas, as Google’s tools can serve the role of some of the services above, in a far more primitive form.
