Consistent Mobile Web Performance in the Age of the Smartphone

Affiliate networks offer great opportunities for gaming brands to extend reach through a variety of publishers. The proliferation of new digital channels has been key to increasing this reach even further, where users can flock to a virtual gambling environment from a number of different channels at their convenience. To manage the additional web traffic and keep customer loyalty intact, gaming brands and their affiliates need to make sure they have all the technology in place to ensure that their digital performance is continuously stable. Furthermore, the mass uptake of Smartphones has meant that now more than ever, there is a need to make the management of mobile web performance as important as traditional web performance.

The growth of mobile gaming

This growth has been demonstrated by an interesting piece of research that was released by Juniper Research. The report showed that annual wagers on mobile telephones are expected to reach nearly $12 billion by next year, mainly as a result of the increasing deployment of multiple mobile payment technologies and the liberalisation of remote gambling legislation. The report also stated that global gross wins from mobile gambling services would rise from $106 million this year to $3.2 billion by 2012 and that mobile lotteries would be the most popular service with more than 380 million users. The UK was found to be the biggest single market for mobile gambling, but this could be set to change following proposed amendments to existing legislation elsewhere in Europe and the potential growth of the US market.

Managing mobile traffic of gaming brands and their affiliates

Such signs of rapid growth for the mobile gaming industry, together with amends to European legislation suggests that gambling brands should expect a further uplift in traffic. This means brands will need to have traffic management solutions in place, especially those that are using large affiliate networks to source additional traffic for their website. By the same token, the growth of Smartphone usage will mean that brands will be keen for the affiliates themselves to have the right technology in place. Where an affiliate’s mobile site isn’t working, the gaming brand will not be able to capitalise on the traffic it would typically provide.

Keeping mobile gaming sites simple

Extravagant and media rich content may look great, but if an unexpected influx of visitors to a  obile site is going to make the site slow and inaccessible, it’s probably better to consider a more straightforward format. Gaming brands and their affiliates need to ensure that with simple branding in place, visitors will be able to recognise the companies they trust and then, most importantly, access the services and information they are looking for. Where affiliate marketing campaigns on desktop Internet channels often use clever and detailed creative banners, compatibility issues with mobile sites may hamper the level of traffic the gaming companies receive if these are too complex.

Communication between brand and affiliate

Once the right traffic management solutions are in place for both the affiliate and the gambling brand, a solid communications strategy is required so that both parties know when large waves of traffic or planned outages are around the corner. A good traffic reporting solution will show when spikes occur and help organisations to identify trends of when to expect a wave of mobile visitors. It is vitally important that both parties work as a team, by organising regular meetings to understand how they can best prevent mobile web performance issues for the customer and avoid unnecessary revenue losses.

Continuing to capitalise on the Smartphone revolution

It does not matter whether users are accessing gaming sites via the Internet, their phone or their BlackBerry, they will expect the same level of service. With so much hype behind how gamers are using their Smartphones, those companies that are able to maintain consistent mobile web services will be best placed to keep customers loyal and revenue streams consistent.