Mobile casino players have a bad reputation. Often seen as having less value than a ‘real’ online desktop player, we were curious when we launched LuckyMobileSlots.com whether the myth would pan out. Having been in the industry for a few years, it didn’t take a genius to see that mobile has seen a huge surge in the last 2 years, so do we jump onboard or watch the fad go by?
But mobile is hard we hear you cry! It requires a dedicated site, and rethinking of how to market the casinos. What is important to a mobile casino player? What do they look for? What games work well? Are there that many of them out there? You equally have to fight against the instinct that player’s don’t like mobile! It can’t beat the online casinos experience!
So imagine our surprise when we found that mobile gamblers were in fact… players. Just players. They don’t have two heads, only play Farmville, have no money and play slots for free. If they have landed on LuckyMobileSlots.com it’s because they are looking to gamble on mobile slots on their iPads or iPhones.
We certainly do not have all the answers. Every month we look at our stats and find something new and interesting and change our site slightly to accommodate our new findings. But here are some insights we’ve learnt along the way. We hope the operators take note.
50% of our Search Traffic comes from Tablets and Smartphones
So does that mean that only 50% of our traffic is worth anything? We certainly don’t think so. It means that the other 50% are taking the time, via their desktop, to look for alternatives.
You’ve probably read it already if you’ve been doing a little research in the mobile scene, but a responsive website and design is key. We try and make our site look as beautiful on the iPad as it would on your Samsung Galaxy or HTC. Because not only is 50% of our traffic mobile, but 50% of that traffic is from Android devices, closely followed by iPhones and iPads. Don’t assume that iOS have the market share because they don’t. They might have three years ago, but these days Android has a big slice of the pie and more fool you if you ignore them.
We equally don’t believe in creating mobile specific sub sites – if you can find the content on the desktop version you should be able to find it on the mobile version.
Sure, this takes careful planning, as you end up having to build about 10 website designs rather that just one. Equally you have to be even more careful with page loading time and images. But don’t suppose that because your player is looking for information on their mobile, you need to simplify the format or remove the content or images. With the development of technology as it has, people are now use to getting the same treatment on their mobile as they would online. So give mobile players and desktop players the same information and beautiful experience, just make it fit for use.
Mobile Players do not Only Play on Mobile Devices
Here is the biggest secret of them all. Mobile players might sign up to a casino because it has a good mobile platform, but the casinos that work best for us are the ones that also provide an online version.
Because as much as we care to deny it, you do not get the rich and immersive variety of games on mobile as you do on online casinos. At least not yet. But players are starting to realise that there are options now for mobile play and they are looking. Once they find a good mobile casino, there is no reason why they wouldn’t come back to the online version to play for a longer session.
Don’t take us wrong, we know that dedicated mobile casinos do very well, especially in the UK, but at least, for us and in the long term, the casinos that provide the whole package work better. The value of the player increases significantly, because one thing we have noticed is that mobile players tend to make smaller first deposits than online players, but if you get them to come back to your online platform, their value is of equal worth to any other online casino gambler out there.
Not all Mobile Players are Created Equal
That said, mobile players do behave differently. We already mention that they tend to deposit slightly less on the first go, especially if they are using a mobile device, but their conversion is certainly better.
Partly because we are such a niche site, and partly because on smaller screens players are less likely to browse and move away, but once they land at the casino the chances of them turning to registered players is far higher. It’s no secret that mobile users visit less pages than their desktop counterparts and once they find their end goal, they are more likely to go ahead and jump in, rather than continue searching the internet and browsing. On average, most mobile searches are completed within an hour – far smaller than the week long decision making time frame often associated with desktop browser.
Interestingly the peak of our traffic is around lunchtime and evenings, slowing down on Fridays and Saturdays and then picking back up in force on Sunday evenings. What does that tell us? Personally we like to guess that that means that people search for mobile casinos when they are bored and have some downtime. Practically, it means we send out emails on a Sunday evening and make sure to update our content during the week days rather than at weekends.
So what’s the lesson from all this? Well, if there was one thing we would like operators to take (and are happy for affiliates to become aware of) is that a mobile player is just an online player in disguise. Treat them well and give them a mobile experience they will remember and they’ll come back online and keep playing.
Simon Cross is a web developer and designer by trade who founded LuckyMobileSlots.com – a site dedicated to mobile slot reviews and casinos. If you wish to submit your own editorial please contact Bill Beatty.
