iGaming affiliate Leadstar Media has taken more expansion steps by entering the New Zealand market, with Australia soon to follow.
In November 2019, the Stockholm-based affiliate launched MyBettingsites.com which has already gone on to become one of the most important sites in the Leadstar portfolio.
My Betting Sites started with sports betting content and bookmaker reviews for users in the UK, Canada, Kenya, India and Nigeria. Less than a year on, a section for Kiwi punters has been added.
The company’s director Jacob Ljunggren believes that the positive results seen across the five other countries on My Betting Sites can be replicated in Oceania.
“We are thrilled with the progress that the site has made over the last 11 months, and there is no reason why we can’t bring value to Kiwis in the same way that we have to users elsewhere,” he said.
“New Zealand is a unique market, but so are most of the territories we operate in across all of our products. We have Kiwis working on the product, and that ensures that we understand the needs of bettors from Down Under and can tailor the website accordingly.”
Many sports bettors in New Zealand use the TAB for their online wagers, and one of the tasks facing Leadstar is to educate Kiwis that there are other options out there that could provide a better overall experience for them.
Ljunggren explained that while lead generation is the ultimate aim, it is also key that as its flagship product, My Betting Sites is a reliable source of information.
“We have put a lot of work into pages that wouldn’t necessarily be considered high conversion,” he shared. “With all of the information out there online, not all reliable, it can be confusing and unsettling for punters, so we want to establish that trust and legitimacy.
“My Betting Sites, and all other Leadstar brands, only list bookmakers that are licensed and regulated so users can be sure that betting through our partners is safe and secure.”
With the New Zealand site now up and running, Leadstar has no intention of slowing down the growth of My Betting Sites. A branch for Australian bettors is expected to launch in the coming weeks.
That will take the total number of countries featured on the site to seven, and COO Oscar Carlsson is keen to take that figure to double figures in early 2021.
“We started with five countries partly because we wanted a larger presence in each of those nations, but also so that we could test the waters a bit,” he said.
“Having taken various approaches in the different territories, we feel that we have a good grasp of what works and what doesn’t. Our SEO prowess is only getting better and I believe we have the resources to create the best affiliate sites in any country, regardless of how mature the market is.
“Plans are already in place to expand My Betting Sites further, and we should have at least 10 countries on there by next year – including perhaps our biggest project yet.”
While adding more territories has widened the appeal of My Betting Sites in recent months, Carlsson also highlighted the importance of improving the existing pages: “After a small dip in performance when sports came to a halt in the spring, the site has bounced back to great effect and is now at its peak.
“We didn’t use the lack of sporting events as an excuse. Instead, we doubled down on our efforts and made sure we left no stone unturned across all of our content.
“If you compare our overall offering now to what it was six months ago, it’s quite staggering. Fortunately, we are now starting to be rewarded for this.”
It comes just a few days after Leadstar launched its second site in Brazil, where ApostasBrasil.com has been positioned to complement SitesDeApostas.com for the country’s emerging market.