How to build links for a new casino site: the first six months

A new casino domain starts with nothing: no links, no brand searches, no history with Google. The instinct is to buy the same links the top ten competitors have, as fast as the budget allows. On a new domain that usually produces a link profile that looks bought, because it is, and rankings that stall or disappear once those links are assessed.

This is how we plan link building for a new casino over the first six months: what goes in first, how we size the campaign from competitor data rather than a fixed number, how fast to grow, which anchors to use and which links to refuse. It assumes a licensed brand entering a regulated European market.

Months 1–2: brand and foundation links

In months one and two, link building for a new casino should focus on links that confirm the company exists: company profiles, licence and regulator listings where the regulator publishes them, partner pages from suppliers, curated industry directories and press coverage of the launch. These links carry mostly brand and URL anchors, establish the entity and make every later link look natural.

Foundation links for the first two months

• Company and social profiles. LinkedIn company page, business databases, video and social channels, all with the same legal name, address and licence details.
• Licence and regulator listings. Most European regulators publish a public register of licensees. Some list domains, few link out. Where a register shows the brand, make sure the trading name and domain match the site exactly. The value is entity confirmation more than link equity.
• Partner pages. Game studios, platform suppliers and payment providers sometimes list the operators they work with. Ask during contract onboarding, not six months later.
• Industry directories. A small number of curated iGaming and B2B directories with editorial review. Not mass directory submissions.
• Launch press. Coverage in iGaming trade media about the launch, the licence, the team or the market entry. Trade media covers launches routinely when the announcement contains real news.

Expect most of these to point at the homepage, many to be nofollow, and none to move commercial rankings on their own. That is fine. Their job is to make the brand findable, give search engines consistent entity data and set a natural baseline for the anchor profile. They also help the brand SERP: profiles that rank for the brand name push out affiliates and impersonators, which we cover in how much of your brand SERP you actually own.

Months 5–6: scaling to close the competitor gap

In months five and six, links start going to commercial pages. Use the competitor gap analysis to decide which category pages get links, raise the monthly volume gradually from the rate set in months three and four, and keep brand and URL anchors dominant. Links now go mainly to pages already ranking on pages two or three, where extra authority has the clearest effect.

By now the site should have indexed category pages and some early ranking data. That data decides where links go. A page sitting in positions 11–30 for its main query, with content and technical basics in place, is the best candidate. A page that does not rank at all usually has a content, indexing or cannibalisation problem that links will not fix, so check that first.

Volume rises, but in steps. If month four delivered a handful of topical links, month five should not deliver five times as many.

Safe link velocity for new domains

In practice, safe link velocity for new domains means links arriving at a pace that matches the brand’s real visibility. Start with a small monthly volume, increase it in steps, and avoid spikes that are not explained by real events such as a launch announcement or a sponsorship. Link growth should track brand searches, traffic and social activity, not run months ahead of them.

Google does not publish a safe rate, and anyone quoting a precise number is guessing. What we can say from launches is which patterns cause problems:

• A batch of commercial links in the first weeks, before there are any brand searches.
• An identical volume every month that looks like a purchased package rather than coverage.
• Link growth that keeps rising while branded search and direct traffic stay flat.
• Many links appearing within days of each other from unrelated sites.

What looks natural is irregular growth with explainable peaks. A launch, a new market licence, a sponsorship deal or a major tournament produces a burst of coverage; quiet months produce fewer links. Plan a gently rising baseline and let real news create the peaks. If links are lost or removed, replace them gradually rather than in one batch.

Casino backlinks quality checks and what to avoid

The test of casino backlinks quality is applied link by link: the publisher needs real organic traffic from the markets you target, an audience that fits the topic, editorial content beyond sponsored posts, and a moderate number of outbound links to operators. Private blog networks and bulk marketplace packages fail these checks and should be avoided entirely, not managed or diluted.

Checks before every placement

• Organic traffic from the target country, checked in more than one tool, with a stable or rising trend.
• Topical fit: the site covers sport, gaming, finance or entertainment for readers, rather than accepting guest posts in every niche.
• Outbound link pattern: how many casino operators the site already links to, and whether recent posts are almost all sponsored.
• Indexation: the page with your link must be indexed, and the site should not have lost visibility recently.
• Legal fit: the publisher accepts gambling content and its audience is in a market where your licence allows you to advertise.

What to avoid

• PBNs. Networks of sites built only to link out. Signs include shared ownership or hosting patterns, thin or spun content, expired-domain history unrelated to the current topic, and traffic that is zero or comes from irrelevant countries. Avoid them; do not try to use them carefully.
• Bulk marketplace packages. Lists of hundreds of sites with fixed prices and casino accepted everywhere. Many of these sites exist only to sell links and already carry dozens of operators.
• Sitewide and footer links, comment and forum links, and anything sold with a guaranteed authority metric.

On a new domain the cost of a bad link is higher than on an established one: there is nothing to dilute it, and a manual action in the first year can set the launch back by months. For a wider view of tactics and vetting, see our guide to casino link building in 2026.