How Do I Start an Online Casino in 2024?

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Author Davey Hanson

Approved by Atanas Tanev

Updated:

29 July 2024

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Many people are interested in becoming online entrepreneurs because it has never been easier to start your own business. One of the industries that is becoming more attractive by the day is online gambling. This is probably not surprising because the number of casino websites increases daily.

But how do you actually start an online casino? Needless to say, there are specific steps you must follow, and we’ll show you exactly what to do. Keep in mind that there will be specifics for each country because the gambling legislation is different.

Where to start?

Before you dive into this exciting and challenging journey, you need to know where to start. Ideally, you need a clear vision of what you want ot build, how you want to do it, and a step-by-step process of how it will work. As you can imagine, this is easier said than done, so you need to do some research.

Nowadays, you can find many different online casinos that offer a variety of products. Your job is to analyze them and decide what to focus on. Remember that adding more categories to your portfolio means going through even more challenges along the way. That’s one of the reasons why people often start with one gambling section. Some even got through the betting guide so they could learn more about certain categories, how they work, and what to expect.

With that said, let’s walk you through some of the steps every future online casino owner must complete in 2024.

Davey Hanson, iGaming expert and writer for Silentbet

Not everyone who wants to start an online casino knows the exact steps. That’s why I will show you some of the things you should be aware of.

Research the market and have a plan

Before entering the online casino industry, the first and most important step is to research the market. Some casinos have existed since the 1990s, so there is much to analyze.

Besides researching the market and its potential size, you also need to have a plan regarding your marketing. We will discuss this later on, but it all starts with learning more about everything in the niche you want to be in.

For starters, you have to understand your client and know what this person is interested in. You must also know how your clients can get to your website and what interests them. These are just some of the core aspects of the online casino industry, but they are incredibly important if you wish to be successful in the long run.

Due to the growing interest in online casinos, governments are changing their gambling laws in an attempt to regulate and legalize iGaming. This should mean an even more impressive market growth.

Building the website itself

Assuming you have an idea about the website you want to have, it’s time to start building it. This is a complex process that has specific steps you have to complete. It usually starts with selecting your domain and hosting service, after which you must build the site.

It’s worth knowing that there are different companies that offer complete online casino packages. These latter allow people with a gambling license to open aa fully operation casino much faster than usual. A lot of online entrepreneurs take this step, but keep in mind that it can be expensive.

Using a White-label website

Online casino owners who don’t want to go through the complicated process of creating a site from scratch have an alternative. Most people refer to it as a white label website and it refers to a site created by someone else and then sold to a specific brand.

White-label sites are very popular and common in iGaming. Some people find it cheaper to buy a site and start using it instead of creating everything from scratch.

Another plus for the white-label casinos is that they usually include everything you need, including a license. This makes the entire process of starting an online casino business much faster.

Here is an overview of some of the pros of using a white-label casino:

• The project is ready to go
• Fast entry to the iGaming market (within a few weeks)
• Licenses from reputable gambling commissions
• You can have access to thousands of games
• The site will have working payment options and accept multiple currencies
• Depending on the white-label company, you may have a working affiliate system
• A multi-language interface
• Customizable design

Of course, all of this comes at a price, which is the main disadvantage because it can range between $10,000 and $40,000+. This is a lot of money, but developing something from scratch can be even more expensive.

Considering this is the easiest way to start an online casino, many companies offer white-label casino services. You can use options like WhiteLabelCasinos, SoftSwiss, SoftGamings, LionGaming, and more.

Each brand has its perks and drawbacks. SoftSwiss, for example, holds gaming licenses from Curacao and Kahnawake and has a portfolio of 20,000+ games. LionGaming, on the other hand, has developed the Fer0x Engine, a unique tool that powers everything behind the casino.

The domain

When building a site, one of the first aspects to focus on is the domain name. Some may think this is unimportant, but it can make all the difference in the world, especially in the online casino industry.

Ideally, your domain must be easy to remember and somewhat related to your offer. Some businesses always add the word “casino” somewhere, but others prefer to focus on brand-relevant terms. Regardless of what you choose, the end goal is to have an easy-to-read and short URL so that people can remember your site.

When choosing a domain name, you also have to keep in mind the different legal aspects. Whether you choose places like HostArmada, GoDaddy, HostGator, or other hosting services, you must check if the domain name is available. Furthermore, you must ensure that your domain name won’t “interfere” with any of the trademarks because this could get you in trouble.

Hosting Services

We have already mentioned some of the top-tier hosting services, but there are loads of different companies in every corner of the world. Considering the number of online casino users is projected to reach 127.2M by 2029, choosing a reliable hosting company is more important than ever.

By choosing a trusted brand, you ensure that your website will be accessible to everyone at all times. Going with the wrong hosting service could result in a lot of downtime, security issues, an inability to handle traffic, and much more.

Besides ensuring all of the above is okay, it’s also recommended that customer support options be checked. Ideally, online casino site owners must have access to a 24/7 support department provided by their hosting company so that the latter can help them with website issues.

Most people (especially those on a budget) will most likely want to build their own website because hiring someone to do that for them can be expensive. While this can work, we believe it’s worth investing this money into a professional because your website needs to look good. People won’t want to use your casino if it doesn’t look appealing.

Designing the site itself

After choosing your domain name and hosting service, it’s time to design your own website. Some business owners will probably say there’s no right or wrong here, but this is not entirely true.

The most important thing to keep in mind when designing an online casino is to be user-friendly. Customers who visit your casino should feel good while browsing it. They should be able to find all of the important categories and access the game they want in seconds.

To achieve that, many casino site owners hire some of the world’s best designers. They try to provide a clear interface that does not have distracting elements. Online casino owners usually use WordPress, but some also opt for Squarespace or other popular brands.

When designing your online casino, pay special attention to how it looks on mobile devices. There’s no arguing that the number of mobile gamblers increases by the day, so your casino must look good.

Applying for a license

While some people run unlicensed online casinos, we don’t think this is a good idea. In fact, every experienced gambler will avoid using such sites because they seem too shady. This means you need to apply for a license.

When deciding which permits to get, there are two big things to keep in mind:

• You can get a license from the Malta Gaming Authority and/or Curacao eGaming and operate in several jurisdictions.
• You can obtain an individual permit from every country you want to focus on.

Even though the second option is probably better, most people choose the first one because it’s easier and cheaper.

The steps to obtain a gambling license are different, depending on the commission. Nevertheless, almost all of them will require you to have a big budget because you must prove you can pay the customers.

What’s also interesting is that each gambling regulator has specific requirements in terms of the site’s layout. For example, you may have to add all responsible gambling features on the homepage. It all depends on the commission and its specifics.

Deciding what kind of casino games you want to use

It’s 2024, so you can often come across online casinos with thousands of games. Inexperienced users probably think these operators develop all of these games, but this is not true. Some brands could develop such products, but most work with world-class casino software providers.

Since you want to open an online casino, your next step is to decide what kind of games to offer. You will want to have slots and table games, as well as live casino products. If you’re going to make your website even more appealing, you can also add regular table games and jackpots.

Ideally, you should strike a balance between all of the titles you have. Also, it is a good idea to integrate free play and demo options as these things allow gamblers to test some titles. You can also organize various events and even add some kind of bonus system to bring in new users.

In order to achieve all of the above, you must partner with the world’s best casino software studios. Some brands you may want to look at include NetEnt, Microgaming, Evolution Gaming, Pragmatic Play, Play’N Go, Wazdan, and others. After deciding which studios you will work with, you must ensure a seamless API integration so that your clients have a smooth experience.

Decide what payment options you will provide

Another key step in starting an online casino is choosing your preferred payment options. A lot of people will want to add a variety of deposit and withdrawal alternatives:

• Cryptocurrencies
• E-wallets
• Bank transfers
• Cards

In some cases, you will need to talk to the specific payment provider because not all brands allow transactions to gambling sites. Also, you must decide about the minimum deposit/withdrawal amounts, the processing time, and more.

To be successful, you must identify the go-to payment solutions in the market you want to operate in. Once that’s taken care of, the next step is to ensure that all transactions are secure. This is usually achieved by introducing security features, such as two-factor authentication, SSL encryption, and others.

Once you ensure that there are enough deposit and withdrawal gateways and that all of them are secure, your clients will trust you. Building trust between you and your customers is of the utmost importance in every online business.

Crypto casinos

Speaking of payment options, a lot of online casino owners have decided to go all-in on cryptocurrency casinos. These gambling operators do not offer any additional payment methods and may provide exclusive crypto products.

To make the crypto casinos even more appealing, site owners even allow people to buy crypto. Users can do this by using third-party crypto exchanges or an in-house option developed by the casino in question.

Think about customer support

The next crucial step before you can launch your own online casino is to think about the customer support service. Providing prompt responses to your client’s queries is key and among the aspects that can indicate whether a given site is worth it.

Generally speaking, you have to choose one of the two options:

• Hire your own customer support agents
• Use a third-party company that offers such services

We believe that the first option is better, however, it usually costs a lot of money because you have to pay a salary. Therefore, most people prefer to pay a monthly fee to a third-party company and use the funds they save for something else. Having professional customer support is one of the best ways to prove you are credible, so it’s worth investing in it.

Make sure you provide enough security features

Many new online casino owners underestimate the importance of offering enough security options. While it’s true that most gamblers didn’t pay enough attention to those options before, things are no longer the same. Modern players want to use a website that’s secure, so they will look for a wide array of options.

Although every online casino has a unique approach, all of them must ensure the following:

• Secure financial transactions
• Private information encryption
• Fair casino games

Casinos use different techniques to achieve these goals, such as offering a 128-bit SSL encryption service. It’s also common to partner with various third-party security firms, create firewalls, conduct security audits, and more.

It’s crucial to provide as many security features as possible because this will ensure you have a good reputation within the gambling community. No one would want to use a casino where someone could steal a user’s private data and credit card details.

It’s time to focus on marketing

It doesn’t matter if you have the best online casino in the world if people do not know about it. Therefore, one of the main things you need to focus on is marketing.

For better or worse, online casinos will have tons of difficulties when they decide to start advertising their services. You will most likely not have access to any TV ads, meaning you must focus on other channels.

Something to remember is that marketing is expensive. No matter what you decide to do, you will have to use a lot of money to be effective, so keep that in mind. This even applies to social media marketing because you need to hire people who know what they’re doing.

Davey Hanson, iGaming expert and writer for Silentbet

In my opinion, affiliate marketing is the way to go for new online casino website owners. It’s the most inexpensive option in the long run because you only pay your affiliates if they bring you new clients.

Pre-release advertising

Hyping future clients about an upcoming product is something that companies have been doing for years. Although it’s not that common in the online gambling industry, doing this can have a big impact on your brand’s popularity. There are loads of ways to do it, such as presentations, media publications, affiliates, ads, and more.

Affiliate marketing

There’s no arguing that casino affiliates have a crucial role in modern online casinos. Some of them are so important that online casinos depend on them for all of their new clients. Therefore, it’s worth investing some time and effort into creating an appealing affiliate program.

To start, you must have a clear commission structure, payment process, and T&Cs. By offering those things, casino affiliates will be more likely to work with you because they will see that you know what you are doing.

Many online casinos have affiliate managers to achieve the best results possible. These people are responsible for communicating with affiliates, informing them when something new is introduced, adjusting commissions, helping partners, and more.

Partnership deals

It will be difficult to secure big partnership deals once your business is ready because they will cost a lot of money. However, this is something that you should definitely look forward to in the future because it can help a lot.

Some of the world’s best online casinos have all kinds of sponsorship deals with celebrities, sports teams, competitions, and more. A good example here is Stake, the site that got the rights to Sauber’s F1 car, and it has a partnership deal with Drake, the UFC, and loads of other individuals.

Influencers

Not all influencers are willing to work with online casinos, but finding such a person can have a good impact on your results. Sadly, some influences are not suitable because they have different audiences. That’s why your job is to research each person and ensure that the target audience can be your potential customers.

Remember that influencers represent your brand, meaning you must associate yourself with trustworthy people. Influencers who are good at their job will promote your brand to their followers.

Creating content

Aside from offering quality products, you can market your services by creating different kinds of content. You can focus on blog posts, videos, podcasts, guides, strategies, long-form articles, and much more. All of those things will give you more exposure and should help you bring in more customers.

Social Media

Even though some casino website owners do not realize it, social media plays a huge role in this business. Yes, it is not easy to advertise online casinos on social media, but we must remember that more than half of the world’s population uses the most popular sites. Therefore, this is a serious gateway towards a successful online casino.

Having a solid social media presence takes time, so it won’t happen overnight. Also, it’s not as easy as it seems, which is why some website owners decide to hire social media marketing specialists. Their goal is to promote the brand on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and other popular channels.

Speaking of goals, social media will allow every business to build a community. Once that happens, these people are much more likely to use the given brand’s services, test new options, and more.

Online Marketing

Every online casino business needs a solid online marketing strategy. It may look easy, but having a proper strategy takes a lot of time and resources because you need people who know what they’re doing.

Online marketing involves many other activities besides focusing on keywords. For example, the experts must make sure that the site is user-friendly and meets certain criteria.

Some online casinos have in-house online marketers, whereas others hire agencies that do all the work for them. Both have their pros and cons, so it depends on each person’s situation.

Bonuses & Retention Programs

Offering bonuses and different retention programs is another way of attracting new clients and keeping existing users happy. Almost every online casino has at least one promotion because those things work.

Online casinos should focus on creating an attractive welcome bonus. This offer is incredibly important because it allows the casino site to get new clients. Most welcome offers include a cash bonus, free spins, cashback, no deposit bonus, and more.

In terms of retention programs, most casinos have a VIP Club and/or a Loyalty Program. Most of these bonuses have different tiers and provide various perks. Their idea is to stimulate gamblers to play more and receive different benefits, such as:

• VIP Support
• Exclusive tournaments
• Better offers
• Faster payments

Keeping the business running

No matter your business, it is important to monitor everything and keep track of different analytics. This is crucial for online casinos as well because they are a part of one of the fastest-changing industries.

To keep the business running, you should monitor all processes. Keeping track of all of the key KPIs and metrics will help you see whether the casino is on the right track. If you don’t have enough traffic, you should make changes so your business can keep growing. You must have access to things like Google Analytics and loads of additional third-party tools.

Like in any other business, online casinos also have a lot of expenses. Therefore, your financial management must be on point if you want to avoid any major issues.

Aside from having a budget for salaries, you also have to track a lot of other spending. This can include ads, sponsorship deals, paid partnerships, operational costs, and more.

Staying up to date with everything new

Starting an online casino is one thing but keeping it operational for years is a completely different story. There are many things that can and will go wrong, so you have to be ready to adapt.

In addition, you must stay up to date with everything new in this business so you can use it to your advantage. Keep track of the latest trends and games, collaborate with different businesses, and focus on creating a brand. Staying ahead of your competitors will allow you to be much more successful.

Adding additional categories

Online casinos are extremely popular, but they are not the only thing that gamblers are interested in. Many of them are looking for gambling platforms that will give them access to additional sections. This can include the following:

• Sports Betting
• Virtual Sports
• Esports
• Poker
• Scratch Cards
• Bingo
• Lotteries

Adding a new betting category is expensive and requires a lot of planning, and you must go through the research process to be sure it will be worth it. Having access to more options, however, should increase your overall player base because users won’t have to look for additional operators.

Conclusion

These are just some things you must consider before starting an online casino in 2024. This process is complicated, expensive, and takes a lot of time, so we highly recommend researching as much as possible before you decide to take part in it. With that said, the number of gamblers using online casinos is growing, so people who know what they’re doing can make a lot of money.