Affiliate Interview Series - Oleksii K.

**GPWA Daniel** · 23 June 2021, 10:43 am

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(This interview was originally published in the April 2021 edition of the GPWA Times Magazine.)

Let's start with your professional background. On your GPWA profile, you list “SEO Team Lead” as your occupation. Did working in SEO lead you to the world of iGaming affiliates?

Greetings, everybody! I started my SEO life in early 2011. I was a student and got an opportunity to earn money instead of sitting in the university. So the decision was made to get a real job. I became a trainee in the SEO leading company, SEO Pult, for the eastern markets. By that time, I already knew some basics about HTML and CSS and several CMS platforms like MODx, Joomla and WordPress. It was a huge knack for me since all my tasks were based on the gambling niche analysis. Then one day in October 2011, I got a call from one of the biggest iGaming companies in my country. And that changed my life entirely.

How big is your operation? Do you have employees or use freelancers?

I don't work only in the iGaming niche. At the moment, I have a bunch of good people around me, and all together, we have been doing SEO for companies of mutual friends for several years. So I would say that we are working like typical freelancers. But in the past, I worked with several companies as team lead for in-house products in iGaming.

Since SEO is one of your specialties, please tell us some of the biggest myths regarding SEO.

I personally think that the biggest myth regarding modern SEO is that only big companies with enormous budgets win. We have several cases where within 100 dollars, we got top 10 positions in highly competitive markets. Besides, I do think that people who believe that a lot of content is a good sign are also wrong. I prefer quality over quantity. Check any Amazon-partners-related website - minimum pages, maximum useful information.

Tell us about your blog section. Does it help with traffic and converting traffic?

We run it with the boys just for the experiment. It doesn't bring any kind of traffic or clicks at all. Unfortunately, an average casino player who is searching for a casino review only needs a button. If you are not building a community around your website, all these blogs and news are good only for Google bots.

You do not appear to be active with social media channels for your sites. Can you explain why? Is social media something you think you will delve into at some point?

Speaking truth, I don't have time for that. Of course, my team and I can find some help from the outside, but we should spend any extra money on content, backlinks and new websites. We are not the biggest company, not targeting competitive keywords or looking for social activity. Maybe, in the near future, we will rethink this position.

You are a relatively new member here at the GPWA, but you are very active on our forums. Why did you join the GPWA and how has your activity on the forums benefited you and your business?

Actually, I've been watching and reading the forum without registering for a long period. I just wanted to start sharing some of my own experiences and gather new ones from the folks around. Learning is the most important thing in every SEO specialist's life.

Being an active member gives you a lot of opportunities to build a few good connections with other webmasters. Besides, I have bought and sold several backlinks, which helped my sites and my clients.

What traits do you look for in an affiliate manager and affiliate program?

I have real experience working as an affiliate manager (Hello to Admitad!), and I would say that the most important factor is to show presence. Sometimes people don't respond for too long or don't share important information, which can negatively impact revenue. I had several bad cases as a webmaster when I lost almost 2k EUR. As my experience shows, you can do nothing with it. In most cases, an affiliate can't even protect his or her business. So, I would like affiliate companies to become more helpful to their webmasters, even the small ones.

What do your family and friends think about your work as an iGaming affiliate?

Well, it was a big discussion in the past. Some of them don't care at all; some of them think of it negatively. People here are still afraid of everything gambling-related. But recently, Ukraine got a legal bill for online and offline gambling, so that will change the mood of the customers, family and business partners.

What do you think the industry will look like in five years?

It will grow for sure. The amount of websites and gaming companies has grown significantly since 2011. A lot of new entertainment has been created for both sides. Players got crypto-based games, esports betting. Companies have more payment options, new providers and new business opportunities. I think that in the next five years, gambling will become on the spot.

If an 18-year-old friend told you he or she wanted to become an iGaming affiliate, what would your advice be?

First of all, I would recommend starting to research the market. Get known with a different types of products. Learn more about affiliate marketing in general — how it works, and how it changed in the last decade. The next step will be to decide how you will get your traffic. There are several ways to get it — SEO, PPC, social media ads, push-notifications, etc. The iGaming niche isn't the easiest one, so the best way to start is to join some other teams as a trainee. As soon as you become more confident in what you are doing and earn a decent amount of money, you can start thinking about your own business.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you both personally and professionally?

Luckily, only in a positive way! Since I had a network of the websites with some traffic, my income increased a bit. I've concentrated on researching new markets and SEO strategies for my websites and PBNs (private blog networks); did several tests. Besides speaking about opportunities, much more people started looking for jobs online, which gave me a chance to find several awesome people for my team.

Do you gamble online?

My first attempt with gambling was with online poker. I've never played card games before, but I cashed out with around $4,000 in 2011. Of course, I spent a lot of time reading rules and testing games. It was a part of my self-education while working with an iGaming company. Right now, I know that it was more luck rather than a level of experience. So, I wouldn't recommend gambling if you are not confident in what you are doing. Besides, always remember to play carefully, don't underestimate gambling problems.

As for brick-and-mortar casinos, I don't have a lot of experience in them. But I spent some time in them while I was visiting Monaco. It was a wonderful experience with my friends during a trip to Europe. I even have a plan to visit Las Vegas once again and to gamble there!

What do you do to stay in shape – both physically and mentally?

Organize yourself. Build a plan. I know that all these plans don't work properly in most cases, but being able to schedule your life and everything related to this will help you in a lot of situations. I wouldn't call myself a good advisor at all, but reading books is the best option for good mental health. Personally, I read one new book each week. It helps me get some further cool info about something that is getting my attention, whether it be science or just casual novels.

When you were a child what was your dream profession and why?

I was hoping to become a game designer. I got my first PC when I was super young, and my father is an all-around tech guy. So lucky me, I got a chance to experience all old-school goodies. Of course, my parents were strict and didn't allow me to play the entire day, so we had a deal, that for every two hours of reading books, I could play games for one hour. As a gamer, even now, I try to stay informed about everything in this niche.

Of course, I even tried to work in GameDev. In 2014, I sold all my websites in the iGaming niche and switched to GameDev as a game designer. It was a really cool experience, and I will definitely repeat it when I become much more experienced.

If someone from out of town were visiting you, what's the one place you'd definitely take them to see?

Well, if people don't mind, I would organize a trip to Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. People should know what progress can look like in a different and horrible way. Visiting this place would teach people to care more about the place we live in, our home planet. It is a good lesson for the whole of humanity.

If you could invite any five people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be?

Nikola Tesla, Mark Twain, Gabe Newell, Christopher Lee and Samuel L. Jackson. These people have influenced me my entire life. So I would like to say thanks in person.

Name two things that people reading this magazine don't know about you.

I have my own workshop where we create props and costumes for movies.
I participate in historical reenactment activities and play a lot of tabletop games. So my free time is full of emotions and hobbies.

**GPWA Maria** · 23 June 2021, 2:08 pm

Thank you for the interview

keep safe Oleksii!

**Cleo P** · 23 June 2021, 3:30 pm

It was very nice to read this interview. Thank you for sharing!

**Cash Bonus** · 23 June 2021, 4:42 pm

Thank you, Oleksii, for having this interview for the GPWA. I hope that your prediction for our industry in 5 years time from now will actually come true.

**JoeyC** · 23 June 2021, 6:52 pm

I throughly enjoyed reading your interview! I especially liked your upfront commentary on what works and what doesn't. By the way I'm also an avid reader and love the transformative process it has on our minds.

**drifter8** · 24 June 2021, 12:27 am

Very interesting and deep interview.
Thank you , Oleksii.

**Scorebetting** · 24 June 2021, 3:40 am

These interviews are great!

**bettingmalta** · 24 June 2021, 11:16 am

nice interview and some good points, thanks for sharing with the community here!

**CharlesLund** · 29 June 2021, 1:25 pm

It's nice to see an actual affiliate with skin in the game talk about private blog networks.

Now - please don't mention them again as domains on auction have been harder to get than ever

**MichaelSchumann** · 21 July 2021, 2:22 pm

Thanks for sharing !

**daniel-king777** · 22 July 2021, 10:18 am

Great interview! It was entertaining and informative! Thanks Oleksii for sharing your experience with us!

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