The casino SEO world is full of big promises, cheap backlinks, and even cheaper excuses when rankings tank.
But not everyone plays the short game.
We caught up with Tommy McDonald, the no-BS founder of SerpLogic, to get the real story behind casino link building in 2026 — what works, what’s a trap, and why most sellers don’t even know what a clean anchor profile looks like.
💬 Interview: Tommy McDonald on What Really Works in Casino Link Building
Q: Tommy, let’s just start here: why is the casino SEO space so shady?
Tommy:
Because there’s money in confusion.
Everyone wants to rank for casino keywords — affiliates, white-label brands, even crypto bros launching slot chains — but they don’t understand SEO. That makes it easy for sellers to promise “DR90 links” or “500 backlinks for $99” and nobody stops to ask where those links are actually coming from.
It’s snake oil.
And it’s why we launched our casino link building product — to be the opposite of that.
Q: So what are the biggest red flags you see in the casino link building market?
Tommy:
Here’s a few that make me break out in hives:
- Links from dead domains repurposed with AI content
- PBNs disguised as “guest posts”
- Casino links buried in completely irrelevant blogs (pets, food, real estate)
- DA/DR inflation via redirects and parasite hosting
- Exact-match anchors on every link
- Google News-approved sites with zero real traffic
Most link sellers don’t care if your site survives. They care if they can close the deal and move on.
Q: What does a real casino SEO campaign look like, then?
Tommy:
It looks like a brand, not a churn-and-burn affiliate site.
That means:
- You’re earning or placing links on sites with editorial control and real traffic
- You’re mixing branded, partial, and naked URL anchors
- You’re pointing links to more than just the homepage
- You’re scaling gradually, not dropping 40 links in week one
- You’re diversifying — guest posts, digital PR, citations, maybe a niche edit here and there
It’s surgical. Not spray and pray.
Q: What’s your take on anchor text right now? Is the old advice still relevant?
Tommy:
Yes — and no.
You still need to avoid anchor stuffing, especially in gambling. But Google’s NLP has gotten smarter. They don’t just look at the anchor now — they evaluate the context, the paragraph, the article, the site category.
That’s why we train our writers to build natural language around the link, not just “throw it in the second sentence and bold it.”
If your link looks like an ad, acts like an ad, and smells like an ad — Google’s going to treat it like one.
Q: What’s your opinion on using expired domains or repurposed blogs? Still viable?
Tommy:
Can it work? Sure.
Should you build your entire strategy on them? No chance.
The problem is: 95% of these “blogs” have no real traffic, no identity, and no editorial standards. And when you link to your casino brand from those kinds of sites, it’s like showing up to a black-tie dinner in a football jersey.
We’ve tested thousands of domains — and only a tiny fraction pass our internal checks.
Q: What’s one casino SEO tactic that people aren’t doing, but should be?
Tommy:
Building link-worthy content. Seriously.
Everyone’s obsessed with linking to their bonus page or landing page. But if you publish a well-designed guide like:
- “How RTP Works: House Edge Explained”
- “Casino Regulation in Europe: A Country-by-Country Breakdown”
- “Slots vs Table Games: Risk and Return Compared”
…then outreach becomes 10x easier. You can link internally from there to your money page. And you build topical authority instead of just link equity.
It’s one of the few “white hat” strategies that works in grey niches.
Q: What’s the SerpLogic approach to casino link building? What makes it different?
Tommy:
We don’t just sling links. We build link campaigns.
Every order is:
- Backed by a strategy based on your current link profile
- Focused on clean placements with real traffic (we check every site manually)
- Balanced for anchor safety
- Spread over time
- Fully reported with DR, traffic, anchor, and placement context
We’ve ranked affiliate sites, crypto casinos, white-label operators — and kept them there, even through core updates.
Most sellers can’t say that. They’re selling bags of links. We’re building assets.
Q: If someone’s launching a casino affiliate site in 2026 — what would your advice be?
Tommy:
Start slow.
Build branded authority.
Diversify everything — your links, your content, your traffic sources.
And for the love of rankings, don’t buy 100 PBN links from a spreadsheet.
Casino SEO can be gold rush or ghost town — it depends on how you build.
🔗 Want Real Casino Links That Actually Work?
Tommy and the team at SerpLogic offer fully managed Casino Link Building Campaigns — built from scratch, focused on ROI, and designed to survive updates.