Interview with Paul Owner of GoonersGuide.com

[Randy L]

Udemy has a lot of good things on it. Def going to check that out, thanks for the information!

Thanks again for the comments and feedback. Really great to see!

If anyone wants to let me review their site and do an interview, hit me up! I already have a few lines up next, MJ, master site builder and domainer, Adam owner of a large non-gaming website, and more.

Also if there is a specific topic you want reviewed, let us know..

Thanks!

[Casius14]

Just as a follow up to the review, I'd personally like you to include how sites look on mobile, Randy. I know a lot of people are getting a huge increase in mobile traffic these days and it's likely going to overtake desktop browsing in years to come.

Be interesting to see how/ if the bigger players on the industry react or change their sites layout/CTA's/design etc to work with mobile? Is anyone actually looking at designing a mobile friendly site first and then setting up a desktop friendly site down the line, kind of a flip on what is the conventional method.

You're CTA review would be super interesting for something like this IMO.

Thanks for the content so far btw, especially to Paul for letting you go through his site, really interesting and good to see the forum breathing a little life again!

[Randy L]

Just as a follow up to the review, I'd personally like you to include how sites look on mobile, Randy. I know a lot of people are getting a huge increase in mobile traffic these days and it's likely going to overtake desktop browsing in years to come.

Be interesting to see how/ if the bigger players on the industry react or change their sites layout/CTA's/design etc to work with mobile? Is anyone actually looking at designing a mobile friendly site first and then setting up a desktop friendly site down the line, kind of a flip on what is the conventional method.

You're CTA review would be super interesting for something like this IMO.

Thanks for the content so far btw, especially to Paul for letting you go through his site, really interesting and good to see the forum breathing a little life again!

Thanks for the kind words and ideas! I actually am working on a mobile series now as well as Bitcoin stuff - It occurred to me last week that we haven't had a ton of discussion on mobile stuff yet, so good call bud.

[sitpicks]

Paul,

Have been a fan and visitor of your site for years since I got into this industry. What I would love to know is after 14 years what is the biggest mistake you have ever made with Goonersguide.com and if you could go back in time and change what you did would you?

What future goals and ideas do you have for the site?

Has there ever been something you wanted to do but could not get it done?

Thanks again. Big fan of your site and glad to be a part of the community here.

[TheGooner]

What I would love to know is after 14 years what is the biggest mistake you have ever made with Goonersguide.com and if you could go back in time and change what you did would you?

Biggest mistake was not getting into all three channels for the first six years - when we were primarily a sports / football previews site. The cross link / cross sell to other gambling channels is significant ... and was huge PRIOR to countries starting to ban and restrict access to markets .... even if poker is on the shrink now.

I probably left 7 figures on the table between 2002 and 2006 by not getting into those areas.

Has there ever been something you wanted to do but could not get it done?

I'd love to be able to really customise the site look by visitor - so that I had cookies to identify readers favourite teams / sports / and bookies ... so that the front page would feature articles on THOSE items to the reader on top when they arrive.

Some of it (most of it) is technically do-able ... but most visitors prefer to surf without giving that sort of information out ... or employ proxies and cookie blockers ... so it would only work for a very small group of readers.

What future goals and ideas do you have for the site?

Struggling for innovation at the moment. The site is doing what I want from it and covers the information I need.
Perhaps when the new football season arrives I will get inspiration about things I'd like to see.

Two ideas :

1/ Somehow rationalise the front page layout - but it's tricky when you have 1000 things to show people. (If only those cookies were done).

2/ I'd like to build more onsite interaction around the previews - and the bookmaker / casino / poker reviews - but it seems that Twitter / Facebook et al have taken that function away with their vast developments and people prefer to be on those social networks ... that's tricky for gambling sites with Facebook closing down pages.

[sitpicks]

Thanks so much for the responses just now! Much appreciated. What if you geolocated visitors and sent them to different versions of your page based on area. For example England visitors would see things more narrowly focused on Soccer and European sportsbooks like William Hill and Bet365. USA Visitors more of a Vegas and NFL focus during the season. Australians will see more cricket based information.

For the social interaction I find that fund contests that have rewards whether its a trip to the Super Bowl or 2018 world cup will always drive fans, social interaction, and possible viral sharing.

[Randy L]

Great questions Sitpicks, and awesome responses by Paul! Great stuff -

@Paul, you mentioned customizing the home page by visitor preferences, their favorite teams, etc - It reminds me of "The Bleacher Report" who basically does that - You choose the sports, then teams, etc - Their OS app is great, even better than their website -

Would that type of approach work?

Honestly I think that type of site interaction is the future - People don't want to see stuff they have no interest in - Every major web company from AOL to Google has tried (and mostly failed) to create a One-Stop-Shop website where people could get their news, sports, hobbies/interests, etc

The issue all of these companies have is they are confined to ONLY pushing their own content, so that handcuffs them in a lot of respects. But I can see a large Gaming site allowing multiple Channels, fully customized for the gaming players needs/wants.

Anyway, not sure if that makes sense. But I think you are thinking the same thing.

[parth84]

One of the perfect shot ! very convincing and impressive indeed....

[AnnaS]

What would you do differently if you had to build it now, with all the current options, internet developments and of course your current knowledge?

That's really good question)
Since the site had been created the audience has changed a lot as well as it's goals. Without doubt these changes cause new challenges to deal with.

[spudungeyee]

Great insight, I honestly didn't know it had been around that long. some good information in this for early starters.