If a user puts a search engine to work to find the best online casino, it means they have high intent and are more likely than not, actively looking to sign up and play. So if they happen to land on your online casino site, then it is essential to have all the right design elements in place that will ensure that they stick around and don’t bounce over to a competitor.
An online casino should provide a visually rich experience, and finding any kind of edge in a crowded market is essential for keeping customers. Initially, players are often hooked by the quality of casino bonus offers. These welcome bonuses are the big grab, but players also have to see that the platform is aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly.
How games are presented on the website’s landing page is one of the first things that players will notice, as it’s the base for further exploration. But how can that game selection on a casino platform be elevated to stand out from the crowd?
Why It’s Important
Many sites, particularly white label ones which are just repetitive versions of the same format, simply stick with the generic thumbnail grid layout. But for independent operators, there is a lot more flexibility when it comes to styling and display, which gives them a big advantage in getting away from that generic setup. Still, that initial game selection presentation is an important gateway for keeping players on the site. The following is a look at how to highlight this area.
Personalised View
Ensuring that a player’s grid is personalised is crucial. The standard setup at online casinos is to display new or popular games, but those may not be of relevance to a player. By integrating AI to learn the gaming history of players and get deep down in their preferences, from session time, types of bets, risk assessment and more, relevant games can populate the grid instead.
This is likely to spark a greater volume of player engagement over the long term. It is the perfect opportunity to introduce new games that are similar to the ones that the player has already used, and having a feature like a “Next Best Game” choice appear after closing out a game can help build engagement.
Favourites
Allowing a player to bookmark their favourite games to construct their own library is something that should be standard. Players like being in control of what they see and do on a platform, and by incorporating a way for them to easily collect their favourite games, even if they are so random that AI recommendations would be scattered, it will make them more likely to come back and play.
Interactive Elements
The main display of casino games doesn’t have to be static because interactive elements can be easily integrated. The current jackpot amount for a game, its RTP and Volatility can be presented as an overlay when a person hovers over it on the grid.
Other great hover effects like having the border of a game thumbnail glow, or even briefly becoming enlarged to boost its importance, are further things which can help to highlight game selection. Adding in a “Play Now” button simply for hovering over a thumbnail is likely to compel a player to get into the action.
There’s a lot of extra interactivity that can be included on a grid, from dynamic thumbnails with short animations showing a brief glimpse of gameplay, to labelling. Simply by sticking a label such as “Exclusive” or “Hot” on the corner of a thumbnail makes that title scream out for greater attention.
A scrolling bar of the latest successful activity can also prove to be a good motivator. Such a bar, showing what amount a player (anonymous for player privacy) just won on a particular game, clearly displays to other players that they too have genuine chances of winning.
Think Mobile
The importance of mobile gaming can’t be overlooked, so site designs have to take this into full account as well. There’s even less space to highlight the game selection on a smaller screen, so a well-designed, well-optimised grid is needed.
The layout should also be designed so that all thumbnails are easy to reach, as players typically use just one hand. Collapsible filters and buttons must be easily big enough to tap, and the swipe action for carousels has to be responsive.
Bringing the Catalogue to Life
The catalogue of games is the lifeline of an online casino, and displaying it in the best way possible is a crucial factor in driving business. Thinking beyond the conventional and static functionality of the display grid, and incorporating elements like personalised game curation and interactiveness can be a powerful differentiator in such a busy and crowded market.