How to make a casino website: design, features, licensing

The online gambling industry has significantly increased due to the growing global population and Internet penetration. Another market driver has been the relaxation in the requirements and regulations established by countries like Singapore, Brazil, Argentina, Ghana, and Australia. According to Coherent Market Insights, the worldwide online gambling and betting market is anticipated to rise from $ 46.9 billion in 2017 to $123.5 billion by 2026 , progressing at a CAGR of 11.4% over the indicated period.

The COVID-19 pandemic also affected the evolution of the online gambling business, including casinos. The coronavirus outbreak forced the majority of players to switch from traditional brick-and-mortar casinos to digital platforms. Now, with the re-opening of physical casinos, many users continue playing via their tech devices. Therefore, online casino development has promising prospects. In this article, our software experts will consider how to make a casino website, from licensing to design and functionality.

How do you start an online casino in 5 steps?

1. Acquire a gaming license

Obtaining a gaming license is among the main requirements for a company to start an online casino. With a license, an organization is able to legally deliver gambling services, open a bank account, and cooperate with casino software providers. Furthermore, securing a gaming license enables platform operators to improve customer credibility.

Speaking of jurisdictions that permit online gambling, casino operators can get a license from the UK, Curacao, Malta, Antigua, Gibraltar, Denmark, Belgium, and other countries.

Let’s review a few popular licenses:

• Gibraltar. With the goal to obtain a license, a company has to showcase a business plan and proof of its financial stability while performing transactions through Gibraltar’s banks only. Licensees have to pay 1% of their annual revenue but no less than £85.000.
• Curacao. The cost of a gaming license generally does not exceed $150,000. The island imposes no tax on casino profit and low ongoing expenditures. The licensing process usually takes 1.5–2 months, which is rather fast. However, there are some restrictions, for instance, casino website owners have to place servers in the territory of Curacao. In addition, license holders have to pay 2% corporate taxes.

• The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC). Released under the Gambling Act 2005, the Gambling Commission is responsible for regulating commercial gambling in Great Britain. Representing one of the worldwide largest authorities to control gambling, the UKGC requires licensees to pay a fee when a casino founder submits an application. To provide online casino services, it is also necessary to pay an annual fee.

  The price of a license depends on its type and other factors. Basically, the UKGC charges a fee between 15%–50% of the Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) depending on its amount. In order to receive a license from this authority, businesses have to demonstrate a business plan, prove their financial solvency, and confirm no criminal conviction.

• Kahnawake. Introduced in 1996, Kahnawake Gaming Commission enables organizations to secure a license—so-called Client Provider Authorization—to open an online casino in Canada. The license charges the first annual fee of $40,000 and the annual renewal fee of $10,000. What’s more, casino website operators have to pay software inspection costs amounting to $15,000.

When choosing a license to open an online casino, it is essential to consider the countries in which it is valid, terms of cooperation, license duration, price, submission review time, and other aspects. Business owners should take into account that some countries legislate against online casino games, involving France, Poland, and the majority of the US states.

Nevertheless, thanks to the latest changes in the legislation, over 15 US states have already allowed for providing online gambling services.

2. Turn to trusted casino software providers

To start an online casino and attract an audience, a company has to add numerous games like poker, roulette, baccarat, bingo, slots, and blackjack. There are two options to incorporate games into a casino website. The first way is to choose a provider of casino software that offers application programming interfaces (APIs) for game integration.

Popular vendors are Vivo Gaming, NetEnt, Ezugi, Pragmatic Play, Evolution Gaming, EGT Interactive, Playson, Betsoft, Digitain, and TVBET. Evolution Gaming, for instance, contains more than 40 games that are optimized in a way that users can play them on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones (iOS, Android). In order to enforce security, the system utilizes an SSL protocol.

Founded in 1996, NetEnt is another trustworthy casino software provider. Supporting web and mobile devices, NetEnt enables users to access over 220 games featuring graphics, animations, video intros, and sound effects.

The second approach is to develop tailor-made games for an online casino platform. Although this approach is more costly, it allows software engineers to create an immersive user experience and ensure the highest level of security.

By using blockchain technology , an organization can protect against hacker attacks, as well as prevent fraud and data breaches. Additionally, with custom development, it is generally easier to achieve scalability, fault tolerance, and uninterrupted performance of a casino website.

3. Choose casino gaming content

Since the majority of users enjoy having the possibility to play different games, a company should offer a diversity of gambling content. Basically, an online casino platform should provide the most popular games like poker, roulette, and baccarat. However, to meet customer needs and expectations, it is advisable to conduct an audience analysis before building a casino website.

If you are going to create custom games, you can start with adding three or five and then gradually add new content. In case you decide to choose a casino software provider, it is important to take into account supported gambling content, certifications, terms of cooperation, and technical support.

4. Design a casino website

When building a casino website, it is important to focus on the user interface (UI) / experience (UX) design. The design appeal has a direct impact on customer engagement and, this way, return on investment (ROI). According to Adobe, 38% of users are likely to discontinue interacting with a web solution if the layout is unattractive. SWEOR reports that the first impressions of visitors entering a website are 94% design-related.

Analysts also note that survey respondents negatively react to factors such as the lack of navigation aids, small print, inconvenient search, excessive text and pop-up advertisements. Additionally, SWEOR informs that 94% of negative feedback is associated with website design while a modern intuitive UI contributes to improved user satisfaction. Therefore, creating a user-friendly design of an online casino platform should be a top priority.

With the goal to develop an appealing design, it is crucial to:

• Make an intuitive user interface. Online casino players should be able to easily find what they need.
• Deliver a seamless UX, which comprises smooth navigation, a convenient search system, and a simple menu structure.
• Ensure consistency across all operating systems and devices, including smartphones and tablets.
• Implement a unique branding style. With a custom UI/UX design of a casino website, a company will manage to stand out from competitors and increase brand awareness.
• Choose a color theme with color perceptual psychology in mind (for instance, blue is associated with trust and reliability).

To make a casino website with an attractive layout and content, it is essential to hire a trusted provider of UI/UX design services. At Arateg, our software experts will conduct competitor analysis to determine their strong and weak sides, as well as reveal what engages customers the most.

5. Build and test a casino website

Before creating an online casino, a gambling business owner has to identify the key functionality for the first product version. For this purpose, a company has to analyze the audience’s needs. Here at Arateg, for example, we can help clients develop impact maps and user personas that showcase what actions different parties—players, dealers—should be able to perform when using an online casino platform.

What’s more, our business analysts create user stories describing product features from an end-user perspective, for instance: “As a player, I want to have access to games like poker, bingo, baccarat, etc., as well as deposit and withdraw funds”.

After online casino development ends, there comes a quality assurance (QA) stage, vital to building a website that meets project requirements. Thanks to QA, software experts deliver solutions that are characterized by high usability, performance, reliability, and maintainability. With testing and debugging, you will prevent potential bottlenecks and security vulnerabilities.

Now, let’s consider the main online casino features that have to be implemented for satisfying user goals and expectations.

Top 5 features of a casino website that you should deliver

Regardless of the casino gaming content that you provide, a casino website has to contain the basic functionality described below.

1. Registration

User registration is among the must-have features of an online casino platform. With the view to improve customer satisfaction, it is important to provide the possibility to sign up via Google account, email, mobile phone, and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. When implementing this functionality, software developers should enable two-factor authentication to enforce security.

2. User profile

A user profile generally contains information such as name, date of birth, contacts, and payment details. In addition, players should be able to view the amount of money they have to use in games or cash out.

3. Online payments

To make purchases and deposit funds, it is essential to include online payments. With the aim to attract as many players as possible, a casino platform operator has to provide various payment options , including credit and debit cards, digital wallets, WebMoney, and PayPal. In order to gain a competitive advantage, you should let users pay using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Dogecoin.

Speaking of trusted solutions, Clik2pay is a payment system that enables users to securely make payments from their bank accounts. It is possible to use the Click2Pay as a digital wallet and deposit funds on it.

A lot of payment systems serve the online gambling industry, for instance, Neteller and Skrill. Released in 1999, Neteller started processing digital gambling payments in 2000. At the moment, millions of people in more than 200 countries use the service to transfer money in a secure way. Neteller allows for carrying out payments via cards, local bank deposits, and cryptocurrencies.

Skrill, formerly Moneybookers, is another trusted payment solution provider that suits casino websites. The digital wallet is available in over 120 countries and supports 40 different currencies. Skrill also enables users to buy cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash.

4. Customer support

When building an online casino, a company should provide customer support 24/7, so that employees can answer user questions in chats. With the goal to automate this process, you can incorporate an artificial intelligence-based chatbot. Unlike humans, AI bots do not get tired and can process numerous requests simultaneously.

5. A loyalty program

Since the online gambling industry is very competitive, it is crucial to engage players. Thanks to a loyalty program, a casino platform owner will manage to boost customer satisfaction while motivating players to use a casino website more often.

A loyalty program can offer various bonuses, for example, for registration, friend invitation, and everyday participation in games. By implementing this functionality, you will be able to prevent user churn and increase revenue.

The cost of starting an online casino significantly depends on numerous factors, involving the size and complexity of a software solution. To estimate the budget that you will need, contact our team and describe the requirements. We are ready to sign a non-disclosure agreement before a detailed project discussion.