18 questions to SEO’s

I’ve been in SEO since I was 17. I started with websites for Forex and trading. In a couple years we wanted to find an investor and diversify our activities, so we chose Gambling. That was a lucky moment: our websites hit the top right before the pandemic started. Since then, it’s been three years in Gambling SEO for me.

As I said, we were extremely lucky: we started making a network of casino websites in July 2019. The first traffic boost happened in November, and starting January the three of us were making about 30 grand. When COVID19 came, each of us was making about 10 to 20 grand per month.

I don’t remember anything specifically great about that time, as one of our partners turned out to be a shitty person. He tried to push me out of business for personal reasons. It was really hard for me, I was just 20 when I had to deal with the wrong kind of people. It all ended well, but now I know one thing: if you feel that there’s something wrong about the person you’re talking to, don’t try to build any kind of relationship with them. When the shit hits the fan, no money will save you from trouble.

First of all, there’s this sparkle in their eyes and secondly — they are not afraid to experiment. As a team, we owe many of our breakthroughs not so much to experience or technical SEO as to tests and experiments.

The easiest thing is to write articles that no one has ever written before. Or find new stories from colleagues in other GEOs. That’s the least you can do.

Most of the experiments, about 80-90% of them, can fail. But the remaining 10% will bring you x100-x500 to ROI, if not more. And I’m not at all exaggerating. You have to be trying to do something new.

If you’re starting from ground zero, solo, you’ll need about two years. You’ll be tripping and falling along the way, as we all did. For example, it took me one and a half years to start making $1000-1500 on SEO. Soon after that it turned into $3000-4000, and then I moved to Gambling.

And if you decide to get formal education, you can reach your first several thousand bucks in about two or three months. It all depends on how soon you’ll stop repeating the same mistakes.

It was a good idea in 2010, 2015 and it still will be in 2025. It always makes sense to start something new. Every time I try something and it works, I can’t help but ask myself why the heck I haven't started it earlier. So here’s my advice: better start today than tomorrow.

All the talks about the niche being burned out or overly competitive — that’s a myth. The gambling market is always on the rise, and there’s enough money for everyone in it. You can start by building a brand website, launch review websites on dropped domains, or take a low-competition GEO and launch a newly registered site. Or even try laser-targeted websites: just about roulette, just about black jack and so on. Such websites get a “joker”* in Google.

* “Joker” — in Maxim’s words, is a strong competitive advantage.

Oh, I see many things: wrong website structure, crappy interlinking, poor content. Sometimes a domain has a ton of trash links, but is still in the top.

My point here is that the main mistake is to sit around and think: “Oh I don’t want to start anything because I’m afraid to make a mistake.” There’s another super common mistake among those who have already started: you can be very close to the top, in 3rd or 4th position, and keep on doing the same thing.

If something is not working — change your ways. And if you’re giving up, do it the smart way, too. Don’t put things off forever, just lower your expectations a little. Watch this: let’s say you keep on trying but can’t make it in Germany. Fine, leave it be and try a less competitive GEO like Poland or Hungary.

I don’t really have any free time, and I can’t say it’s because of work. I don’t work every day, but if I get into it, I start at about 10 am and stay in the coworking till midnight. My free time is mostly packed with skydiving, because I have a dream of becoming a world champion in skydiving one day.

The second part is meetings and networking. I spend a lot of time on it. In my opinion, SEOs can’t sit in front of their computer and explain how to write titles, he should meet people, communicate, learn and teach new things. As a leader, I must bring new ideas to the team, not beat around the bush and mingle.

I have two dreams. One is to create something that I have never done before. For me it’s a YouTube channel. I’m planning to interview people from gray niches, they are mostly very interesting people, with some kind of inner drama. When I talk to people about SEO, first of all I listen to what they say about their off work life. I’d like to make content that will showcase the professionals in our niche from a different angle.

I already told you about my second dream — a medal in freeflying, skydiving.

Both. Right now, I’m investing about 60-70% into drops and 30-40% into fresh domains. It’s simple: diversify and conquer.

Technically, it’s possible if you delegate everything to the right people who know what they are doing and how to deal with search algorithm updates. And the website needs updating, too. If you let it go, it will slowly lose search positions. Lower positions — less registrations, less registrations — lower your revenue share.

The worst thing is that when your revenue share drops it’s a signal that too much time has already gone (payouts decrease at the last moment). It’s easier to bounce back after an update that restores your positions after such neglect.

I have one word for you, it’s LATAM. It’s an uncrowded, pretty prospective direction in terms of Player Value and official regulations. Here you can legally work with profitable brands and enjoy your share of the pie.

I'd say Europe since it is not suited for black-hat SEO methods. I personally prefer white-hat tactics. And if you’re working in Europe like that, with all their regulations, it’s becoming less profitable over time.

I’d say that the key problem is that Google constantly changes the game rules. An update comes, it gets unstable... The only way to protect your business from it is diversification.

Here’s a good example. One of my friends has a crypto-gambling website. He’s working on it every single day, repeating like a mantra: “Google values user intent; we must focus on user intent,” and so on. And then a new update comes, the one that was focused on UI, and his site was the one that lost its search positions.

The problem is that Google does what it wants. You never know what the next update is going to be about, so you need to diversify your risks.

A perfect day starts with some skydiving in the morning, hard work after lunch, calls with the team, and some good networking in the evening. It’s not always like this for me, but I really like such days.

I’d say, it’s kindness. There are these bloggers, influencers, they are posting something on socials, trying to help people, share their knowledge. And then there are trolls who are trying to humiliate them, bring them down. It’s just toxic. Everybody is criticising everybody. That’s the most serious issue.

My personal low was when I was 20 and had to deal with a really toxic person. You’re growing, you’re making money, and that dude makes everything just to destroy you. It’s a terrible experience. No algo updates or SEO stuff can compare to bad people. After situations like this, you need to learn to trust people again.

And speaking of SEO, once we bought some really great dropped domains, but instead of getting into the top, we lost a bunch of money. That happens too.

1. In SEO — experiment and do the things that others don’t.
2. About business processes — delegate your regular tasks and be a business person. Guide and inspire, instead of drowning in routine.
3. About life. Whatever happens in life, however hard it becomes, think like Elon Musk — dream about space. You need a dream to hold on to in your darkest days.

I got into Gambling SEO somewhere around 2019. I was working at a media company which was part of a big company that had a bookmaking department. Later I joined another product company, BetBoom, as Head of SEO. There, I learned how things work: that different GEOs require different approaches, that you can get affiliate traffic and so on.

Around that time, I started creating several Gambling websites. Not everything was eventually launched, but that was my first experience in the niche. That’s when I realized that the market is huge, there’s no limit to how much you can make, no glass ceiling. It only depends on how much effort and dedication you put into your websites.

Later I created my Telegram channel and that’s how my first partners found me. They are really great guys, we’re still friends with them. Together, we made a bunch of websites and learned a lot from each other.

Not too long. In about a year of work I realized that Gambling is the niche for unlimited profit. I remember thinking: “Ok, I’m staying here for good”. With affiliate marketing and the Gambling niche you can cover all your possible needs and make all your dreams come true.

It’s a go-ahead type of person who wants to make money on websites. I don’t think that a great Gambling SEO-er must be a strong SEO specialist in the traditional sense. In Gam- bling, you need consistency, motivation and a clear goal in mind. SEO pro in Gambling is not just a SEO with 10 years of experience. It’s just a guy who knows what he wants and knows how to get it.

In general — a lot. Being well versed in traditional SEO helps me very much. How much practice does it take? I can’t say. I guess, it’s better to choose the right work direction and surround yourself with people who can help you choose that direction.

In general, you need a lot of practice. 90% of our time is testing. I can compare it to gambling: one time you win, another time you lose. But the feeling you have when you succeed — it’s unbelievable, every single time.

You should definitely build websites in 2023, even if you’ve never done it before. Google is here forever, it is not going anywhere. There are billions of Gambling search queries. Look for less competitive keywords with high search volume, research micro-niches. The latter are likely to be a new trend in 2023.

Letting things slide and not diving deep into your work and decision-making. For instance, you found a great dropped domain, and you want to buy it. But instead of thorough analysis you’re thinking to yourself “Well, it looks okay-ish” and you buy it. Or using trash content, like automatically translating some article you found online, without even checking if it’s any good. By doing so, you’re killing any chances for your website to work, that’s your main mistake. Why be so negligent if you can look into the process and work on every aspect? Dive in, research everything and you’ll be sure about everything that you’re doing. And successful!

I have as much free time as I want. I work out, practice at a shooting range, swim, and spend time with my family.

I do have a dream that the SEO society lives in peace. I wish people helped each other more and were open for communication.

You can’t pick just one. Both things are working.

Yes, in a few years after launch your income becomes practically passive. But I wouldn’t be able to do it, I can’t just leave my websites unattended. I’d buy at least 5 juicy links every month, would make some updates, content revisions, you know. Income can be passive, but a professional must not. We can’t allow ourselves to stop working.

That’s not a question I’m concerned with. I do what I want. I’m looking for perspective offers and emerging search queries, local brands, games etc. I’m interested in researching new countries.

India and Tier-1 countries are drained. And soon the Spanish-speaking countries will be too.

Getting up at 7 am. Going to the gym and swimming pool. Having breakfast at a nice local cafe. Being all pumped up, starting work in a clean, cozy atmosphere. Lunch around noon. Then work again. A quick walk afterwards, and then some more work. And in the evening. I can watch a movie or something. And then shower, beauty procedures and go to bed around 10 pm.

There’s not enough communication not just about SEO, but life in general. People are trying to demonstrate that they are better than others. I personally hate it. I wish people saw that if a person is sharing something it’s great! And it doesn’t matter how.

The desire to give back should be encouraged. Instead, people get envious and try to humiliate other specialists just to feel better. I think it’s kindness that’s missing, the rapport.

To me it’s not so much a troublesome experience as a game. Most failures happen if the project was underinvested when it was showing potential. Also I lack consistency. I’ve mentioned it already, 60% of my websites fail, 40% succeed. That’s normal in SEO.

1. Life is a game. So treat it like one.
2. SEO is a game, too, but much more venturous.
3. Be yourself, don’t let other people push your buttons and don’t turn into someone you don’t want to be.