I don’t consider myself an authority on portals (their are other members on this board that could better comment on a site…) but I will offer some thoughts:
1. Nice, Intuitive Layout. The header graphic is catchy, and the user can see links and site navigation right away when the site loads.
2. The site loads fairly quickly, which is a plus considering the impatient nature of gamblers.
3. The site offers “news”/dynamic content to supplement the more static content of casino banners, etc…this tends to keep customers coming back to your site to “catch up” on things.
4. The Shout Box is a neat innovation.
5. The rest of the site is similar and consistent with the homepage, which is important for a sense of continuity and professional feel.
I would suggest….
1. Maybe a couple of more banners on the homepage linking to casinos. Check your site logs after a month or two and you will find that most users are “in and out” of the homepage, meaning a high percentage enters the site and leaves the site via the homepage. Most users won’t delve too deeply into your site unless they think its worth their time, so get their attention right away with some banners.
2. A “Webmasters” page for recruiting sub-affiliates…Most sub affiliates never make any money, and if they do, it is very little….but you never know, so its worth having a page for webmasters to get more info on affiliate programs.
3. A “reciprocal link” page, or info on how to exchange links with your site. Upon viewing your links page the only thought that came to mind was using the email address at the bottom of the page, but then again, I wasn’t sure whether this was for linking or not…help other webmasters out with a clear linking policy.
4. A site map link…This link should lead to a page with subsequent links to every page on your site. This is more for the search engines, like Google, which tends to be a little gun shy when it comes to deep crawling casino portals (…this is just my experience, anecdotely speaking) A site map page will help lead the search engines to your site pages easiest.
5. Offer links that cater to all types of gambling…don’t assume your customers will just figure out where to go….Have links to sports betting, bingo (as you have done), lotto, etc. Try to think of ways to cater to every customer, which equals conversions, which equals $$$.