Five Tips for Designing a Betting Site

written by Houke de Kwant on March 2, 2022

Online sports betting has grown incredibly in the last few years. Although areas of Europe have long enjoyed gambling online, new laws in the US, Canada and parts of Africa have meant there has been an explosion of new sites.

With this surge in numbers, the competition for new customers becomes even more intense. Getting a new bettor to use your site is the most important thing for a betting company. But how is that done? Good design is very important and that is why it is usually mentioned as a factor, as was the case in a recent Betnow review. These reviews are vital to success – so design is key.

Get Inspired

As with any kind of design work, research is crucial to achieving a rewarding end product. Taking a look at current sports betting sites from around the world will tell you what works – and, even more importantly, what doesn’t. Gambling sites may seem to be all the same to a newcomer, but the small details make all the difference.

There should be a distinction between success coming from brand awareness and success through design, however. Some betting companies have been around for years, so it is better to research newer bookmakers and their sites. That way you can judge how important the design has been to their success.

Colour Scheme

Designers may not get control over this aspect. Sometimes, especially with more established betting companies, a colour scheme has been in place for years and there is no desire to change. But even in this situation there will be a chance to use the colours to the best effect.

There is no need to go for a bold colour scheme just for the effect. It still has to work and not be jarring for the user. Some newer betting sites have stepped away from the traditional primary colour use and embraced lighter, more innovative design. If this is possible an entire theme could be centred on the colour choices.

UX

We touched on this factor when it comes to the colour scheme of the site. There is no point choosing loud, bright colours to grab attention if the result will be users switching to less aggressive alternatives. The colour may attract attention in the first place – but the site needs to work too.

Betting sites tend to hold huge amounts of information, using text. So being able to navigate around a betting site without getting confused or lost is obviously important. As a designer you will need to make sure that the user can use this overload of information without being overwhelmed.

Speed

All websites should obviously work at a comfortable speed. There is no excuse for lagging or areas of the site to work slowly. But speed is especially important when it comes to sports betting sites. As much as you want the user to enjoy the general design, they will also need to make quick decisions on major sports events – and rely on the site to comply.

Depending on the budget, this may cause restrictions to the overall design of the site. Speed is the factor that comes out on top here, so a more simplified design should be the answer. The good news is that this works for the aesthetics of lots of text – as well as for usability and speed issues.

Bonus Design

We have singled out this factor as important as it is one of the best ways that you can attract new customers and users to a betting site. As there is that huge competition in the industry when it comes to gambling, the use of offers and promotions is very common.

Designing bonus pages are therefore a big part of recruiting new customers. Do a good job here and you will have a visitor hooked. It could be argued that with all betting site design, it is the grabbing of attention that is half the battle – the rest is aesthetics.