The Q3 2026 benchmarking report for UK online betting companies has just been published. Learn how the top 12 UK online betting companies perform across the digital space.
The latest Q3 2026 benchmarking report for UK Online betting companies has just been published. It covers the largest 12 national online betting companies, including Paddy Power, William Hill, 888 Sport, Coral, Bet365, BetVictor, Boyle Sports, Betfair, Betfred, Betway, Sky Bet, and Ladbrokes.
The research gives an inside track on who is winning the biggest share of voice online, and quantifies the gaps, risks and missed opportunities for other online betting companies to increase brand awareness, generate online bets, and secure digital growth. The report highlights year-on-year digital performance, plus winner and loser comparisons across 20+ online performance metrics and quantifies the gaps, risks and missed opportunities for online betting companies.
To see a preview and contents page of the Q3 report, click here. To get a copy of the full report and the key takeaways, please complete the enquiry form or schedule a call.
Q3 2026 Winners Leaderboard
For a glance into just 6 of the metrics we evaluated these top 12 online betting companies on, check out our quick-look table below;
To understand what the *CTM Digital Performance Index™ is click here.
Continue reading for further detail on this quarter's top and poorest-performing online betting companies, or request a copy of the report for the full review.
What The Industry Research Report Covers
The 70+ pages of research benchmarks each brand based on 50+ metrics and indicators of successful digital strategy, including organic visibility, domain authority, paid media ads, conversion performance, technical performance, site speed, universal search, content, social ads, accessibility, and mobile performance.
Driving Optimal ROAS from Paid Media Channels
Some of the leading players in the space are high spenders on paid media channels such as Google, Bing & Facebook - but have a poor or sub-optimal conversion improvement strategy. Without an optimised, sophisticated conversion strategy that maximises the conversion rate, the return on investment is unsustainable or will underperform. Scaling spend on paid media is not achievable unless the conversion rate delivers optimal performance in the sector. Some in the space have paid media spend levels from 30k+ per month but dedicate minimal resources and budgets to conversion testing. Given the cost per clicks on ad networks will continue to rise, we recommend spending at least 10% of your paid media budget on ongoing conversion optimisation testing schedules to ensure your paid media ROI maintains long-term viability, competitive advantage, and sustainability.
Pay-Per-Click Marketing
Pay-Per-Click marketing is constantly evolving, with more and more advertisers being forced to hand over a lot of control to Google's algorithms as the push for automation grows ever stronger. There are still key elements of control that we have though, the main one of these being budget which is ultimately something the algorithms can't take from you. That's why being smart with your budget and ad coverage is essential to achieving strong results and bettering what your competitors have to offer.
For Q3 2026, the average monthly budget wastage across these UK online betting companies was £1,246,938 with some of the top players in the market spending a considerable amount on areas and audiences unlikely to deliver a return. We can see this in more detail when looking at the average monthly cost per cost-per-click (CPC) amongst advertisers, with the average of this metric being £9,380. This highlights how competitive the market is and how important it is to control your budgets effectively.
There are varying monthly ad budgets across the competitors in the report. While this gap highlights the competitive advantage that larger budgets can provide, it's not just about spending more; it’s about spending smarter. By focusing on driving efficiency in campaign management, targeting, and budget allocation, businesses with smaller budgets can still effectively compete with larger players. Investing in data-driven strategies and refining ad performance can help close the gap and maximise the return on every pound spent, enabling growth even in a competitive landscape. Relative to their spend, Boyle Sports reported the lowest monthly cost-per-click (CPC) at £1, and 888 Sport reported the highest at £112,500.
The report highlights the importance of budget efficiency by comparing monthly ad spend with estimated CPC in relation to your competitors, see who has the highest and lowest CPC. To maximise the effectiveness of your budget, it’s essential to focus on driving CPC down while maintaining or improving campaign performance. In this report, 888 Sport has the lowest estimate monthly ad spend at £225,000, and Ladbrokes has the highest at £17,500,000.
By optimising targeting, refining ad copy, and leveraging data to identify high-converting opportunities, you can ensure every click delivers maximum value. This approach not only stretches your budget further but also boosts your return on ad spend (ROAS), enabling you to achieve stronger results without simply increasing expenditure.
Technical Website Compliance
Savvy digital marketers know that having a technically sound website is an essential component of a successful fully integrated digital strategy - plus a site capable of maximising conversion performance. Trust is essential for online betting companies, so a well-performing website that doesn't lead customers down dead ends is essential for giving a positive experience with the brand at every touchpoint.
In our last audit, Boyle Sports reported the most 404 errors (656). This quarter, Boyle Sports has remove all of their 404 errors, demonstrating great progress. Currently, the brand with the most 404 errors is Betfred (424). 404 errors can make websites feel outdated, particularly when linked content has been removed without proper redirects. Visitors may assume that other information on the site is also no longer accurate.
Site Speed & Conversion Rate Performance
When 62% of consumers are less likely to convert if they have a negative mobile site experience, ensuring that your site is quick and easy to load makes a significant improvement on your overall conversion rates. As with ensuring users are not led to 4xx errors and prevented from reaching key pages, online betting companies will want to ensure their sites are fast and accessible, in order to minimise frustration with users.
In our last report, Sky Bet reported the slowest mobile site speed (20). This quarter, Sky Bet has increased their score to 25. Currently, the mobile site speed ranges between 46 and 5, with Betfair at the bottom of the leaderboard. A responsive mobile website makes online shopping more enjoyable. Customers can move between categories, product pages and checkout quickly, making the entire purchasing journey feel effortless.
Building Competitive Advantage with Domain Authority
Domain authority is an essential metric for measuring the effectiveness of SEO performance, and helps create a reliable overall gauge of how effective your site is at achieving organic traffic, i.e. ‘free’ traffic that isn’t gained through sponsored ads. Online betting companies can look to collaborating with sports publications in order to build their authority and expand their backlink profile.
A ‘good’ DA really comes down to how your competitors are performing, however it is generally considered average between 40 and 50, good between 50 and 60, and excellent above 60. In our last audit, 888 Sport reported the lowest DA (70). This quarter, 888 Sport remains the brand at the bottom of the leaderboard, slightly increasing their score to 81. Higher domain authority can increase the effectiveness of content marketing campaigns. Well-written articles, guides and resources published on authoritative websites are more likely to gain attention and attract valuable backlinks.
Organic Performance – Mobile & Desktop
A strong organic performance is strategically important as it ensures your site ranks above competitors for key, transactional keywords. When 93% of your customers won’t go past the first page of Google, your absence or lack of targeting for essential keywords will cost you conversions. We've seen traffic fall across many of the sectors that we specialise in, as consumers are cutting back on treats and luxuries during the cost of living crisis. However, with betting companies potentially being a secondary source of income for lucky, or strategic, punters, online betting companies may buck this trend.
Six brands reported an increase in organic traffic on desktop, with Paddy Power seeing the biggest loss (-97%). On mobile, four brands reported a biggest decrease in organic traffic, with 888 Sport seeing the biggest loss (-38%). Websites should avoid using pop-ups that cover large portions of the mobile screen. While desktop users may tolerate larger overlays, intrusive pop-ups can quickly frustrate smartphone users.
Universal Search Opportunity
Google Universal Search Results is an evolving opportunity to make your pages visible on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Universal results often appear before traditional listings and are eye-catching for users. Universal search results refer to rankings on a SERP that are not the traditional ‘blue line’ Google link, and a brand can appear for universal search results without being strong in standard rankings. As trust is key for online betting companies looking to win new punters, 'reviews' are a smart way of quickly building recognition and faith in their brand. However, results such as 'image pack', used with images of sports fixtures, may be more attention-grabbing from the SERP.
Bet365 continues to secure the most Universal Search appearances (1,463). The majority of their appearances came from ‘people also ask’ (805).
The Longtail Keyword Opportunity
Longtail keywords are often considered high intent and potentially more likely to convert as a searcher is being more specific. Optimising for longtail keywords also puts your content strategy in a strong position to rank for brand-new search terms as they enter Google’s index. Online betting companies should look to target their most profitable longtail keywords, indicating a strong will to bet on upcoming sports fixtures or other events.
Sky Bet secured the most longtail keyword appearances for position 3 (2,485). Betfred secured the most longtail keyword appearances for positions 4–10 (5,853). Longtail keywords are especially useful for attracting users with a clear search intent. Visitors searching for detailed phrases are often closer to making a purchase or enquiry, leading to higher-quality traffic.
Facebook Adverts
With the number of Facebook users in the United Kingdom (UK) hitting over 44 million users in 2023, it is not surprising that companies have jumped at the opportunity to advertise on the social media platform. Facebook’s UK digital advertising revenue has been estimated to have breached 2.6b GB pounds in 2019. Online betting companies can use Facebook ads to drive brand awareness around big sporting events and other betting-opportunities, reminding users of the opportunity to place a bet, or advertise special rates and offers.
We’ve included screenshots of Betfred’s sponsored Facebook posts. Text overlays are often easier to read on vertical images when viewed on mobile devices. Larger, more legible text improves accessibility and helps users quickly understand the purpose of the post.
Top Social Shares & Content
When it comes to social media and on-site content strategies, it is important to release content that has a longer shelf life. An article is considered 'Evergreen' if it has maintained its relevancy to an audience for longer. It's great for your brand engagement, but great for Google too, who will recognise content which achieves traffic over a long period of time. Online betting companies can look to creating content around sporting events in order to increase brand exposure - even sharing non-betting related content that links to events users can place bets on will increase content shareability.
Bet365 secured the most Facebook Likes (2m) and the most Instagram followers (44,500).
Website Readability & Accessibility
20% of people in the UK have a disability – 2 million of which are people living with sight loss. In addition, 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women have some degree of colour vision deficiency. When websites are not designed to meet these needs, brands lose customer interest as they turn elsewhere.
This quarter, Betfred received the most accessibility alerts (204) and the most contrast errors (21). When contrast errors affect forms, users may struggle to see input fields, labels, or error messages. This can lead to mistakes during form completion and increased frustration. As a result, users may abandon forms before finishing them.
Get the full 70-page Q3 2026 report
To get a copy of the full report, please complete the enquiry form. If you want to talk to us about accelerating your digital performance, please call us on 01543 410014 or schedule a call with Rory Tarplee.