Performance Comparison Between Online Casinos Reveals the User-Friendly Sites

Our Findings in Brief

• Casino Days is rightly the #1 listed online casino in India. It converts user clicks into active players most efficiently;
• Bettilt converts casino traffic really well. But 10CRIC stands out among players looking for online roulette. Both operators round up the top 3 in enabling users to play for real money;
• Pure Win is the best in bringing users through the registration phase, but has consistent issues with initial deposits;
• On the contrary, Betway fares below average in converting traffic into registered players but rates superbly in payment solutions (via first-time deposits).

At the same time, we found that:

• Casino Days ranks well above the rest in most site performance metrics. But it can improve its pre-loading via mobile;
• Betway is the fastest and lightest of the list and is unparalleled for desktop;
• Pure Win is also lean enough in a speed test. That said, it has some technical bottlenecks that need straightening out;
• 10CRIC has similar UX issues – fast enough yet with some third-party elements that can be improved to render better across all devices;
• Bettilt is feature-loaded and falls behind in some of the speed tests. But it loads well over mobile initially and is among the best over a stable (desktop) connection.

Operators can learn a lot from the recorded player behavior considering the amount of activity coming from our site. If clicks directed to the online casino website, broken down into categories like casino, roulette, and lottery, are not efficiently converted, site optimization measures might be necessary.

Quite simply, these are some of the biggest and best online casinos in India. Accordingly, they have the most data to evaluate subjectively over a longer time frame and a wider player pool. They can also invest more consistently in the Indian market and improve their performance in time. Such feedback is indispensable for their quality control and sustainable performance.

Ultimately, we want to supply the best and most detailed information to consumers of India’s online casino, lottery, and betting market. When the conversion rate from clicks to First-time Deposits (clicks2ftd) is high, the casino website is usually effective and likely appreciated by other players as well.

India’s Top Online Casinos Put through a GTMetrix Speed Test

Regarding speed monitoring tools, we have used performance analytics data by GTMetrix and PageSpeed Insights, the two leading platforms in their niche.

We first examined the casino websites with GTMetrix (GTM). This tool that has evolved into an industry standard in site speed monitoring. Its primary added value is the ability to provide “actionable recommendations” after having analyzed the overall site performance.

Besides important metrics like page load times and total page size, the GTM tool shows why a website may be slow and points to corresponding site optimizations.

In recent years, Google has integrated this tool with data and metrics from Lighthouse, its open-source project that analyzes site performance in-depth. GTM allows us to test a page on various simulated mobile devices, in addition to real Android or iOS devices. Developers use this feature to speed up their websites for all mobile users or, at least, the most common versions of phones and OS.

The results we see in the table above mean that:

• Betway is the lightest and, therefore, the fastest in almost every test.
• Pure Win comes next, topping the list only in optimal full-loading conditions (4.9 seconds over wi-fi) but also lean enough to perform well across the board;
• 10CRIC appears fast enough over both Wi-Fi and mobile connections;
• Casino Days maintains a decent early onload appearance (see explanation below). However, it does not rate well over mobile until it is fully loaded;
• Bettilt has a complex structure and plenty of third-party features that complement the operator’s website. Despite this, it rates really well in onloading essential elements over mobile connections (9 seconds), giving it a good start in UX terms.

Some further technical clarifications are due by this point. Onload Time is an important metric in the business, calculating the speed with which a page’s resources are processed. These include images, CSS (cascading style sheets or separate HTML elements), other scripts, and the main functionalities of a given page. Once they are downloaded, the page triggers the so-called window.onload event, which displays these resources as they were meant to appear together.

Onload times are part of speed testing and a veritable representation of a website’s ability to load quickly. In the table above, the “Onload fast” columns show the shortest possible time the casino sites may download their main resources. In India, this usually means over a Wi-Fi connection or at least 5G speeds, mostly available in metropolitan areas.

Discrepancies between page load times according to various speed test tools are not uncommon. These are due to the existence of elements that may not have loaded before the window.onload event is “fired.” We are talking about certain Javascripts, image carousels, or other content intentionally delayed or loaded in a pre-set order without impacting a site’s performance and actual functionality.

This brings us to the term “fully loaded.” The speeds shown above reveal the exact moment when no further download (or network activity) is requested by the page. The “fully loaded” times include ads and non-essential functionalities, while the site was very much usable way before that milestone. Most users browse and even manage to log into the casino before that point without noticing anything incomplete or non-operational.

As with Onload, the Full loading is referred to as “fast” in terms of the shortest possible time. This is why we have also performed the tests over a 3G connection since this is a common network speed still in use across India. When we analyze user experience, the above milestones arrive at noticeably later times over 3G (and even 4G).

Onload “fast” averages are possible and considered consistent with industry standards if they are between 2.5 and 6.5 seconds. Anything below 3 seconds is considered fast. In this context, we see that Betway is really fast. Maybe not surprising, them also being the smallest by size.

But if we look at “fully loaded” via 3G, the picture changes for some operators. Betway makes up for its slight onload lag and takes the top spot, possibly due to their size. Pure Win and 10CRIC match each other for the second spot, notably being the second and third lightest.

Bettilt has evidently put a lot of developer efforts into its rapid early mobile onload, leaving a lot of elements to download in the background. Casino Days may take above-average times to onload via mobile connection but gets closer to the top 3 by the “fully loaded” milestone.

In the end, some factors are unavoidably proportional to site performance, especially speed. The total size of the website (and a particular sub-page) is decisive in a mobile-first emerging market like India. Light and fast casino websites allow users to navigate quickly and achieve faster full platform functionality. This affects UX and, ultimately, player conversion, which we deal with further down.

Quite importantly, these are not the actual Casino Apps – available for three of the five operators. This is the online casino gateway, the website that gives users the first taste of what’s in store and the crucial first impression which determines a player’s initial opinion. For many real-money gamers, browser-based online casinos remain the preferred solution. They want to avoid installing an app on their mobile.

The fact of the matter is that some of these operators need to work on their shortcomings:

• Betway, Pure Win, and 10CRIC seem to have almost none. Although the first two may possibly try to appear functional somewhat earlier over mobile connection;
• The latter recommendation is especially true for Casino Days. It takes too long to onload via 3G;
• Bettilt is the heaviest (by choice) yet does quite well in mobile onloading. However, the numerous third-party features and download requests might lead to a technical or UX glitch somewhere along the more than 30 seconds of full loading for mobile. This approach deserves further consideration by the operator.

Users always appreciate light size and quick responsiveness. Those who want to sneak in a quick gaming session between daily chores will definitely enjoy a faster loading online casino site to begin with.

The Winners, according to Page Speed Insights

Having seen some absolute and relative loading speeds above, we turn to another cutting-edge performance analytics tool that evaluates site quality and efficiency – PageSpeed Insights.

Google developed PageSpeed Insights (PSI) as a tool. It converts technical performance metrics into a score between 1 and 100. Quite importantly, it evaluates site performance on both mobile and desktop, and also offers improvement suggestions.

The scale is quite clear: pages scoring from 1 to 49 are rated as slow, from 50 to 90 are considered average, and pages with PSI ratings above 90 are deemed very fast. The scores can be interpreted as follows:

• Casino Days is the top-performing website, both on mobile and desktop;
• Betway is light and quick enough, although its site performance for mobile can be improved;
• Bettilt also rates impressively for desktop, being feature loaded and graphically demanding (this is possibly why they also have a desktop app for Chrome, for faster loading); their mobile rating leaves a lot of room for improvement;
• 10CRIC is doing well under desktop settings (and, accordingly, stable network speeds);
• Pure Win still has a lot of work and quite a few issues to iron out before it can raise its performance scores.

PSI takes into account “lab” and “field data.” The first kind is useful for debugging purposes but may not reflect pragmatic bottlenecks. On the contrary, real-world field data reveals actual UX performance, despite Google’s admission that it is based on a more limited set of metrics.

Among the essential parameters, we see third-party requests (and their sizes), page redirects, and image and video issues. The tool also provides insights on caching policy improvements and generally heavy HTML or XML structures.

Optimizing these resources and events allows websites to render better and faster across browsers. One way of doing this is by following specific actions identified during the diagnostics process. For simplicity, this study does not go further into such technicalities.

The above performance scores fundamentally reflect what matters in terms of end-user experience. In that sense, the Insights provided by PageSpeed are important for improving customer satisfaction and the perception of user-friendliness.

What Is the Difference between GTMetrix and PageSpeed Insights?

GTMetrix and Google’s PageSpeed Insights are very accurate and reliable in their measurements. Their metrics reveal a lot about the actual user experience when accessing the sites in question. Still, they have some functional differences.

• GTM is more flexible in allowing a choice of device and browser combination (for those with an account). PSI produces two sets of results – for desktop and mobile, with limited further customization regarding the type of mobile device.
• GTM uses only lab data from Google Lighthouse. PSI combines it with real-world metrics from Chrome UX reports.
• GTM uses unthrottled connection based on the tester’s requirements (including location, speed, and resolution, where available). PSI emulates two browsers only (preset desktop/mobile) and applies throttled connection, often 3G/4G for mobile.

These differences explain why we chose to test on both platforms. The range of features, metrics, and methodologies allow us to obtain completely unbiased and authentic performance ratings for India’s selected top-listed online casinos.

Traffic Conversion Rates Speak Volumes about Operator Quality 

While site speed is rather straightforward as a concept, the conversion of site traffic into active player engagement is more challenging to interpret and eventually improve. First and foremost, online casino site traffic can be organic, sponsored, or affiliate-based. This allows us to give you first-hand information about our part of the industry. Something that’s done by breaking down the aggregate traffic data generated by our work.

We have analyzed four months of user traffic in terms of session milestones – clicks, registrations and first-time deposits (FTD). Segmenting these by the various online casino operators and major product categories, we can emphasize the successful completion of these phases.

The inability to take players from one stage to the next can have a range of possible explanations – from subjective reasons to general technical barriers to individuals’ behavioral motivations. When these reasons are personal or contextual, online casinos can do little about them. However, when there are structural, technical, or even visual challenges to traffic conversion, operators need to take a good look at possible solutions to improve UX and player satisfaction from the earliest stages of their interaction with the casino websites.

More specifically, conversion obstacles could result from payment service provider (PSP) issues, less intuitive navigation on the pages, the overall site structure, or a malfunctioning element or feature.

These are for the operators to consider, while our report can only expose the facts objectively. Quite simply, the online casinos that convert their affiliate traffic well – at all intermediate stages – are doing most things right and are meeting player expectations.

General Traffic Conversion

We begin by analyzing the traffic from all pages (or subpages) on SevenJackpots.com that direct users to the top-listed online casinos for India. Here is how well these five handle the user clicks coming as a result of our reviews and recommendations:

We can see that Casino Days receives very high levels of initial trust from our readers. After being transferred to the casino website, users maintain their motivation through the registration phase (18.81% click-to-reg). Only PureWin has better registration shares after the first click (20.16% click2reg). Bettilt and 10CRIC begin to creep up the UX scales.

Betway occupies the top position in taking players from their registration to a successful first deposit. Pure Win drops significantly, evidently experiencing difficulties convincing users to start playing or, alternatively, handling their payments. The other three operators do quite well. They all achieveFTD levels of around 1/5 of their registered player base.

In the most illustrative conversion statistic – clicks to FTD – Casino Days manages to take the top spot (3.31%). It does so by taking players from first contact to being ready to play for real money better than any other top-listed casino. 10CRIC and Bettilt are not far off. They maintain decent conversion rates according to average industry standards. Pure Win’s deposit issues hold them back after an excellent share of early registrations.

Casino Traffic Conversion

Within the macro categories of real money games, some of the best-rated pages and most sought-after games are in the “classic casino” segment. Casino games, in general – and roulette and slots in particular – have been rising in popularity across India and getting as big as traditional desi games, if not more.

The above figures show that Casino Days maintains its superiority in converting user traffic from the first click to the monetary deposit. The same casino also handles post-registration payments better than its competitors.

Bettilt and 10CRIC switch positions in the top 3. They sustain their healthy conversion rate throughout the UX cycle, but most of all in the steps taking players from their registration to a successful deposit.

Once again, Pure Win’s leading position in converting clicks to registrations remains poorly exploited before the actual payment stage. Overall, however, all operators convert our Casino page traffic better than they do generic page clicks.

Roulette Traffic Conversion

Indian players looking for online roulette reviews on SevenJackpots.com have been growing over the past few years. Not surprisingly, online roulette tops quite a few charts among user preferences. This is true for the single game title and as a product group.

Our research team has already analyzed how and why online roulette (especially with a live dealer) generates as much as 70% of player turnover. Pure Win traffic data shows that Lightning Roulette is a huge hit. It generates a quarter of the turnover among the top 30 casino games.

The /roulette page traffic conversion sees Betway perform the strongest, from the first click to the deposit phases, with 5.52%. It owes its performance to a first-rate conversion in the registration-to-payment stage (over 36%).

Casino Days is the second best in converting its registrations into deposits. However, it has some apparent difficulties in guiding aspirant roulette players through the registration phase. This is where PureWin excels (click to reg). It allows them to grab the third position in the roulette segment, despite persistent deposit issues.

10CRIC is also “convincing” players really well, not far off Betway at 5.10%. It does not shine in any particular stage but manages to hold a stable efficiency. It also delivers the necessary user satisfaction throughout these uninspiring steps from a player’s perspective.

Can Digital Payments Be the Issue?

When we see players dropping off after registration and failing to deposit smoothly, we know there must be something among those steps that present an obstacle. Our experts have seen similar problems before, but usually, when users get to that stage, they are willing to start playing.

Indeed, click-to-register conversion stands (on average for the 5) at 15.5% for generic traffic, 18.2% for /casino traffic, and as much as 22.3% for roulette enthusiasts. At the deposit phase, these numbers are at a higher average value for the five operators – 18.3%, 21.4%, and 24%, respectively, for the same categories.

So, gamers manage to get excited by these products and to register but decrease significantly for one particular online casino just before depositing? This is the case of Pure Win. It has good click-to-reg on /roulette and/casino, but fails to convert these users into active players. PSP issues are likely causing the poor reg-to-ftd conversion. It’s something an ambitious casino operator needs to sort out sooner rather than later.

Reports indicated that the entire Indian market experienced some PSP issues in late spring 2022. The sheer number of payment methods, gateway providers, possible compatibility issues, and fintech solutions make up for quite the fragmented PSP scene, to begin with. Many players are drawn to casino deposit bonuses but don’t know how to use them properly. Others simply want to play a free round before getting on board.

But while players might have a preference for a deposit or withdrawal method, online casino operators need to be flexible. Flexible enough to offer a wide range of working payment options worthy of the dynamic Indian payments market.

Online Lottery Page Traffic Conversion

Lotteries have a huge history and tradition among real-money games in India. It is legal in half of the states and enjoys constantly high levels of demand among players of all generations. Online lottery is also the biggest growing non-casino product in 2022 among the categories covered by SevenJackpots.

We can clearly see that Lottoland is the operator that converts really well throughout the cycle from click to a deposit. The platform manages to bring over 1/5 of the users to register successfully. And, again, over 1/5 of those to open up a money account.

Lotto247 converts its registered users into actual players even better. However, it has some trouble converting clicks to registrations. It isn’t putting itself into the position to take advantage of an efficient deposit phase. While we think the operator’s website is intuitive enough (available in Hindi, too), it may not be the case for all users. Or it may be a technical issue with the registration phase that we will address with them to improve this milestone.

Final Verdicts and Thoughts

Our analysis offers weighted conclusions after every performance test above. Some additional considerations may alter the subjective evaluations of the top-listed sites. Although this is hardly the case with data-based findings.

In real-world settings, some differences in UX may be caused by mobile devices and network connections. However, the cited operator pages have been tested in equal settings and contexts. Site functionality and speed, as well as the recorded conversion efficiency, depend on features and functions developed and decided solely by the operators in question.

Lastly, we provide our primary analysis based on affiliate big data. This means that the registered activity is specific to our involvement as a third party. It includes referral data, traffic statistics, and automated feedback records.

However, given the nature and scale of the above, there can be only minor differences if compared to other player acquisition channels, be those organic or paid traffic sources.

It is also not a coincidence that these numbers reflect our top-list in terms of operator importance. These are, currently, some of the most efficiently functioning online casino and lottery platforms in India. And, if their site speeds and click-to-ftd conversion statistics are consistently high, the operators’ sites and overall reliability are good enough for you to trust them as well.

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