LADBROKES
Where do they stand in the betting industry?
The answer to the above question is right near the very top. The company has over 2,000 shops in the UK and Ireland and, with its online and mobile business in very good shape, it is fair to say they are one of the leading bookmakers operating today.
Due to their longevity in the industry, Ladbrokes is a firm which can be trusted, certainly when it comes to depositing money into accounts and receiving funds (if you are lucky enough to pick up a return).
Ladbrokes are not afraid to have an opinion with their odds and have been known to take on some of the favourites in major sporting events such as the World Cup or the Cheltenham Festival.
Coverage of football
As you’d expect with Ladbrokes, they have full coverage of the Premier League all the way down to the Conference North and South in England under their football zone. They also offer odds on the major European leagues such as Spain, Germany and Italy, as well as some of the less recognised leagues in South America and Africa.
Ladbrokes’ in-play football offering is right up there with anyone in the industry. Not only do they offer live betting on the match, but they also have over 100 different markets, in some cases including number of corners, bookings and goals.
Design and layout
A lot of work has been done by Ladbrokes on their website to improve their layout and become more user-friendly. Although they have achieved that goal, they are still lacking behind some of their competitors.
Using their football section as an example, the tabs are not very clear. The light coloured text does not stand out very well from the background and the font is rather small in some cases.
What does work, though, is the A-Z menu on the left hand side of the page, which makes navigation to the sport and market you are looking for really easy. There is also a search box so you can speed this process up even more if you wish.
Football appears to be the dominant theme on the home page with a list of today’s games and upcoming matches running down to the bottom. This is great if football is the only sport you bet on but horse racing punters need to change their tab in order to find markets which will be relavant to their sport.
Languages to suit
Ladbrokes is ahead of a lot of its competitors in that it caters for 20 different languages on its site. You can change the language to one that suits at the top right of the page with the drop down menu. These include Spanish, German, and Chinese, which should help them to pick up punters who are not comfortable viewing the site in English.
Customer service appears to be one of Ladbrokes’ major strengths as they have a 24/7 live support service to help their clients with any problems they may be having. You can also reach them on the phone and by e-mail.
Extras with the site
Ladbrokes are the only leading bookmaker who offers its customers a loyalty card, in a similar way Tesco do with their shoppers. Every time you place a bet, you pick up points and once you reach a particular number, you are entitled to a free bet.
On their website there is also access to Ladbrokes Radio, which streams live horse racing commentaries from all UK and Irish meetings. The service also provides commentaries on greyhounds and football from various matches.