Calling up the latest markets on a computer or mobile device is part of the reason why online betting has become so popular. But if the user happens to land on a website that is a bit rough around the edges and has some navigation flaws, the experience could potentially turn into a frustrating one lacking much sought-after convenience and efficiency.

When a punter browses through the best UK sportsbooks ranked by Legalbet or other trusted bookmaker rating services, they expect to find their bets in just a few clicks, without getting lost. Navigating a website should be a breeze, to the point that you don’t have to think twice about what link or what menu you have to click to find the sport that you want. 

A platform shouldn’t be complicated to use, and a good user interface is often overlooked until you run into some issues. But if you have already signed up at a bookmaker with a less than favourable UI, here are some tips to help.

Get Familiarised

Many online sportsbooks work on the same layout. Part of that is because one company can be behind several sites which are all based on the same system. But at the same time, there is also a tremendous variety in design when it comes to betting sites.

The simplest starting point on any of them is to get familiarised. Take some time to browse around a site before signing up to see if the menus make sense and whether you are going to be able to be comfortable with the platform in the long term.

Look for Filters

Filters are a great way to get around even the trickiest of sportsbook navigation. Many sportsbooks have a customisation feature where you can highlight the sports and competitions that you are interested in.

These will typically sit above the main A-Z menu, which can be a huge time saver. With this in place, you no longer have to go through an entire menu to get to the areas of the sportsbook that you want and it should be one of the first customisation features to fulfil. 

Search Button

Another great tip is to familiarise yourself with the search button. This is an often under-utilised tool at sportsbooks but can be a time-saver against what can often be long-winded navigation.

Search tools are usually in the top right-hand corner of a sportsbook, but can vary and aren’t always the easiest to spot. But locate it and type in your favourite sport, the team you are looking for, or even a player and the search engine should do the rest. From the list of results, you can just jump straight to an event. 

Bookmark Your Favourite Pages

Another good way to get around a sportsbook quickly is to use your website browser’s bookmark tool. This won’t work with individual matches, as the match pages will naturally disappear once the game has ended.

Most people probably have their favourite sports betting site bookmarked for quick reference. But this can be refined by bookmarking the landing page for the UEFA Champions League or Danish Superliga, so you can skip straight there whenever you need it.

If you have several competitions that you check out regularly for sports betting, you can organise the different bookmarks into folders for cleaner navigation. Links can also be added straight to a browser bar or added to the browser home page, depending on your setup. 

Contact Info

Sometimes one of the hardest things to find on a sportsbook is contact details. Many have the persistent live chat icon sitting in the bottom right of the screen no matter where you are on the site, but not all.

The best place to look for a help link is right at the page’s footer. Things like help, licensing details and the company’s ‘About Us’ page are usually just pushed out of sight at the bottom of the screen. 

There is typically a ‘Contract Us’ link and maybe a FAQs or Help link down there too. It’s an idea to make a quick browser bookmark to the help pages when you find them. You can also create a contact in your email address book for the sportsbook’s support for speeding things up in the future.

Get Apps

With many bettors turning to their mobile devices for their sports betting, the use of sportsbook apps has increased. These are well worth a look because they typically offer simplified versions of the full website and are specifically designed for smaller screens.

Navigation on a mobile sports betting app tends to be a much simpler affair than a mobile website version. Everything that you can do on the main sportsbook website can be done through an app, so there’s no loss of features, but you get the boost of a device-specific user interface. 

In Conclusion

A poorly designed interface can be a huge roadblock to an enjoyable sportsbook experience, whether on a computer or a mobile device. But if you have a bookmaker that you like because of the odds and features like live streams, but their navigation leaves a lot to be desired, use the tips above to help out.