Whether you want to win your dream holiday or simply bring a little excitement to your day, entering competitions or ‘comping’, is the perfect way to do that for free.

At Prize Runner, we’ve been searching for and entering competitions for years now and have gained some insider knowledge on how to get the most from your entries. In this guide, we’ve listed our top tips to help you become the comper you always wanted to be.

With tips on how to enter quickly, the best types of competitions to enter and how to stay safe when online, this is the ultimate guide to entering and winning competitions.

OK, let’s go…

Set up a separate email address.

99% of competitions will require you to hand over your email address when entering. Our first tip is to create a new, completely separate email address to use for this. Some sites may sign you up for their newsletter or pass your details to a third party, so you don’t want those unwanted emails landing in your regular inbox.

Creating an email address is easy with Gmail, Outlook or any other large provider. Gmail also has an option to add a plus symbol to any address, creating an individual filter on that account. yourname@gmail.com becomes yourname+competitions@gmail.com, enabling you to filter your inbox and see where unwanted contacts are coming from.

Enter competitions that require effort.

There are many competitions online and even more people entering to win them. But they tend to favour the simple, easy to enter comps or any that don’t require much effort. This means that you’ll get better odds of winning if there is a requirement to fulfil a task, like drawing a picture, commenting on a blog post or sharing something on social media.

Taking a little more time than the average person to compile your entry will give you an advantage and increase your odds of winning.

Only enter competitions that you want to win.

With so many prizes available – from knitting accessories to all-inclusive holidays – it’s tempting to enter everything you come across. However, if you focus your time on the prizes that’d you’d actually be happy to win and use, you’ll use your time more productively and feel better if you do get the call.

This leaves the prizes that you are not interested in winning available for the people who would like them, helping the entire comping community.

Check if multiple entries are accepted.

Some competitions allow multiple entries, usually on a daily basis. Set a reminder and make sure to return to the site every day to claim all the entries you are allowed. The more you have the better your odds of winning.

Then there are sites allowing one entry per task, for instance, liking a post or following an account on social media, visiting a partner website, leaving a review and many other options. Again, the more options you can complete, the better your odds.

Check the databases.

Prize Runner lists the biggest and best competitions from across the UK, but there are others like us that you should check out too. It’s not a good idea to promote your competitors, but we feel that the comping community should have access to all the info they deserve.

There are a few competition listing sites similar to Prize Runner out there, but our favourites are Competitions Time and Like Wow.

Stay away from pay-to-enter draws.

‘Raffle’ style sites promise a big prize for a small cost or investment from your side. Although they might be tempting, promising impressive odds, it is considered gambling and can be addictive. Many of these competitions surface with a bang and then go offline quickly, taking their user’s money with them.

If you really want to use these sites, then remember to only bet what you can afford to lose and don’t chase your losses. If you or someone you know is struggling with gambling, please visit BeGambleAware.

Check Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies.

Many people don’t want their personal information bandied around the internet, willy nilly. So it’s a good idea to check the Terms & Conditions of a competition before entering. Many providers deal with your details sensitively, but some might pass them on to third parties and this will not be limited to your email address. These third parties are not usually known or disclosed, so is definitely something to be cautious of.

Always check the T&Cs and Privacy Policy of the site you are giving your details to. If you are unsure about them, close the tab and move on. Better safe than sorry.

Make use of autofill.

All modern browsers have an autofill function that can be used to speed through your entry forms. Save your details to the browser and when you come to a new form, let the autofill do its things and fill out all fields.

Double-check that you are using the correct information though, don’t accidentally put in your regular email address for instance.

Use dedicated competition sites.

We like a website that lists their own prizes with an easy, ‘one click’ entry, rotating them regularly. You’ll also come across ‘free lotteries’ that work in a similar way – you can enter daily or even hourly! Here are the sites that we recommend:

The Draw, which has multiple new prizes every month and the option to enter every day. They also run a weekly cash prize which can be entered every hour.

Pick My Postcode has several different cash draws that can be entered daily. You can enter by watching videos or taking a quick poll, plus get extra entries when completing offers from their partners.

Double-check your junk folder.

If you are one of the lucky winners, you’ll more than likely be notified via email. Make sure to regularly check your junk folder for these very important messages as they may be filtered as spam.

You gotta be in it to win it!

If you do all of the above, you’ll greatly improve your chance of taking home a dream prize, but at the end of the day, you just need to enter and cross your fingers.

We hope this guide helps you improve your skills and has you winning something great soon enough. Good luck!