Jul 9, 2020
Most people know or have heard about search engine optimization (SEO) and there are several blogs and articles from seo experts on the subject. Similarly, white labelling digital products is on the rise and white label seo is one of the most popular of them all.
With that said, there are still agencies out there that are either not familiar with whitelabel seo services and the many benefits that come with it.
If you are a digital, PR or creative agency that does not currently offer SEO as a service or you just started, this toolkit is just for you.
So let’s jump right into it…
By the end of this article, you should (hopefully) be familiar with and have answered the following questions:
What Is White Label SEO?
White label SEO is a combination of two concepts – white label or private labelling and SEO. White labelling simply means offering services under your brand that another company produces.
This detailed blog about white label marketing services and strategic partnerships, expands on the definition.
SEO, is the sum of changes you make to your website and content in order to grow organic search traffic.
So white label seo (also referred to as SEO reselling or private label seo) simply means your agency sells or offers SEO services to your clients under your brand, however, all the work is done by another seo agency.
So lets say your agency specializes in creative design or public relations or email marketing, however, one of your clients is really interested in running SEO campaigns and wants you to handle that part of their digital portfolio too.
Now this is great news and you immediately sign them on! But, slight issue… SEO isn’t your agency’s jam. So instead of trying to learn SEO from scratch, you partner with a white label SEO firm.
With several years of experience, your white label or private label seo partner will deliver excellent SEO services to your clients. In turn, you will be able to gain more business and as a bonus, you look like a rockstar to your clients.
How Does A White label SEO Partnership Work?
Basically, who handles what? Right?
Well, the way your agency and a white label seo provider work together depends on who you choose as your provider, the type of partnership you strike and the types of seo services you need fulfilled.
We will touch on choosing a white label seo provider a little later. For now, let’s look at partnerships and how they could work for your agency…
Account Management & Client Relationships
In some cases, when the decision is made to partner with a white label agency, all account management and client facing work is handled by your agency. Your white label provider will then handle all the seo campaign optimizations and deliverables.
In other cases, account management and client relationships can be white labelled, which means your white label partner will interact with your clients on your behalf. They become an extension of your agency for SEO.
This is extremely beneficial because not only does your agency look like an expert in SEO, you also eliminate the high cost of paying an expert.
Sales Enablement
Your clients may have mentioned that they’d like to explore SEO as a marketing channel, however, you may not have the collateral to prove your expertise and sell SEO services to them.
This is where your white label seo partner comes in. Your provider should supply you with case studies, pitch decks, market research – all branded in your name – that enable you to pitch and close sales.
In fact, if that’s the arrangement, they will get on the phone to close the sale on your behalf.
Partnership or just services?
This is a very important distinction to make. A white label seo company may only be able to provide you with specific services like link building or content management but not both.
Others could offer you a full suite of seo services, including strategy, monthly reporting and campaign insights. Figure out which route is beneficial to your agency and your clients before you choose a service or partner.
White Label SEO Partner vs. SEO Reseller
The term “SEO Reseller” is usually used interchangeably with white label seo programs. However, there are a few differences that separate the two.
If your agency decides to simply resell SEO services, then this involves delivering the specific services your clients need from an SEO reseller. There is usually no strategy or reporting involved with this arrangement.
Your agency might handle all those technical details including account management, client relationship and sales process.
For example, if your client needs blog content and link building services, you can purchase these services from another company and deliver them to your clients.
Your agency will then decide how to strategically leverage these services for your client’s SEO efforts and report on monthly progress.
A white label seo partnership, however, goes a step further to provide support if you need it. While SEO reseller packages are cheaper, agency partners make a higher margin from joining a white label program than SEO Resellers.
Benefits of White Labelling SEO
We know what white label seo is now and how a partnership could work. So what’s in it for your agency? Why should you stop using your independent contractors (ICs), freelancers or SEO consultants? How is white labelling SEO going to affect your margin positively?
Read on…
Make no mistake, if you have a proven process, can handle the workload, and produce high quality campaigns, then an in-house solution makes perfect sense for you. If not, the benefits of joining a white label program are abundant.
New source of revenue with no overhead
If your agency isn’t currently offering SEO as a service to your clients, then the day you partner with a reputable white label seo company is the day you increase your agency revenue.
Since there is no employee training or customer acquisition involved, your overhead is little to nothing.
Industry Experience & Expertise
Partnering with an seo provider means you do not have to build a process and infrastructure from scratch. It also means you can take advantage of your provider’s experience and credibility immediately.
Land & Expand
One of the important parts of an seo partnership is the fact that your agency’s success is the white label provider’s success as well. The more clients your agency onboards, the happier your white label partner is with you.
This mutually beneficial relationship means your provider will supply you with all of the collateral you need to pitch and win SEO clients.
Cost Effective Agency Growth
It’s all about the margin!
Depending on your markup (as recommended by your white label provider), you can scale your client acquisition, make more money and not have to worry about hiring new seo experts.
What You Should Expect From Your White Label SEO Provider
Different white label seo companies will have different SEO philosophies. Nothing wrong with that. However, your agency has to decide what works for you and your clients.
For example, do you maintain a book of local clients only or ecommerce clients? Then the conversations with your potential provider should be focused around proof that they have done SEO for those types of businesses.
Reporting Dashboard
Your agency should have access to a seo reporting dashboard that is updated 24/7. We all know how important it is to provide a client with updates on their campaign when they need it. This makes a reporting dashboard a must have for your agency.
SEO Campaign Roadmap
Especially if you’re choosing to white label seo (as opposed to reselling seo services), your white label seo provider needs to provide you with an SEO roadmap.
This roadmap should spell out the proposed SEO strategy, why it was chosen and how it is going to be executed.
Additionally, you should expect a benchmark report showcasing results from your client’s current SEO efforts.
On-site (On-page) Optimization
Title tags, H1s, crawlability optimization and many more form the foundation of your clients SEO success.
Off-site (off-page) Optimization
At its core, off-site SEO consists of content marketing and promotion and this means being able to leverage the value of your content to get featured or mentioned in other reputable web resources or blogs.
One big component of content promotion is link building (also referred to as link acquisition).
Content Creation
Website content isn’t just blogs. It also infographics, custom graphics, video, slideshows, e-books, polls, quizzes, white papers and many more.
Additionally, you should expect that your white label company can add additional content to your pages if that can help improve search visibility.
Each white label seo company is going to differ in their content deliverables, but make sure they offer a wide range of options.
White Label SEO Pricing
Here’s the juicy scoop… SEO isn’t a one size fits all and pricing needs to reflect that.
When it comes to SEO services, you really do get what you pay for.
There are a host of standard seo pricing models:
Monthly SEO Packages
Hourly SEO Packages
Project-based SEO Pricing
Custom Pricing
Monthly SEO Packages
This is by far the most popular seo pricing model offered by seo agencies. You’re probably familiar with this model, which works on a month-to-month basis.
A month-to-month model means you could be locked into a 6-month or 1-year contract with monthly retainers between $500 and $5,000.
Hourly SEO Packages
Hourly pricing is very popular among freelancers and consultants. If you’re currently using independent contractors and freelancers, then you know that pricing could range from $75 -$150/hr. Sometimes it exceeds $150, but rarely.
Especially if you are building your SEO department, freelancers and consultants can be a great resource. However, managing freelancers and independent contractors can be cumbersome and over time (for long term commitments), the cost skyrockets.
Project-based SEO Pricing
Similar to hourly based seo pricing, however, this is usually a one-off deal and can be very expensive. Project pricing could range from $1000 to $50,000 depending on the deliverables and timeline.
Custom Pricing
Remember the juicy scoop above?
Well it’s true. The pricing estimates for all of the packages mentioned above do not take setup fees into account. Meaning, your startup cost alone may eat into your margin.
So at Conduit Digital, what we did was eliminate SEO packages and setup fees.
Instead, all our SEO campaigns and pricing are custom.
We conduct a one-time audit for each of your clients and determine exactly what each website needs in order to improve organic traffic.
This in-depth SEO roadmap includes a benchmark report, competitor analysis, pricing recommendations and a recommended strategy.
How To Choose A White label SEO Agency
Communication & Transparency
Just like any other campaign, your white label partner should communicate expectations and be transparent about their services, reporting, pricing and campaigns. It really is that simple. If your agency partner is not able to be transparent about any of the above mentioned… RUN.
Experience & Credibility
Make sure the SEO team you’re going to work with has experience. Request to talk to some of the members of the SEO team and ask for success stories and case studies.
Ask about Deliverables & Processes
During your discovery or demo call, make sure to ask about how campaigns are executed and what is involved.
Use the expectations mentioned above as a guide to ensure your potential partner knows what they’re talking about.
Finally, ask about their deliverables – what should your clients expect to see?
Always look out for the mention of the end goal here – organic traffic growth. The sum of their efforts, including reporting should be to improve organic traffic to your clients’ website.
Wrap Up
Search engine optimization takes a lot of time, research and tracking. As a creative, PR or digital agency, your goal is to focus on your core competencies.
White label SEO companies are usually experts in their field and a partnership with a good one gives you an edge over competitors in your market.
Join The #1 White Label SEO Program Today
At Conduit Digital, we believe partnership is proven. For over 7 years, we’ve been amassing experience in SEO and other digital marketing channels in over 95 markets in the US.
We provide a seamless onboarding and account transfer experience for agencies looking to switch to a new white label partner. Similarly, we work with your agency to not only execute campaigns but grow both your client accounts and agency.
If you would like to know more about what your agency should expect from your white label seo partner, head to our contact page and let’s have a chat.
