White Label SEO: What Is It and How Does It Work?
Learn from Itamar Gero how digital marketing agencies can have a larger share of the growing SEO market with white label SEO.
As more companies come online, the SEO market is growing rapidly. Many digital marketing agencies offering SEO services want a larger piece of the pie but may not have the resources to allocate. In this first article of the two-part series, Itamar Gero, founder, SEOReseller, discusses how white label SEO can help agencies in this regard.
Every digital marketing agency wants to scale its business. But not every agency has the resources to expand its client base and grow. Scaling an organization is still doable even without allocating a much bigger budget or hiring/developing the required technical expertise in-house.
SEO, in particular, is in much higher demand as more companies and their customers do business online. As digital marketing tends to give better ROI than traditional marketing, the digital transformation of marketing companies and strategies has been rapid. According to Research and Markets, the global SEO market is expected to reach $122.11 billion in 2028.
An agency looking to get a bigger slice of that pie and drive growth will need more help as more projects come in. That help could come in the form of a white label SEO.
See More: 7 Tips to Kick Off Your SEO Strategy in 2022
What Does White Label SEO Do?
White label services involve selling commoditized services to other companies, enabling those companies to rebrand the work and present the product under their own name. White label SEO refers to SEO services that other agencies, consultants, and SEO professionals customize for marketing companies and agencies looking to outsource work.
Depending on the nature of the agreement and the scope of the work, a white label SEO agency can provide client agencies and freelancers with just about everything they need to fulfill the requests of their end clients. The resulting output is then repackaged and resold to the end client.
The white label SEO company does most, if not all, of the work, executing everything the agency needs on time, in compliance with service level agreements signed by both parties at the onset of the project. What agencies get is a full range of SEO services branded with their company name, priced in a way that they can provide a healthy margin.
How Does White Labeling Work?
Working with a white label SEO agency is like having access to an entire turnkey marketing team without the overhead costs. What companies pay for are individual SEO services or SEO packages. For example, when a client needs local optimization, an agency or freelancer could pass the technical task to the agency, and they will work on tasks like keyword research, content creation, or local listing optimization.
Different agencies have different processes and services. But the white label process will typically include the following steps:
1.Intake: The intake stage is where it will all start. Once the client-agency gets the order from their client, they then relay all the campaign details to the white label SEO provider.
2.Onboarding stage: Project managers will now decide which package, products, or services best matches the end clients’ needs and which outcomes they can provide for their campaigns.
3.Pricing or profit margin match: After finalizing the services, the client-agency decides on the pricing that will provide a healthy profit margin. Depending on the white label agency’s prices, client agencies mark up anywhere from 30 to upwards of 90% markup, although 40 to 50% markup is common practice.
4.Schedule and timeline: The client’s campaign should be scheduled at this point. The project manager or the person in charge of the campaign maps out the deliverables/ milestones and the project’s timelines.
5.Campaign directives: This is the stage where the white label SEO agency consolidates the overall campaign goals of the client, collaborates on the roadmap, and starts working on the campaign.
Is White Labeling Unethical or Illegal?
White labeling is a legitimate process. It is a common practice that enables marketing companies to meet surges in demand or to grow. Client agencies are expected to check on the quality of the work delivered to the end client and to provide a reasonable markup that ensures the pricing to the end client is fair.
To keep everything aboveboard and make the partnership work, the white label agency and the client come to an agreement and settle on what needs to be delivered. Terms may cover:
- Intellectual property rights
- Quality control
- Confidentiality
- Liabilities
- White label license
The strategy is also widely used in products like electronics, software, and food.
In digital marketing, agencies offering white label services may also apply them to PPC, web design and development, and social media management. So if a marketing agency wants to expand beyond SEO, those services would allow them to do more for their clients.
Who Needs White Label SEO Services?
Search engine optimization can be a demanding and complex service to deliver that requires a high level of expertise and long-term management. It is not a one-time task that is implemented once, and then the work is done. SEO is a continual process because it involves adapting to changing customer behavior and constantly-evolving search engine algorithms.
Strategies also differ depending on what business or niche the end client is in. This is why companies offering SEO services must have industry experience and expertise in different business sectors. If a business has specialized in, for example, public relations or events management and now plans to add digital marketing, the experience and expertise of an SEO company with white label services may be helpful.
See More: 3 Local Search Marketing Decisions You Should Weigh To Succeed in a Changing Landscape
Growing and Scaling Marketing Efforts
As more companies are fighting to get more business online, SEO has become more in demand than before. Even though the end client can technically learn the skills to become an SEO expert, it is not something a business owner should prioritize. Small to medium-sized businesses do not usually have the budget to maintain in-house SEO specialists.
Outsourcing SEO work can give companies access to professionals to manage their campaigns. A successful SEO campaign is driven by experienced and dedicated experts. There will always be changing guidelines, shifting trends, evolving standards, and search engine updates that will demand time and energy.
White label SEO can help companies and agencies work faster, with greater results.
Have you used white label SEO? How has it helped you? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
MORE ON SEO
