White labeling SEO can make it so much easier to meet your clients’ demands for SEO services, even when you don’t have a huge SEO team in house to make those campaigns happen. But if you’re considering using white label SEO, you need to know what to expect.
Not all white label SEO agencies are created equal, so you’re going to need to look for an agency that can provide you with the level of service you require. That means an agency that has the capacity to meet your workflow needs, the expertise to bring your clients a significant return on their investment, and the communication skills to work closely with you at all stages of the project. You’ll want an agency that uses ethical tactics, offers a transparent pricing structure, and provides good customer service both to you and the client that ultimately buys the SEO services.
Choose an Agency with the Capacity You Need
The beauty of white label SEO is that it should give you total flexibility – if you have a lot of work during specific times of the year, for example, then you should be able to scale up when things speed up and back down when they get slow. Your busy periods shouldn’t need to come on a set schedule for your white label agency to be able to respond with a capacity for more hours. Scalability should be instantaneous.
However, not every white label SEO agency has a huge staff, so you should make sure any agency you’re considering working with has the capacity to handle your workflow demands before you commit to working with them on a campaign. This should be one of the questions you ask when you meet with someone from the agency, preferably in person but on video call if not.
Don’t Skimp on Expertise
A large part of the point of using a white label agency is that you can get a lot more expertise for your buck. For the price of hiring one person, you could get access to a team of dozens of individuals, all trained in the latest SEO techniques and tools, to work on meeting your clients’ SEO needs. Look for a white label agency with a high level of expertise. Ask them how long they’ve been in business, what areas of SEO they specialize in, how many professionals they hire and how they keep those people trained in the latest skills.
Evaluate Communication Levels and Customer Service Skills
You can evaluate a white label SEO agency’s communicativeness by how well they respond to your initial attempts to reach out. If they’re responsive to those attempts, and remain responsive while you’re considering their materials and making a decision, then they’ll probably remain responsive throughout the relationship. You’ll also want to ask about customer service – do they offer it around the clock, or only during certain times of the day? How can clients get hold of them if they have questions or need troubleshooting? You want them to have multiple methods of contact, like email, telephone, and perhaps a chat robot.
Of course, you’ll still have a responsibility to maintain strong communication with the agency while you’re working with them. Regular check-ins and meetings can help with this.
Ask About Processes and Pricing
You definitely don’t want to work with an SEO agency that uses unethical practices, because that’s going to tank your clients’ SEO rankings and could get them blacklisted from search returns. If that happens, it’s a lengthy and time-consuming process to get back in the rankings at all, much less rank high.
Learn about white hat versus black hat SEO tactics, so you recognize unethical black hat practices when you come across them. Always ask what practices the agency uses to affect search engine rankings. Look out for red flags like keyword stuffing or cloaking. Ask for references and case studies to prove the success of previous campaigns the firm has executed. Ask about pricing structure, as well – any good agency should be perfectly transparent about this. You can expect to pay $75 to $200 an hour for SEO services, although generally the more expensive they are, the higher they are in quality.
White label SEO can be a powerful tool to grow your business and your reputation as a marketing firm. Make sure you know what to expect going in, so you can find an ethical company that will give your clients the expertise and time their SEO requests deserve.
