White Label SEO Resellers: What You Need To Know

Fell for an email offering cheap SEO reseller packages? Meet your agency partners.

A white label product is manufactured without a brand. It is made by one company and sold by another.

The company that sells it:

• Puts its name on the product
• Provides an SEO white label dashboard
• Takes credit for the work
• Sets the price
• Does not create SEO reports
• Pocket the profits (above what they paid for it)

In other words, the company that created the product works in the background.

They are not credited and often not known by the public. The second company is the one that sells the product. 

White label SEO partners are sometimes referred to as a private label.

What does this mean when we talk about a white label SEO service? The product is not a tangible one.

Many SEO agencies are also using resellers; you just don’t know who is doing the work anymore.

The above facebook post describes about 90% of the “SEO” industry. You know, those guys calling and emailing you all day.

There are key differences between white label resellers and what I consider higher quality legitimate providers. 

Quality:

The most important difference you are likely to notice is quality. After all, you are working with one size fits all marketing company.

Traditional search engine consultants do the work themselves. They take pride in it. They know they must answer to their clients. For that reason, they do high quality work. They can answer questions about it. They are unlikely to resort to shortcuts or black hat SEO methods.

Individuals or agencies that resell SEO services are different.

They are not providing the services themselves. In some cases, they are not even reviewing it and merely pass on fancy reports to clients via a seamless reseller dashboard.

They accept what they get at face value. Their primary goal is profit, not helping their clients or building a business.

Sure they will provide rankings for long tail keywords that do not drive buyers like “marketing services in North Dallas next to 7-11”.

If quality is important to you, you should be wary of resellers.

It is unlikely you will get the kind of high-quality search engine optimization that will bring you long-term results.

Communication:

When you hire a provider using white label services, who can answer your questions?

As a result, you may not get the communication you want, when you want it.

When you pay for online marketing solutions, you are paying for SEO results or ROI.

You are putting your trust in the SEO company you hire. When you outsource your SEO, they may not provide the level of service you expect. You are likely to get boilerplate reports and perfunctory support.

Does this mean that there aren’t some SEO reseller services who take their business seriously? No.

What it means is that in many cases, you are paying a middleman who may not know much about internet marketing. That can be a big problem. And, unfortunately, it can negatively impact your company.

The point of white label services is that you do not know who does the work. The company or marketer that sells them puts their name on the product. From all appearances, it is a product they created.

The issue with private label SEO is the same. Most people who are resellers will not tell you that is what they are doing. An SEO reseller company will try to market themselves the same way an SEO expert would.

This creates a problem for you. You might be working with one and not know it. They will not tell you.

That does not mean that there aren’t some warning signs that might tip you off.

Heck don’t worry about ranking, just outsource it!

1. They do not offer a free consultation on the phone.
2. When you call your online marketing company with a question, you must wait for a response. This sign is common if the SEO reseller does not know and has to search for answers. They may have to call the actual provider to get the answer.
3. They miss regional nuances in their keyword research. It is common to outsource overseas. Local SEO services require knowledge of local language and terms. If things aren’t matching up, it might mean your digital marketer is a reseller.
4. They shift the blame regarding a lack of results.  If someone is not delivering and they blame Google, it is a sign they do not know what they are doing. That might mean they are using reseller services.
5. They control your data instead of you controlling it. It is common for resellers to rebrand reports from sites like Moz. They might be good products. If you are relying on your provider to give you data that you cannot verify though, it is a bad sign. You want information that’s verifiable with Google Analytics so that you can check it out yourself.
6. The content is sub-par and fails to implement basic SEO strategies. Because a lot of the actual work comes from outside the United States, there’s sometimes an issue with the grammar of content. There are telltale signs that the writer is not a native English speaker. If you notice odd spellings (realise instead of realize) or poor grammar, it might mean that you are dealing with a white label SEO reseller program.
7. No social media presence. Do your homework and surf all of the major social media sites. Look for reviews, a history related to the industry, and overall proof they are who they represent to be. If you find them selling a variety of services online from web design to software development, this is a bad sign.

On their own, none of these things proves your provider is reselling services. If you notice several of these things, though, you might want to dig deeper.

The reason you hire an SEO Expert is to improve your site ’s visibility, ranking on Google and drive leads.

You probably know that more than 75% of clicks go to sites on the first page of search results. You want your site to be as high as possible on the SERP.

It is possible that a white label search engine reseller could get the results you want.

However, it is more likely that you will end up running into a brick wall.

There are some genuine risks involved when you do not know whom you are working with.

Content is king.

I already mentioned this issue, but it bears repeating. Google prioritizes sites with quality content creation. It must be relevant to your audience. It must also adhere to best practices and not violate Google’s terms of use.

Many white label resellers source their content overseas. That means it may be written by people who do not speak English as their first language. That is not an automatic indicator of lousy content. However, it does increase the chances that you will get misspelled content with poor grammar.

Quality Backlinks?

Backlinks are one of Google ’s most important ranking factors.  Ideally, link building should be on trusted, quality websites and not low-quality guest posts or spammy press releases. Sure, press releases do have a small place in online marketing, have to be used carefully.

More than once, I have had clients come to me with after disastrous lin building campaigns with spammy backlink profiles. In most of those cases, the issue was that their digital agency was outsourcing to a low-quality link builder.

Instead of building contextual links naturally, they often take shortcuts to save time and money. I am thus creating an obvious unnatural linking profile.

Google’s algorithm scrutinizes backlinks, period.

Receiving a penalty can impact your online business, if not bring it to a screeching halt.

You know the risks of working with an SEO agency that uses white label services.

Now, let’s talk about the benefits of working with someone who understands quality SEO.

Here’s an example of what you should expect from an SEO Consultant:

• Dedicated project team manager with multiple resources
• Full audit with Website Analysis of your site’s performance and link cleanup
• Keyword research reports
• Staying ahead of the curve with voice search. Stats show that voice search is the future.
• Transparent pricing
• Citation building for Local SEO
• Real contextual backlinks built by an experienced link builder
• Content marketing strategies, such as targeted blog posts or updated pages
• White hat tactics including on-page optimizations
• Social media marketing to build your brand
• Transparent monthly reports
• Website developer available to handle technical issues and web design tweaks

First, you will have access to an experienced expert who genuinely wants to help grow your business.

Their reputation is on the line if they do not deliver the results you want. It is in their best interest to provide quality work that helps you improve your visibility and rank.

Second, you know who you are working with. It is possible a legitimate company may outsource part of a project. For example, they might hire a freelance writer to craft the copy for your site. That is to be expected, and you can ask to see samples of their work ahead of time.

Third, you will be a partner in the process. You can set expectations, create milestones, and require updates. You will not be in the dark, wondering what’s happening with your site. The marketer you hire should work closely with you. You can ask questions and expect answers.

Fourth, you can ask for references.  Even if they provide recommendations, they may not be legitimate so be sure to check. With a reliable SEO provider, you can talk to people who have worked with them. You will get real references and reviews. And, you can find out if they delivered on their promises.

Finally, working with a knowledgeable online marketing professional is the best way to get the results you want. Someone who understands Google and adheres to white hat practices can help you earn a spot on the first page results.

That will translate directly to:

• Organic SEO rankings that are sustainable long-term
• Improved conversions with conversion optimization
• Increased sales, you know, the bottom line
• Real lead generation
• Online review and reputation management
• ROI on your campaigns

Working with an experienced search marketer who cares about your results is the best way to improve your ranking.