White Label SEO Reseller Programs
Search engine optimization is an indispensable part of any digital marketing plan for businesses, particularly in 2019. This is great news for any local digital marketing agency because it means budgets will be allocated for it. The scary news is that not all digital marketing agencies feel comfortable fulfilling SEO services. This is when white label SEO reseller programs come into focus. Outsourcing SEO work allows local marketing agencies to offer the service and not have the requirements to fulfill it in-house. The big challenge comes with choosing which SEO reseller is the right one for you. There are a few aspects of any white label SEO reseller that need to be taken into consideration when partnering with one. In this blog, we will touch on backlink-building, customer service, and pricing for white label SEO companies.
How Do They Build Backlinks?
The most important part of any SEO plan is backlink-building. Moz is a third-party data provider. Every year, they conduct a survey asking digital marketing experts what the top keyword ranking factors are for a Google search. For multiple years in a row, the one cited as most important has been backlink-building. It is also the most challenging aspect of any search engine optimization campaign. This is why many digital marketing agencies don’t provide backlink-building services or are nervous to talk about it.
A white label SEO reseller is perfect for filling your backlink-building services. Marketing agencies should have some expectations when outsourcing their backlink-building. They should ask the reseller how relevant their links are. If you have a dental client, can this SEO partner provide dental backlinks? And if they can do it, are the backlinks they acquire owned by them or are they found organically? Here are a few other characteristics that make up a quality backlink.
- What is the linking site’s domain rating? You want to see it higher than 30.
- How do they build their anchor text? Ideally, you want a third of the anchor text to be keywords you want to rank on (dentist in Mordor), another third to be generic, and the final third to be branded.
- Does the domain where the backlink is coming from receive legitimate traffic?
Now that you know some characteristics that make up backlinks, let’s review some of the methodology behind building backlinks.
- Private Blog Networks: These are websites that a white label agency owns. If they are constructed well, you shouldn’t be concerned about being penalized by Google. An advantage of using a PBN is the ability to control the anchor text. It is much easier to add money keywords to your anchor text using PBNs. However, you do want to be cautious with them as they are an easy way to be penalized by Google.
- Link Brokering: Many SEO agencies have partnerships with websites who will give out backlinks in exchange for well-written content. They’re able to get you in some relevant category websites and generic news ones. These backlinks aren’t as risky as private blog networks; however, they usually have higher standards when it comes to content creation and what your anchor text will be.
- Link Outreach: Also known as blogger outreach, this service emails a specified number of opportunities asking for a link to your website. It is the safest form of link building and usually, you acquire your best backlinks using this method. However, this strategy does not guarantee links.
Five-Star Customer Service
The next aspect of a white label SEO reseller that we want to review is customer service. Often, SEO reseller companies are located overseas. One of the reasons behind this is to be able to lower the cost of their deliverables. The downside to doing this is that you give up great customer service for a cheaper price. Let’s review a few items that make up great customer service for an SEO agency.
One of the first methods of contacting a business is calling them. When reviewing vendors, do they have their phone number somewhere on their website? If they do, are you able to reach them during normal business hours? If you are able to reach them, can they answer your questions or follow up with you within a reasonable timeframe? If you can answer yes to all of these items, then they exhibit quality customer service with their phones.
The next part of customer service to review is their ticketing system. Most companies have an email or ticket you can submit with any questions or concerns you or your clients have. I think a great turnaround time for a ticket system is less than four hours. The reason I think less than four hours is acceptable is because SEO resellers are also small businesses who have limited resources and budget. After a ticket has been resolved, you want to walk away from the experience believing you have been ‘WOWed’. If they hit the WOW factor, then you are in good hands.
The last part to cover for customer service is customer feedback. I think a great leading indicator that a company cares about their customers is if they offer them surveys. It’s not enough to send out surveys, but you want to see proactive responses to survey results. My favorite survey is the net promoter score (NPS). This survey asks if you would refer the company to a friend or colleague. I’m sure everyone reading this blog has taken this survey before. If they maintain a score above 35, then you are in good hands with them.
Pricing, Pricing, Pricing
Pricing is the last point we want to cover today. Obviously, there is only so much budget your clients can spend on digital marketing services. Typically, most white label SEO services have similar price points, with some slightly higher than others. When choosing who you want to partner with, don’t let price be the end-all-be-all. If you really like a potential partner and their price is slightly higher, ask your clients if they are willing to pay a little extra.
If the pricing seems too good to be true, then it probably is. If they are offering 10 backlinks for $100, then you should run far away. The same goes for content creation for your website. Prices ranging from $70 to $150 is reasonable. For anything less than $70, I would be concerned about quality issues. Can you imagine if an Apple computer was only $100? Warning bells would be going off immediately. Let the pricing be one part of your decision-making process and not the Holy Grail.
Conclusion
An SEO reseller program can be a great addition to your business. You are opening a new division overnight without the overhead of an employee. Weigh the pros and cons to see if it will benefit your business. Remember to review their backlink methodology, their customer service process, and if they are priced reasonably. If they’re able to set great expectations and follow through with them and they’re also incredible communicators, then you will be set for a strong relationship that will last years.
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