White label SEO programs: the four common setups, and how to compare them

A white label SEO program is a provider's standing offer to agencies: the services it will deliver under the agency's brand, how the agency orders them, how the work is reported, and the terms that hold it together. No two are set up the same way, which is what makes them hard to compare. Most fall into one of four setups, and the setup tells you more about what your clients will get than the name of the program does.

For a managed partner that scopes each client separately, see our white label SEO.

If you are new to the arrangement, what white label SEO is covers the basics first.

The four common setups

1. A fixed-list reseller program

The provider publishes a set list of services at set trade rates. You order per client through a form or a portal, and deliverables arrive on a schedule. It suits agencies selling the same thing to many similar clients, and it is quick to start. The weakness is that the list decides the work: every client gets the same month whether their site needs it or not. How a white label SEO reseller program works covers this setup in detail.

2. A managed white label partner

The provider scopes each client separately, usually after an audit, and a named person runs the account with you. Reports are built for the client in front of you. It suits agencies whose clients differ and accounts where a mistake would be expensive. It is slower to start, because it needs a brief and a conversation for each client.

3. A task marketplace

You buy individual pieces of work by the unit: an article, a batch of citations, a technical fix, a link. It suits an agency that already has somebody senior planning the SEO and only needs hands. Nobody on the provider's side owns the result, so somebody on yours has to.

4. A dedicated team

The provider assigns people who work only on your clients, sometimes with email addresses on your domain. It suits agencies building an SEO department without hiring for it yet. It usually comes with a minimum commitment, and it only pays off at a steady volume of clients.

Referral programs are sometimes listed alongside these. They are a different arrangement: the provider signs your client directly under its own name and pays you for the introduction, so the client is no longer yours.

What to compare between white label SEO programs

Whatever the setup, the same questions separate a program that keeps your clients from one that loses them.

1. Who does the work. The provider's own staff, contractors, or another provider further down the chain. Some programs are resellers of resellers.
2. What a month contains, in specific deliverables you could check, and whether that changes per client.
3. Whose name the accounts are in. It should be the client's: Search Console, Analytics, the Business Profile, the domain.
4. The report. Unbranded, editable, built from the client's own accounts, and leading with enquiries and calls.
5. Communication. A named contact, a response time in writing, and whether they will join a client call as your team if asked.
6. The link policy. Whether you see every link, and whether any are bought.
7. The content policy. Whether a person writes or edits everything before it is published.
8. Terms. Minimum term, notice period, and any minimum number of clients.
9. A trial. Whether you can buy one audit for one client before committing.
10. The exit. What you receive when you leave, and whether anything stays with the provider.

Which setup suits which agency

• A web design studio with a few clients asking about SEO: a managed partner, starting with one audit. Volume is too low for a fixed list to pay off, and each client is a relationship you want to protect.
• A paid ads agency adding an organic line to many similar accounts: a fixed-list program can work, provided the list includes an audit first and the reports lead with leads.
• An agency with one SEO lead who is now the bottleneck: a task marketplace or a managed partner, depending on whether the lead wants to keep planning the work or hand it over.
• An agency selling SEO as a core service and growing fast: a dedicated team, once the client numbers are steady enough to fill it.
• A consultant who wins work and wants somebody to deliver it: a managed partner, because the consultant's name is the product.

Signs a program will cost you clients

• It guarantees rankings. Google's own advice on hiring an SEO says nobody can guarantee a number one position.
• It sells links by quantity or by a third-party score, with no list of the actual pages.
• It sets accounts up in its own name.
• Its sample report is a tool export with somebody else's logo on it.
• It names other agencies' clients in its sales material. A provider that will show you their clients will show the next agency yours.
• It cannot tell you who will work on your account.

For the vetting itself, how to vet a white label SEO company turns these into questions with the answers to listen for. For the day-to-day once you have chosen, the white label SEO guide for agencies covers onboarding, the monthly cycle and reporting. If most of your clients are local businesses, white label local SEO services explains what a program should deliver for them.

Where we fit

We work as a managed partner. Each client's scope is agreed on a call and written down before work starts, the work runs month to month with 30 days' notice, the accounts stay in your client's name, and the reports arrive unbranded for you to send. Most agencies begin with one audit for one client. White label SEO sets out the engagement, and white label local SEO the local work. To start, send us the site through the form.