Your marketing agency and your customers are asking you about search engine optimization. No need to panic yet. There are plenty of resources to help fulfill these services for your customers. Many small businesses want to keep their marketing services under one roof; that’s why they typically ask their go-to marketing guy to also do their SEO. SEO can mean a lot of things to different people. That’s why it is best to reach out to marketing agencies that specialize in SEO. They will be able to help you out with expectations and fulfillment of SEO services. The last thing anybody wants is an upset customer due to a lack of clarity with expectations. This is where white label SEO resellers come in. In the following blog, we will review a few aspects that make up the best white label SEO reseller.
Backlink Super Heroes
In my opinion, there are three types of SEO: technical SEO, on-page SEO (content marketing, CRO), and off-site SEO. Off-site SEO is the most challenging of the three to fulfill for a small marketing agency. It’s relatively easy to create content for your website and to find a web developer to make any technical changes. The challenging part becomes promoting your content once it’s been written. That’s where backlink building comes into play.
The first question I would ask a white label SEO reseller is how they build backlinks. If they tell you that you can buy 100 backlinks for $50, then you should run far away. This type of strategy will land you with a Google penalty in a short period of time. I would also ask to see examples of backlinks they’ve acquired for other clients. This will help to see relevance when it comes to their backlink building strategy.
What makes up a quality backlink for one of your customers? Domain authority, link relevance, and link quantity are the three aspects of the backlinking strategy we will want to know about.
1. Domain authority is a score given by Moz that evaluates the power of a domain.
2. Link relevance is how relatable the domain linking to your client is to their industry. If they are a dentist, is the linking domain’s content about dentistry?
3. Link quantity is the number of backlinks pointing to your client. A good strategy is to have consistent backlink acquisitions month-to-month.
Like I said earlier, backlinks are the most important part of SEO. If there is anything that will make or break a relationship with a white label SEO reseller it will be the quality of their backlinks. When they place the first backlink for you or your clients, run them through a third-party analysis tool. Check to see what keywords they rank on, who is linking to that domain, and what the anchor text looks like. This will give you a good idea of whether the backlinks they are placing for your clients are from private blog networks or from blogger outreach.
Friendly Customer Service
Everyone wants great customer service no matter what business they are dealing with. When you go to the grocery store, a coffee shop, or a restaurant, you want to have the greatest customer service (wow factor). This shouldn’t be any different when choosing a white label SEO reseller. A stigma attached to outsourcing your services is that customer service is going to be poor. What do you need to look at to know they have great customer service?
Do they answer the phone when you call them? This seems like a pretty simple step for great customer service; however. you’d be surprised how difficult it can be to get a hold of a business that you don’t meet in person. When they do answer the phone, are they able to help you out immediately? Do they have quick follow-ups when they can’t answer your question? And are they friendly on the phone? If you can answer yes to all three of those, then they probably have happy customers.
What is their ticketing system like? In my opinion, if they can get back to you within four business hours, then that equals quick turnaround. You might be thinking four hours is too long, but many times these white label SEO companies are also small businesses and don’t have a lot of resources like big box brands.
The last part of customer service is survey questions. This isn’t directly affecting your customer experience; however, knowing that they want honest feedback is an indicator that they care about the customer. My favorite survey question is the Net Promoter Score. This asks whether you would refer the business to a friend or colleague. It’s not enough to ask this question; you also want them to reach out if you give a poor score. This indicates that they are engaged and have a great culture within their company.
Price Point
The last aspect of a white label company I’d like to go over today is pricing. Usually, when shopping for a white label SEO reseller, companies have a price point in mind. This is given to them by their customers who only have so much budget to allocate to SEO. Interestingly, small business owners care most about showing up on a Google search but they allocate the least amount of marketing budget to it. The reason I mention this is for businesses to understand how these two correlate. If you find a vendor that you want to work with but think the pricing is too high for your customer, don’t be afraid to go back to a customer asking for more money. Obviously, when you go back to them you will be armed with expectations and ammunition that argues in favor of spending more money on SEO.
Beware of the reseller who offers marketing copy for less than $20 a page. This might sound like a good deal, but in reality, the work probably isn’t being done well. Ask the reseller if English is the native language of the content writers. Even for somebody living in the United States, writing for a company in the UK can be challenging. There are subtle differences in language.
The last part to add about pricing is if the company has contracts or set-up fees. SEO contracts are okay because expectations are that it takes a long time to see results. And don’t be too concerned with set up fees. There are a lot of activities going on in the first month of an SEO campaign, which takes time. As long as they are being transparent and showing you the work they are doing, then I would be okay with them. And again, you can always tell your customer there is a setup fee and pass the cost along.
Conclusion
When searching for the best white label SEO reseller, talk with multiple agencies. The first company you talk to might sound great; however, it’s always best to compare at least three different companies. If you find two that you like, try a pilot with both of them. If you do this, give each of them at least three campaigns so they can show off their skills and talent. When you finally decide who you want to go with, stay engaged with that reseller. Ask to have monthly calls and ask how your campaigns are doing and how you can sell more to your customer base. Lastly, ask your potential partners what their company culture is like. If they treat their employees well, the odds are they will treat you and your customer campaigns well.
