Imagine this, your existing client loves your work and now wants your agency to work as their SEOs too.
You don’t have an SEO team, plus you don’t want to lose incoming business.
What will you do?
Search on the internet and learn all you can about SEO, and become an expert in a week. Or hire a new team of SEO experts immediately.
Obviously, you can’t do both. Why?
Well, firstly SEO is one of the most complex and ever-evolving fields. You can’t just read a few blogs or listen to podcasts and gain information so easily. If you still go ahead with this plan you will face issues such as not being able to keep up with the trends and new algorithms, not delivering numbers, your client might lose faith looking at these results.
Secondly, hiring a whole team is expensive and time-consuming. And making your in-house team learn a new subject apart from their niche doesn’t sound like a good idea either. To ensure the smooth running of your agency your best best is to outsource the SEO work.
There are plenty of reseller agencies that offer SEO services, the best part is you only have to pay for the service you use.
Who and What are SEO Resellers?
SEO resellers or White Label SEOs are experts that sell SEO services to other agencies, usually marketing, design or development agencies.
To describe in detail SEO resellers are a team of SEO experts who have been in the industry for long and have developed sophisticated processes for delivering better solutions across all verticals.
Resellers are in the business for many years and have a good relationship with various writers, publishers and editors, to claim quality backlinks at a substantial scale.
Usually, resellers offer their clients a dashboard to keep track of growth and arrange links and content. Resellers white label these dashboards too so your clients can see exactly where the campaign is performing well.
So basically an SEO reseller sells you SEO service, which you can “resell” to your client, that too under your own branding. You pay SEO a small amount from the profits you make. Though not always an easy job, hiring a good agency that delivers results can be tricky.
Why Outsource SEO?
Apart from the many benefits of SEO reselling, there are three major reasons why you should think about hiring a reselling agency.
- SEO is an Expensive Affair
The hourly prices of an SEO consultant can range anything from $100 to $300. If you hire a consultant for a long period of time it might cost you $173 per hour, and the rates go higher if they are on and off projects.
You definitely can hire SEOs off Upwork for as cheap as $25 per hour but as we know it, there is no guarantee of results and your work might end up suffering. A decent and reasonable SEO agency can cost you $100 per hour.
Let’s look at prices for hiring an in-house team. According to a Moz survey, a simple entry-level SEO can set you back $60000 per year. Hiring a freelancer and training them either isn’t a very viable option.
- SEO is Vital Service
When business leaders were surveyed across various industries, over 42% wanted to increase their SEO budgets.
This clearly depicts that SEO is an important tool for marketing, especially in a social media driven world.
The main reason SEO is so in demand is that it helps both B2B and B2C modules of business.
It is estimated that SEO related spending will grow to $100 billion by the year 2022.
- SEO is Evolving to Become More Complex Everyday
As we know it Google algorithm is one of the most complex codes there is to exist. A few years ago it wasn’t as complicated to rank high on SERPs, all you had to do was stuff a page with keywords and buy a few backlinks from other websites and you were good to go.
Now fast forward a few years, Google has made so many new guidelines and rules additionally with the algorithm it is almost impossible to trick Google into ranking you higher until you deliver quality content and information. Any black hat efforts will make
your website loses whatever little goodwill it has with Google.
Now Google has integrated a dozen other services like Gmail, drive, Docs, Google Plus, all of this is only going to further complicate SEO.
Agency Analytics says, “This is not even accounting for Google’s ever-changing algorithm changes, rich snippets, and the growing impact of voice search too”.
This means being an SEO is going to keep getting complicated.
A good SEO generates high-quality content, builds quality links, and develops relationships with niche experts simultaneously.
Benefits of SEO Reseller
Besides the general benefits of lower overheads and higher profits, hiring an SEO reseller also has other benefits.
- Focus on your Core Strengths
A few of the many functions of an agency, be it a marketing or design agency is to get new clients and deliver results.
Amid these two functions trying to learn a new skill, SEO can end up backfiring instead of being an asset for your agency. As mentioned earlier, SEO is a complex process that needs constant learning and updating. Instead of trying to score a backlink for a website you should concentrate on the core competencies of your agency.
By outsourcing your SEO tasks you have more time to concentrate on your agency’s growth and acquiring new clients.
- Expandable Results
SEO resellers have strategies and processes in place from being so long in the industry, they understand the importance of processes in SEO and build the most time-efficient and cost-effective processes. These processes are a sure shot to scalable results.
Any freelancer can deliver results. They can probably give you 10 backlinks, but what if the client requirements are 1000 backlinks. The freelancer will not have the capacity, strategy and process in place to deliver such results.
Providing expandable and scalable results requires SEO resellers in-depth knowledge as well as contacts in the industry, which a single person can’t achieve.
- Team up with SEO Experts
How can you deliver results when client requests for niche services like E-commerce and Local SEO. You definitely don’t want to lose the opportunity.
SEO teams are well versed and trained to work on niche services, as well as other services. This means you can onboard all types of niche clients which is = more profits.
- Save time by Working with the Same Team
When clients from different niches require different expertise. A law firm will require a writer from a law niche whereas a sports firm will need someone who is fast with the content. Different clients = Different needs.
While working with an SEO reseller, you don’t have to make contacts with people from different niches, your reseller will do that. All you have to do is forward the work and it will be done without sourcing new talent for each new project.
- Only Pay for Services you Need
SEO reselling is the chief benefit that you can choose which SEO services you want and only pay for those specific services and nothing else. When you hire a freelancer, you have to pay for all services, if you are not using any of them.
No subscription plans, no contracts and no deals. Just pay for what you use.
- Free SEO Tools
SEO tools are expensive and not everyone knows how to make the most use of them. A simple Arefhs advanced plan will set you back $4000 a year only for 3 users. The costs are higher for an agency plan.
Keeping this in mind, you get access to all SEO tools with a reseller. Plus someone who is well versed in operating these tools will only boost your SEO plans.
Risks you Might Face with Resellers
Nothing ever comes risk free. Though there are plenty of positives for an SEO reseller it sure does have a few downsides to look out for.
- Black Hat Practices
Not all, but some SEO resellers still use black hat services. Though Google has set up a great algorithm, SEO still remains a link building game. Having said that, some agencies might resort to black hat practices to deliver results when under pressure.
Before assigning work to an agency, develop standardized checks that will help you hire an agency that is upto Google’s standards. If by any chance you do see some activity of linking that isn’t what you expected, use Google’s disavow tool.
- You are Seen as a Mediator
With a reseller program where you identify as partnering with another organization, your client might raise the question that why aren’t they directly contacting the reseller for the service.
Here you have to pitch in your strengths and what you are offering apart from some backlinks to their website.
- All links are not Great Links
Even if some links are not black hat links, links from websites that have bad grammar and are irrelevant to a niche. Clients might not want links from such websites.
With perpetual changes in the Google algorithm, you can expect Google penalties as it happened with the Panda V1.0 update. The reseller should have a set standard of links that they provide and your agency will have to monitor closely if the standards are maintained.
To understand what quality links the reseller is providing, check their recent for clients. Ask for a list of clients and check the quality of backlinks with this tool.
SEO Reseller Services List
- On-page Audit – SEO audits are the first step for a new campaign. SEO resellers have refined processes to perform an audit and recognize the pros and cons of a website.
- Keyword Research – To develop a successful keyword research strategy, instead of trying to understand and make sense of SEMrush data, let the resellers do what they do best and give you their keyword research, which you can forward to a client and see if it’s in line with their expectations.
- Link Building – Link building is the backbone of an SEO resellers profile. Resellers use various tactics and tools to get backlinks, this could include creating content, outreach and broken link building.
- Local SEO – Local SEO is important for local businesses, but the work of local SEO is quite tedious. Resellers manually build citations, optimize Google Places, add businesses to local directories and optimize Google Maps and Google My Business ad well.
- Content Creation – Many reseller agencies have in-house copywriters or a set of freelancers that create quality content and at scale. Though you can’t compare the content to a content marketing agency, this can work pretty well for SEO.
Select The Right SEO Partner
An SEO reseller will be an integral part of your business as well as your client’s. They will handle the crucial responsibility of maintaining rankings. Bad SEO can get you delisted altogether on Google. So when you partner with an SEO reseller, the relationship is way beyond just outsourcing, they are part of your business.
- Look at Online Reviews or don’t – Online reviews for an SEO agency can more often than not be fake. Instead, look for real clients and get in touch with them through social media. Ask these clients what their experience was and the results delivered.
- Check Years of Experience – When a reseller has been in the market for 5+ years that means they are a consistent agency. In the disruptive world of SEO when an agency can survive and deliver for 5+ years they have considerable strategies in place to create and deliver high-quality campaigns.
- Client List and Expertise in Niche – SEO has a vast scope of work. Look for someone who has experience in your niche. An SEO reseller that can deliver industry-specific results for your clients.
- Cost and Payment Policy – You need to hire an SEO agency that delivers results even when the cost is low. Don’t hire a reseller that has a very low cost because you will have to check all the backlinks you get.
Ask if they have bundles, where they provide cost-effective services. Also, keep in mind if you have to sign a contract or not. Does the agency give you a subscription plan? All these questions are crucial to ask before you hire a reseller.
- Modes of Communication – How does the agency communicate internally and externally. How well and fast were your questions answered during the vetting process.
Is there a team that handles emergencies? Is the customer support staff knowledgeable enough to handle emergencies?
- Trials – To check the quality of the link the reseller provides, buy links from various resellers.
Though this is a time-consuming process, it will help you in the long run to drive scalable results.
Learn to Track SEO Results with Resellers
Once you have locked an SEO agency, how will you keep track of work done?
Most resellers share a dashboard with their clients to track progress, if not you will have to hop on board the traditional way and work on great communication and tracking.
- Constant Communication Channel – Most SEO resellers submit a weekly report. Apart from reporting, make sure to let your reseller know if you are planning to scale up your links in the coming months.
Whereas, your reseller should keep you updated with the latest algorithm changes and how they will affect your business.
- Monitor Backlinks – It is a consequential step to keep a track of the backlinks your website receives. The quality of links is crucial, if you were promised DA 40 links, but you are only receiving DA 20 links recently, take it up with your reseller.
- Track Organic Traffic and Ranking – The main aim of SEO comes down to ranking. Even after a kickass campaign, your ranking doesn’t go up then what is the point of SEO?
Don’t solely rely on the analytics your reseller provides you with, keep a track of your ranking and growth.
Conclusion
SEO resellers can be an easy and extra source of profit-making. Finding the right SEO can be difficult, so take your time to screen through agencies and hire someone that matches your work ethic.
About the Author
My name’s Semil Shah, and I pride myself on being the last digital marketer that you’ll ever need. Having worked internationally across agile and disruptive teams from San Fransico to London, I can help you take what you are doing in digital to a whole next level.