If you provide digital marketing services for your clients, you may already be struggling to deliver the best results — especially if you’re doing everything in-house. While it’s admirable that you’d want to be personally responsible for every aspect of your clients’ campaigns, this goal may simply not be realistic for your business.

Rather than eliminate product offerings or hire additional employees, you may opt to outsource your clients’ search engine optimization needs to a private label SEO company. This move will allow you to become what’s known as an SEO reseller — someone who handles sales and customer relations but who relies on another provider to fulfill the technical SEO aspects of a campaign. 

Becoming an SEO reseller can be an excellent way to maximize profits and free up time for other parts of your business. But if you’re accustomed to DIYing your clients’ digital marketing, you’ll need to adjust to this new workflow and ensure you feel confident in this arrangement before moving forward.

To that end, there’s a little bit of homework you’ll have to do prior to reselling SEO. Let’s take a closer look at three important steps you’ll need to take.

Step One: Fill the Knowledge Gap

One main reason many agencies decide to outsource their SEO services is that they just don’t possess the knowledge or the tools to deliver what their clients want. Even if you do know the SEO basics, you might not have a lot of time to learn about the latest trends or execute a strategy in the way you’d ideally like to. 

Outsourcing SEO can allow your clients to have a successful campaign without being held back by a lack of experience or resources on your part. However, outsourcing doesn’t mean you can afford to sit back and not learn about what’s going on in the SEO world.

In order to set proper expectations with both your agency partner and your clients, you need to be able to speak and to translate the language of SEO. If you expect to be able to sell SEO to customers, you have to be able to explain the process and its importance in a way they’ll understand. And to communicate adequately with your outsourced team, you’ll also need to understand the fundamental concepts of SEO and stay up-to-date on Google algorithm changes, industry trends, the keyword research process, and more.

You’ll want to set aside some time before you start outsourcing your SEO to identify where your gaps in knowledge lie and make some progress on bridging those gaps. Your SEO agency can be immensely helpful here, especially when explaining ideas to clients. However, you’ll want to make sure you have some background knowledge before you even choose an SEO provider so you can accurately express your expectations and feel assured that everyone is on the same page. 

Step Two: Research Reputable Providers

Once you feel more comfortable with the basics of SEO and know what you’re looking for in an SEO agency, you can begin your search for a partner in outsourcing. There’s an overwhelming number of SEO agencies to choose from, making it hard to know which to choose. There are a few key points you’ll want to look for when evaluating providers.

For one thing, you’ll need to ensure that your SEO provider follows white hat practices. In other words, their techniques should align with Google Webmaster guidelines and should not skirt the “laws” of SEO. Some firms may promise to obtain certain results through deceptive or even malicious practices; this risk is not worth the potential reward, as Google’s punishments are strict for websites caught engaging in these tactics. 

You’ll also want to weigh the costs set by these agencies against the quality of work they provide. While lower-cost services may allow you to turn a higher profit, keep in mind that the final deliverables may not meet your expectations. Make sure to evaluate the quality of the SEO products they offer first. While the price may be an important factor, it shouldn’t be the only one you consider.

Finally, you should evaluate how well the agency communicates with their resellers, how easy their provided software is to use and integrate, how the agency monitors campaign progress, and whether reporting tools are provided. Make sure to ask about available case studies or white papers and request a demo prior to signing on. By doing your homework upfront, you can avoid unpleasant surprised later on.

Step Three: Set Prices For Services

After you’ve decided on the best SEO agency for your needs, it’s time to set prices for your customers. This can be a challenge for many new resellers, as they might be worried about missing out on potential profits or alienating costumers who aren’t willing to spend more on digital marketing. 

Outsourcing SEO provides you with more pricing freedom, as you’ll be getting those products for your customers at a wholesale price. But how much you mark up those products may not be immediately clear. While you can technically set a 100% mark up, you might be wondering whether you should.

The answer here will depend on a number of factors, including who your typical customer is, how you’ll be selling the products (i.e., a la carte versus packages), and where your other product prices lie. It’s a good idea to discuss these questions with your SEO agency, as they’ll be able to ask the right questions and guide you in the right direction for your business. But once you’ve fleshed out all those possibilities and settled on the numbers that make the most sense, you’ll be able to roll out your new pricing structure and offer your clients better results.

Outsourcing your SEO can provide more opportunities for business growth and even work-life balance. But before you get started, you’ll need a detailed SEO plan. Now that you’ve zeroed in on these three important steps to take, you can move forward with your plan to become an SEO reseller.