How does white-label SEO management work for MSPs?
MSPs are one of the most trusted and carefully vetted partners for any small or medium-sized business (SMB). That’s a real asset because it means your existing clients won’t easily switch from you to a competitor. However, changes in the MSP industry mean that if you want to see continued growth in the years to come, you have to take the changing landscape into account. White-label SEO for MSPs might be the right strategy to consider.
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According to Datto’s 2021 State of the MSP Report, other managed service providers name increasing competition as their top concern. Many new IT companies have popped up in recent years, so while demand for hardware, software, and IT support has increased in recent years, so has the supply of MSPs to meet the demand.
To grow, it’s increasingly important for you to diversify your offering with digital services. White-label SEO for MSPs is a natural complement to your existing competencies and can make the difference between falling behind your competition and growing your business to new heights.
We’ll go over why white-label SEO management services should be a part of your offering as an MSP and exactly how white-label SEO for MSPs works.
Why MSPs should offer white-label SEO management
A boom in IT companies in the post-pandemic era means that simply relying on word-of-mouth references to grow your business likely isn’t as effective as it may have been in the past. It’s becoming more difficult to land new clients and to stand out from the competition.
If you offer all the same products and services as other MSPs, there’s little to differentiate your business from others and to incentivize a prospect to choose you. That’s where offering SEO white-label services comes in.
Gain a competitive edge with SEO for MSPs
Businesses need to have an SEO strategy in place to rank on the first page of Google. If a business needs IT services, they almost certainly require SEO services as well. Your clients may have already inquired about whether you can help them with their SEO requirements.
By answering “yes” to that question, you can differentiate your MSP from others and make yourself a natural first choice for prospective customers. There may be digital agencies out there that you can refer, but by offering both IT services and white-label SEO management, you can gain a competitive edge and open a new revenue stream.
Increase the value of your clients
While onboarding new clients is a great way to grow your revenue, boosting the value of each existing client should also be part of your growth strategy. You’ve already paid the costs to acquire them, so increasing their spend with your business will result in more profits.
The same goes for new clients: you can spend the same amount acquiring them, but by offering white-label SEO management services, the potential value of each new client can be significantly greater.
Become a one-stop shop
Rather than managing a bunch of different vendors, you can offer clients the ease of dealing with one touchpoint for multiple requirements. This is easier on them logistically and enables you to build a stronger, more durable relationship with each client. The more services you offer, the “stickier” the relationship becomes and the more difficult it is to leave.
If you offer both core IT services and digital marketing services such as white-label SEO management services, you’ll become more valuable to your clients and it will be more difficult for them to move to a competitor. This is especially true if you offer bundled services in which clients are incentivized to purchase multiple services from you to get a better price.
For instance, a competitor could offer your client a more attractive price for security services, but if those services are part of a bundle they are getting from you, they’re unlikely to give it up.
How white-label SEO for MSPs works
White-label SEO for MSPs is a way to offer SEO services to your clients through third-party fulfillment that operates under your brand name. With a white-label SEO management model, you are the seller of the services. You can begin selling SEO to your existing clients and reaching out to prospects right away.
Once a client has agreed to pay for a service, you create an order for fulfillment. Your white-label SEO management provider then begins working on SEO optimization for your client on behalf of your company. From your client’s perspective, your team is the one doing all the work.
The beauty of white-label SEO for MSPs is that you set the markup on any SEO services that you purchase for your client, placing you in control of your margins. This also gives you the flexibility to charge a premium price for larger clients who have the budget, while offering more accessible prices for smaller clients who you’d still like to work with.
Since you don’t pay until you have a deal in place with your client, it’s a way to avoid the up-front costs typically associated with expanding your services. Here are some benefits of white-label SEO management to consider:
Avoid the need to hire specialists
Offering SEO management to clients without a white-label provider would require hiring one or several in-house specialists to deliver the services. Alternatively, you might work with freelancers or contractors to handle the SEO work. Both of these options have serious downsides which dissuade many MSPs from pursuing them.
Hiring is expensive and comes with up-front costs that can eat into your profits before you start seeing results. You have to make sure you’re set up with the right SEO software, and that your new hire has the right skill set, to be able to deliver when you start landing SEO jobs. If the hire doesn’t work out, it can be a significant waste of money and a hit to your reputation with your clients.
With contractors and freelancers, you may not have the upfront hiring costs, but you run the risk of the contractor delivering a sub-par job, or even potentially going directly to your client. It is also difficult to implement this model at scale as you get more SEO clients.
White-label SEO management solves all of these problems with expert fulfillment under your brand, easy scaling, and no need to pay for services until you have a paying client.
Build a recurring revenue stream with SEO for MSPs
If the SaaS explosion of the past decade tells us anything, it’s that the best sales are the ones that deliver recurring revenue. Your sales staff only has to close the sale once, and your business can enjoy a reliable bump in your revenue each month.
While there are many white-label digital services you might consider offering as an MSP, SEO management is a particularly valuable one because it requires ongoing maintenance. There are certain SEO activities that are only done occasionally, such as website audits, but most of what falls under the umbrella of SEO has to take place on a regular basis to see results.
It can take somewhere between four months to a year to start seeing considerable improvements from SEO activities, and ongoing SEO work is needed to maintain results as Google’s algorithm is always changing. As your clients start seeing more traffic and revenue growth, they’ll happily sign on for more ongoing SEO services. Plus, by fulfilling your services through a white-label SEO provider, you can scale with as many clients as your sales team can handle without worrying about limitations on your ability to deliver.
Offer cutting-edge knowledge
One reason why offering SEO services with an in-house team is tricky is that the requirements are constantly evolving. What worked from an SEO perspective five years ago won’t be as effective today.
This means that delivering the best possible SEO services requires constantly staying on top of new developments in the space. A single person can’t do this effectively, especially compared to a white-label SEO provider with the resources to dedicate to constant improvements in the face of ever-changing algorithms.
Expand your client base
Your clients for your core offering of hardware, software, and information management may be the bread and butter of your business, but there are also many businesses out there that may not require IT services but do need SEO support. Just about any business with an online presence can benefit from SEO management.
It may make sense for you to continue to focus your sales efforts on the niches or industries you already serve, but by offering SEO services, you open up your potential market to a much greater number of clients. A greater pool of prospects means more potential closes and more revenue for your growing business.
Diversify your portfolio today
When it comes to diversifying your portfolio as an MSP, adding SEO management services is a no-brainer. This is a very in-demand service that is non-negotiable for any business wishing to succeed online. As a trusted partner to your clients, you’re in a great position to offer more services.
The challenge lies in how best to deliver SEO management. White-label SEO management addresses all of the issues commonly faced by MSPs looking to expand their offerings. You can avoid all of the trouble of hiring and managing staff, be confident you’re delivering a level of service that lives up to your reputation, and do it without risk or upfront cost.
