White-label link building
What an agency should get from a link partner.
When you resell link building, your client sees your name on every placement. This guide covers what to agree before outreach starts, what a client-ready report should contain and which checks to run before you pass it on.
Before outreach
Agree the brief before the first email.
Most problems in white-label work start with an unclear brief. Write down these points for each client before any publisher is contacted.
01
Target pages and market
Which pages on the client site should receive links, in which language and country, and why those pages deserve attention.
02
Publisher criteria and exclusions
Topics, regions and site types that are acceptable, sites the client already works with, and competitors or sectors to avoid.
03
Approval rule
Whether you approve every publisher before outreach, approve a shortlist, or let the partner decide within agreed criteria.
04
Confidentiality
Whether the partner may mention your agency, how publishers are contacted, and whether reports carry your branding or none.
The report
What a client-ready report should contain.
A report you can forward without rework lists every placement in the same format:
- Placement URL and publisher name
- Date the placement went live
- Target URL on the client site and the anchor text
- Link attribute:
sponsored,nofollowor none - Type: paid placement or editorial mention
- Status of declined, pending and removed opportunities
Google asks for paid links to be marked sponsored or nofollow, as explained in its spam policies. The report should make that visible rather than leave the client to discover it.
Before you forward it
Check each placement yourself.
- Open every placement URL and confirm the link is present and points to the agreed page.
- Check the link attribute in the page source, not only in the report.
- Confirm the page is not blocked from search engines with
noindexorrobots.txt. - Save a copy or screenshot of the placement with the date.
- Agree when placements are checked again and what happens if one disappears.
Want help applying this to your website? See White-label link building or tell us about your project ↗
Responsibilities
Decide who owns each part of the work.
01
Agency
Owns the client relationship, the strategy and the decision on which pages need links.
02
Link partner
Owns publisher research, outreach, content preparation if agreed, and verification of each placement.
03
Both
Agree how removals, replacements and disputes are handled, and that the placement list belongs to the agency and its client.
Checklist
Questions to ask a white-label partner.
- Can I approve publishers before outreach, and in what format will I see them?
- Will the partner contact publishers under its own name or a neutral one?
- How are paid placements marked, for search engines and for readers?
- What does the report contain, and can I receive it unbranded?
- How long are placements monitored, and what happens if one is removed?
- Does the price separate publisher fees, content and outreach work?
Our guide What link-building pricing actually covers explains how to compare those price components.
Limits
What no partner can promise.
No partner can guarantee rankings for your client. Publisher decisions, later edits and removals are outside anyone’s full control. A good partner says so in writing and explains how it handles those cases.
Looking for a white-label partner?
Our white-label link building works to an agreed brief, with publisher approval steps and reports you can forward to your clients.