---
title: "White-label link building"
url: https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/white-label-link-building
type: Page
---

# White-label link building

White-label link building explained: how agencies resell outsourced link building, the risks under Google's spam policies and what to check in a provider.

Link building glossary

## White-label link building

White-label link building is link building carried out by a specialist provider on behalf of an agency, which sells the work to its own clients under its own brand. The client usually deals only with the agency, which remains responsible for the quality of every link and the methods used to get it.

## How does white-label link building work?

The agency agrees targets, budget and pages with its client. The provider handles prospecting, content and outreach, then reports live links in an unbranded or agency-branded format. The agency sets its own price and presents the results as its own work.

It suits SEO and web agencies that sell link building but have no outreach team, or need extra capacity for a large campaign without hiring.

## What are the risks?

The links land on the client's site, so the client carries the risk. Google's guidance on hiring an SEO says you are responsible for the actions of any companies you hire. Its spam policies class buying links that pass ranking credit, link exchanges and keyword-rich links in guest posts as link spam, which can lead to a manual action on the client's site.

A layer of reselling makes this harder to see. Many lists of guest post sites with fixed prices are paid placements, and a provider using them may not mark the links sponsored.

## What to check in a provider

Ask the provider to show its working before any client sees a report.

- Live examples of links, with the outreach that earned them
- Linking sites with real organic traffic and topical relevance
- A clear answer on whether any placements are paid, and how they are labelled
- Reports by referring domain, not just a link count
- A policy for replacing links that are removed

## Example

A five-person web design agency has an accountancy client that wants more links. The agency buys a monthly outreach package from a link building specialist, checks every placement before it goes into the client's report and bills the client under its own name.

## Related terms

- [Link building](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/link-building)
- [Link spam](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/link-spam)
- [Link attributes](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/link-attributes)
- [Referring domains](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/referring-domains)

## Further reading

- [The Ultimate Guide to White Label Link Building](https://marketingsignals.com/insights/the-ultimate-guide-to-white-label-link-building)
- [How to Get Started with SEO Outsourcing](https://marketingsignals.com/insights/how-to-get-started-with-seo-outsourcing)

Our [white label link building service for agencies](https://marketingsignals.com/resellers/white-label-link-building) puts this into practice: outreach-led links, reported in your branding.

## Sources

- [Do you need an SEO?, Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/do-i-need-seo)
- [Spam policies for Google web search, Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies)
- [Manual actions report, Search Console Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9044175)

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