White label SEO pricing has two layers. Your partner quotes you a wholesale price, usually a monthly fee per client, and you set the retail price your client pays. The gap between the two is your margin. Start from what the market already pays: in an Ahrefs survey of 439 SEO providers, the average SEO retainer was $2,917 a month, and local SEO averaged $1,557.
So how much does white label SEO cost? It depends on the client, which is why serious partners quote per site after an audit rather than from a price list. This guide shows how agencies price white label SEO, the markup math that trips most people up, the costs that quietly eat your profit and the red flags that make a cheap offer expensive.
- You pay a wholesale price per client. Your client pays your retail price. The gap is your margin.
- Anchor retail prices to the market: Ahrefs found an average retainer of $2,917 a month.
- Markup and margin are different. A 50% markup is only a 33% margin.
- Count your own account time, tools and reporting, not just the wholesale price.
- No partner can guarantee a #1 ranking. Google says so in its own hiring advice.
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How white label SEO pricing works
White label SEO is SEO work done by a partner that your agency sells under its own brand. The partner runs the audits, fixes, content, links and reporting behind the scenes. You own the client relationship, the proposal and the invoice. That gives you three numbers to manage on every account:
- Wholesale price: what the partner charges you for the client’s SEO each month.
- Retail price: what you charge your client, on your proposal and your invoice.
- Margin: what is left after the wholesale price and your own costs.
An SEO reseller arrangement only works if all three are set on purpose. Agencies that start from the wholesale price and add a percentage often underprice the work, because the client is comparing you with other SEO offers, not with your partner’s quote.
What clients already pay for SEO
The most useful public benchmark is the Ahrefs survey of 439 SEO providers, last updated in August 2024. It asked providers how they charge and how much. The averages give you a realistic range for your retail price.
| Segment (Ahrefs survey) | Average monthly retainer |
|---|---|
| All SEO providers | $2,917 |
| Agencies | $3,209 |
| Freelancers | $1,349 |
| Local SEO | $1,557 |
| Non-local (national or global) SEO | $3,474 |
Location matters too. In the same survey, 79.1% of providers in the US and Canada charged at least $1,001 a month, while 76% of providers in India charged $1,000 or less. The most common retainer band overall was $501 to $1,000 a month, used by 20.4% of respondents. If your clients are in the US, price against US agencies, because those are the offers your clients will compare you with.
Pick a pricing model
Ahrefs found that most SEO providers charge a monthly retainer, and many mix models. For white label SEO, each model has a clear job.
| Model | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly retainer | Ongoing SEO for one client: fixes, content, links and reports | Scope creep when the plan is vague |
| Per project | One-off audits, technical fixes and migrations | Clients who expect results after one project |
| Hourly | Consulting and ad hoc requests | Unpredictable invoices for you and the client |
| Tiered packages | Selling SEO to many similar clients | Packages that do not fit a client’s real competition |
For most agencies, a monthly retainer per client is the simplest to resell. It matches how partners usually quote, how clients budget and how SEO results build over time. Our guide on how long SEO takes explains why a single month is rarely enough to judge it.
Markup vs margin: the math that trips agencies up
Markup is your profit divided by your cost. Margin is your profit divided by your price. They describe the same dollars, but the percentages are different, and margin is the one that tells you how healthy the account is.
| Markup on the wholesale price | Example: $1,000 becomes | Gross margin |
|---|---|---|
| 25% | $1,250 | 20% |
| 50% | $1,500 | 33% |
| 75% | $1,750 | 43% |
| 100% | $2,000 | 50% |
| 150% | $2,500 | 60% |
The formula is simple: margin = markup รท (1 + markup). If you want a 50% gross margin, you need a 100% markup, which means doubling the wholesale price. Watch how far apart the two numbers get as the price rises.
Count every cost, not just the wholesale price
Gross margin is not profit. White label SEO still takes your time: sales calls, onboarding, monthly check-ins, turning reports into advice and answering questions. Add the tools you pay for and the time spent on white label SEO reports, and the real margin shrinks.
Put a number on your account time. If a client takes four hours a month and your time is worth $75 an hour, that is $300 before any profit. Clients who need weekly calls or heavy reporting should pay more than clients who read a monthly summary.
How to set your white label SEO price, step by step
- Get an audit and a written monthly quote from your partner for this client’s site.
- Check what competing SEO agencies charge clients like this one in their market.
- Estimate your own hours per month and price them at your real hourly cost.
- Set a target margin, then work back to the price with the markup table.
- Package the plan in your own words, with deliverables the client can see each month.
- Match your client contract to your partner’s terms, so you never pay for a client who has left.
The last step is the one agencies skip. If your partner requires six months and your client can leave after one, you carry the risk. Short terms on both sides, or matching terms, protect your margin.
What moves the wholesale price
A local plumber and a national online store need very different amounts of work, so the same partner will quote them very differently. These are the levers behind every white label SEO quote.
- Competition: a dentist in a large city faces far more rivals than one in a small town.
- Local or national: Ahrefs found local SEO averaged $1,557 a month against $3,474 for non-local SEO. Our local SEO guide covers what local work involves.
- Site size and health: a 2,000 page store with crawl problems needs more technical work than a 15 page service site. A technical SEO audit shows how much.
- Content: how many new or improved pages the plan includes each month.
- Link building: earning real links takes time and outreach. See link building strategies that work.
Red flags: when cheap white label SEO costs you clients
A low wholesale price looks like a bigger margin, until a client’s rankings drop and they leave. Google’s own advice on hiring an SEO is the best checklist for vetting a partner, because your clients will hold you responsible for everything the partner does.
- Guaranteed rankings. Google is blunt: no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. A partner who promises one is a risk to your reputation.
- Secret methods. Google says to be careful if a company is secretive or won’t clearly explain what they intend to do. You need to explain the work to your client.
- Cheap link bundles. Buying links to manipulate rankings is link spam under Google’s spam policies, and it can damage the client’s site.
- No access to data. You should be able to see Search Console and analytics for every client. Google suggests giving an outside SEO read access to Search Console, not write access.
- Long lock-in. A long minimum term with your partner and a short one with your client puts the risk on you.
Ask every partner the questions Google suggests asking any SEO: what results they expect and in what timeframe, how they measure success, whether they follow Google Search Essentials and whether they will share every change they make to the site.
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We audit each client’s site first and quote a written monthly plan, with no long lock-in contract. You keep the client, the brand and the price.
Frequently asked questions
How much does white label SEO cost?
It depends on the client’s site, market and goals, so most partners quote per client after an audit, usually as a monthly fee. As a retail benchmark, Ahrefs found the average SEO retainer was $2,917 a month and local SEO averaged $1,557. Your wholesale price needs to leave room for your margin below what your clients’ market pays.
What is a good markup on white label SEO?
Work from margin, not markup. Decide the gross margin you need after your own account time, then convert it: a 50% margin needs a 100% markup, and a 33% margin needs a 50% markup. Then check the price against what other agencies charge clients like yours.
Is white label SEO the same as an SEO reseller program?
Mostly, yes. Both mean you sell SEO under your own brand while a partner does the work. Some reseller programs sell fixed packages at set prices, while white label partners often quote per client and work more like an extension of your team.
Should I send my clients white label SEO reports?
Yes, but make them yours. Clients want to see progress in plain language: rankings, traffic, leads and the work done that month. Use the partner’s data, add your own advice and send it under your brand, so the report supports the price you charge.
Can I sell white label SEO without being an SEO expert?
Yes, if your partner explains the work clearly and you understand the basics well enough to set expectations. Avoid promising rankings or timelines the partner has not committed to in writing, because your client will hold you to them.
We will review your website and show you exactly what is holding it back.
Final thoughts
White label SEO pricing is a margin decision, not a markup habit. Anchor your retail price to what clients already pay, convert your target margin into a markup, count your own time and choose a partner whose methods you can explain to any client. If you want to offer more than SEO, our white label services for agencies also cover white label web design. And if you would rather we work with your business directly, see our SEO services and local SEO.
