How to Find the Best White Label Website Design Partner
In 2020, something revolutionary happened.
I really feel like we turned a corner.
Finding a White Label Website Design partner became almost turn-key.
It’s basically a matter of putting puzzle pieces together – nothing more.
Let’s get one thing out of the way: my method uses all “productized services” to get the job done. And that’s exactly why it works so well.
What is a Productized Service?
Simply put, a service with a fixed cost, fixed scope, and fixed timeframe, that’s sold like a product.
This post is about to change your life.
Buckle your seat belt.
The White Label Website Design Roadmap
Let’s get right into it. This is what your white labeled website design solution needs to have:
- Project Management
- Web Design
- Web Development
- SEO
- Upsells
1. Outsourced Project Management
Best case scenario, as an agency owner, is having some form of intermediary communication between the Client and your Team.
In my opinion, you should have done some level of this in the past.
But you shouldn’t be doing it now.
The first thing you need to do is head to FreeUp. FreeUp is a vetted freelancer marketplace.
What does that mean exactly?
Well, the freelancers go through rigorous testing to qualify to even be included in the FreeUp platform.
Basically, they are a free staffing agency who will connect you with your perfect Project Manager, at no cost, and provide the system for payments and time tracking to make sure you get the best ROI.
Project Manager Responsibilities:
- Complete Onboarding Process directly with the Client
- Communicate with you with weekly project updates
- Brief and manage projects directly with the Design & Development teams
- Send deliverables to the Client
- Manage change requests in batches for the Design & Development teams
- Receive written approvals from the Client
- Manage Client needs in ongoing batches
Project Manager Job Post Template
[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR COMPANY]
Are you organized? Do you communicate well in English? Does a fast-paced creative agency environment excite you? Well…
We are looking for a rockstar Client Success Manager and if you answered “yes” to any of the above – you’d be a great fit!
Each month you are responsible for [X] primary tasks:
* Onboard new clients – sending a templated intro email + a 1-2 hour recorded call with the client to get full clarity
* Communicate the client’s needs to our production team
* Manage deadlines and timelines on website design projects
* Manage changes from the Client and get projects approved by working with our production team
* Provide weekly project status updates to our leadership team for review
* Follow up with the client for the long-term, helping to prioritize the production team’s task list
* Assist in creating and improving Standard Operating Procedures for common processes in the agency
We have a formal training program that walks you through each piece step-by-step. We will work with you to make sure you understand it and get better every day.
You will LOVE this job if:
– You want to work in a growing creative agency
-You enjoy working independently
-You enjoy following a clear process…and then improving it
-You enjoy working directly with clients and design/development teams
This job is not for you if:
-You don’t own a dependable computer
-You cannot keep deadlines
-You do not enjoy learning new things
-You do not handle feedback or correction well
How to respond: [Be sure to tell the candidate exactly how to respond. Explain your expectations for method (email, call) and/or content (resume, cover letter).]
2. White Label Web Design
Arguably, one of the hardest aspects of creating websites for clients is the design stage and the creative aspect.
Creativity is also one of the hardest things to scale.
So? How do we get over that?
By relying on other people’s systems that are in place and working. Our Project Manager is the glue that makes it all possible.
One word: Penji.
This service will enable you to build a scalable design workforce, as easy as clicking a button and using their intuitive dashboard.
No more flakey designers or low quality designs that are bad for your brand.
Penji is unlimited design for your agency for a flat rate.
3. White Label Web Development
This is where things can also get a bit complicated.
But, honestly, it doesn’t have to be.
First make sure you’ve got your target audience/ideal client defined. That will help a lot to make a decision on tech stack/development methodology.
That being said, you have a few options for website platforms:
1. WordPress
Arguably the most popular and flexible CMS on the planet, WordPress is open-source, cost-effective, and eternally flexible.
One really important part of WordPress is choosing a good hosting company.
Let’s go over the pros & cons…
Pros:
– Free & Open Source with a huge community
– Flexible, can be used for almost any kind of website
– Expandable, tons of plugins add on to create almost any functionality you can imagine
Cons:
– Speed is an issue, WP sites can get bloated and have horrible performance
– Security issues, WP is very vulnerable to hacking – without proper protection, your site WILL get hacked
– Deep learning curve, WP is more like a cult than a community. WordPress is the opposite of intuitive, especially for non-coders
2. Unstack
Unstack is a fairly new all-in-one website & funnel building solution. I’ve been especially impressed with their focus on built-in marketing features like A/B testing, and more.
Reminds me of Unbounce, but for websites, not just landing pages.
This is a great choice if your clients need marketing assistance and you bundle that into your service.
The designs are really nice and the builder was very intuitive – it was simple to build fairly complex sites.
Pros:
– Marketing-focused, almost like a more user-friendly Hubspot COS
– Fast loading, solid hosting, and a generally functional infrastructure
– Intuitive builder interface for designers or marketers to deal with
– Advanced optimization features like SEO tags, A/B testing, and popups built-in
Cons:
– Not 100% design-focused for hyper creative sites
– That’s about it… Not many cons on this one so far
3. Tilda
Tilda is a Russian web builder that has completely changed the way we do creative web design projects. We literally use it on every website we build for ourselves.
The design flexibility of this app is unbelievable.
Our designers felt right at home and were able to build complete websites in 1-2 days.
Well worth a try if you need deep design customizations, pre-made block templates (that don’t suck!), and complex scroll animations (even on mobile!).
Update: They added mobile scroll/hover animations in Zero blocks, a blogging feature, and a ton of new block templates. Seriously blown away at the development of this app.
Pros:
– Ultimate design flexibility
– Low learning curve
– Fast loading times
– Impressive scroll animations
– Intuitive builder interface that cuts dev time exponentially
Cons:
– No advanced marketing features (yet)
– No 3rd party plugins, so you’ll need apps for any custom features
– Weird pricing structure in my opinion
– Not great for repeating, dynamic post-type formats – best for custom creative design
4. Wix
Wix has a terrible reputation in the agency world, for the most part. But they’ve been working very hard on improving the platform and extending programs for agencies.
Honestly, I’ve been very impressed by their new editor interface, “X”, and the support I received was very good.
That being said, there are several downsides to the Wix platform.
Pros:
– Good design flexibility
– Good developer flexibility as well, with their Corvid platform
– Lots of built-in features including marketing automation features
– Adds a lot of value to SMB’s and smaller businesses
– Highly intuitive to use, barely a learning curve
Cons:
– Interface can be glitchy at times
– Loading speeds are not great
– Has a weird experience in browsers when switching pages, etc.
– Very clunky and bloated app at the end of the day
– Not really suitable for mid-market/enterprise applications for the most part
Check out Wix and their new X editor
5. Webflow
Webflow caught my eye some years back and continues to be one of the top web design/development platforms out today.
The learning curve is pretty steep, but there is a lot of flexibility in the platform and the infrastructure is rock solid.
However, it does take an experienced developer to do impressive things in Webflow.
Pros:
– Very flexible for developers
– Powerful app that saves a ton of time
– Lots of design flexibility
– Built-in agency features like client billing for hosting
– Powerful CMS for dynamic pages and publishing
– Excellent support
Cons:
– Not very intuitive unless you have years of HTML/CSS/Javascript experience
– Lack of 3rd party plugins/apps to expand functionalities
– Not a huge selection of time-saving templates, themes, etc.
6. Duda
Duda is an all-in-one web design platform that is directly marketed to agency owners and freelancers.
It handles client feedback, billing, and several other aspects of running a web design agency.
It’s best used for local-focused agencies, as it’s not very scalable to SME or Enterprise applications. But if you work with local businesses, this could be exactly what you’re looking for.
Pros:
– Easy builder interface
– Low learning curve for the most part
– Some 3rd part apps and plugins
– Decent themes and templates for local business
– Decent marketing personalization features
Cons:
– Only for local businesses in my opinion
– Limiting for creative design uses
– Extreme lock-in
– Some bugs and interface glitches
7. Simolvy
A lesser known player in the game, but one of the strongest, Simolvy is a full featured web design / funnel building app.
They’ve been making rapid developments to the platform since I heard about it a few years ago – it’s very impressive.
The white label feature is amazing for agencies – being able to sell your clients the builder on it’s own (SaaS model) or providing Done-For-You services and having that added branding/trust.
Cons:
– Lock-in
– Still young, in development
– Probably not suitable for SME/Enterprise, although I could be wrong
Pros:
– 100% white label to resell the platform to your clients
– Intuitive page builder
– Tons of features like memberships, funnels, customizable carts, A/B testing, and affiliate options
– Great community that supports each other
– Truly an all-in-one solution for agencies working with SMB’s
– Very affordable
So, with that in mind, you’ve got two options:
WordPress vs Other Platforms
Because of the “specialization” necessary with WordPress, it’s always best to look for WordPress folks to help with WordPress sites.
The other builders listed here can be learned by almost anyone with design experience or a “PSD to [platform]” mentality.
WordPress:
Go with UnlimitedWP.
Hands down.
Other Platforms:
Two options:
Get concierge service at a low monthly “salary” with RipplePop.RipplePop
Or, get connected with a pre-vetted freelancer on FreeUp.FreeUp
Pro tip: Create video training using your preferred platform in Loom.
4. White Label SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is such an important element of web design that it would be foolish to overlook in this article.
When it comes to technical SEO, I highly recommend checking out Loganix and including their white label SEO services with your website design services.
If you’re value-adding White Label Content Marketing and Content Creation services, check out Scribly.
5. Upsells
Arguably one of the most important aspects of running an agency is increasing average order value (AOV).
I’m going to repeat that…
YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON INCREASING YOUR AOV!
The path to higher AOV is all about upsells.
If that idea freaks you out at all (many agency owners I’ve talked to are not going 100% towards AOV as a KPI)…
Think about it this way:
For a small, medium, or enterprise business, a new website is a gateway to new marketing campaigns, initiatives, hiring/firing, and a wealth of other “trigger events”.
The more value you can offer them, the more time you save them, and the more effective their website actually ends up being.
Nothing worse than a dead site that hasn’t been updated in years to scare potential customers away 🙂
“Yeah, yeah, that sounds good, but how do I actually do it?”
Glad you asked:
Use pre-existing productized services to expand your offerings.
Here is a list of awesome productized services that will take you from a one-off website project to a 5-figure retainer monthly contract in the blink of an eye:
White Label Content Marketing
White Label Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
White Label Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising Services
White Label Outbound Lead Generation
White Label Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
- HappyWeb
White Label CRM
We’ll keep adding to this list over time.
Now, go build your agency!
I hope this was helpful for you.
Comment below if you have any questions or thoughts on the subject – we love feedback.
