How to choose a white label partner

Choosing a white label partner is choosing the team your clients will judge you by. They will never see the partner's name, but they will see every missed deadline, every slow page and every unanswered change request, and they will attribute all of it to your agency. If you are still deciding whether the model fits you, start with what white label web design is. This guide covers the next step: the questions to ask, how to test a partner and the signs that should end the conversation.

What a good white label partner does for your agency

A white label web design partner designs and builds the websites your agency sells under its own name. The partner stays invisible; you own the client relationship, set the price and present the work as yours. Done well, it lets a small agency offer websites without hiring designers and developers, and lets a larger one take on more projects without stretching its team.

The right partner gives you four things: work you are proud to show, predictable delivery dates, a price that leaves you a healthy margin, and discretion. If any of the four is missing, the arrangement costs you more than it saves.

Start with the work, not the pitch

Before any call, look at what the partner has built. Ask for live websites, not only screenshots or mockups, and open them on your phone.

• Range. Do the sites look made for each business, or like the same template in different colors? Your clients compare you with their competitors, and a recognizable template weakens your pitch.
• Speed. Do the pages load quickly on a phone connection? A slow site hurts your client's results and your reputation.
• Details. Tap the phone numbers, send a test through a form, check the menus on a small screen. Small failures show how a partner works when nobody is checking.
• Industries. Has the partner built for the kinds of businesses you sell to? A partner who has built restaurant or clinic websites already knows what those owners ask for.

Questions about ownership and confidentiality

These are the questions agencies forget until something goes wrong. Ask them first.

• Who owns the design and the code once the client pays? The answer should be you or your client, not the partner.
• Whose name are the domain and the hosting in? The client's domain should stay in the client's name or yours. If you part ways with the partner, you need to be able to move the site.
• Will the partner sign a confidentiality agreement? Your client list and your prices are part of your business.
• Does the partner ever contact your clients directly? Agree in writing that the partner will not solicit your clients, during the relationship and after it.
• Does the partner's name appear anywhere? Check the footer, the site's admin area, the emails the site sends and the code comments. White label means no credits.
• What happens if you stop working together? You should receive the files, the access and enough documentation for another team to continue.

Questions about scope and price

A price only means something when you know what it includes. Ask for the scope of a typical project in writing.

• Fixed packages or hourly? Fixed packages let you quote a client the same day without a surprise later. Hourly billing can be fair for unusual projects, but it makes your margin hard to predict.
• What is in each package? The number of pages, forms, integrations such as booking or payments, whether copy and photos are included, and how many rounds of changes.
• What do extras cost? An extra page, a second language, an online store, a rush delivery.
• Are there monthly services? Hosting, maintenance, edits, search or reviews management, and who bills the client for them.
• When do you pay? Up front, half and half, or on delivery. Match the partner's terms with what you charge your client, so you never end up financing the project yourself.

Then do the margin math. Take the partner's price, add the hours you will spend on the sale, the brief and the client's calls, and compare the total with what your market pays. If the margin only works when everything goes perfectly, it does not work.

Pricing models you will find

White label partners charge in a few different ways. None is right for every agency; what matters is which one lets you quote with confidence.

• Per project, at a fixed price. A set price for a defined package. It is the easiest to resell, because you know your cost before you quote, and it protects your margin as long as the scope is clear.
• Per hour. You pay for the time the work takes. It suits unusual or open-ended projects, but your cost moves with every change request, so it is hard to give a client a firm price.
• Monthly retainer or dedicated team. A fixed monthly fee for a block of hours or for people who work only on your projects. It makes sense once you sell enough sites every month to keep that capacity busy.
• Subscription plans. A monthly fee for a set volume of work or for access to tools, sometimes combined with a price per site. Read the limits carefully: what is included, what happens when you go over and how long you are committed.

Whichever model you choose, ask how the partner handles work outside the agreed scope before it happens, not after.

Questions about process and delivery

• How does a project start? A clear brief or intake form saves days of back and forth. Ask to see it.
• Who collects the content? Most delays come from waiting for the client's texts, photos and logo. Find out what the partner needs, in what format, and what happens if it arrives late.
• How long does a typical site take? Ask for the time from approved brief to launch, and ask what usually pushes that date.
• Who talks to the client? In most white label arrangements, you do. Make sure the partner gives you everything you need to answer questions without guessing.
• How are revisions handled? How many rounds, how you send them and how fast they come back.
• When is the partner available? Time zones, working hours and response times. Your client will not wait two days for an answer, so neither can you.

Questions about quality and technology

• What platform are the sites built on? Can the client edit basic content? Can another team take the site over later?
• Is every site built for phones first? Most visitors to a local business arrive on a phone.
• What is included for search? Page titles and descriptions, clean addresses, a sitemap, fast loading and structured data are the basics.
• How do you handle accessibility? Text contrast, image descriptions, keyboard navigation and readable forms. Accessibility protects your clients and makes the site better for everyone.
• What about security and backups? HTTPS on every site, updates and a way to restore the site if something breaks.

Questions about support after launch

A website is not finished on launch day. Ask who hosts it, who makes small edits and how fast, what counts as an emergency and how to report one, and what support costs after the first month. Clarify whether support requests come from you or directly from your client, and whether the partner answers in your agency's name.

Red flags

• No live work to show, or only mockups.
• Vague pricing that changes once the project starts.
• The domain or the hosting stays in the partner's name and the partner will not transfer it.
• The partner's name appears on the site or in the emails it sends.
• No written agreement on ownership, confidentiality and contact with your clients.
• Slow replies before you sign. Communication rarely improves after the contract.
• No revision process, or one that is unclear about what counts as a change.

How to test a partner before you commit

Start with one project. It can be a smaller client, an internal site or the website of your own agency. Measure what matters: whether the brief was clear, whether the delivery date held, how revisions were handled and whether you would show the result to your best client. Keep the domain in your client's name from day one. After one or two projects, you will know more than any sales call can tell you.

How to keep your clients happy with a white label partner

Your client hired your agency, so every promise is yours to keep. A few habits make the arrangement invisible in the best sense:

• Mirror the partner's terms in your client contract. If the partner includes two rounds of changes, do not promise your client unlimited ones. Align delivery dates, revisions and support with what the partner actually offers.
• Review every deliverable before your client sees it. Check texts, links, forms and the phone layout yourself. You are the quality filter.
• Own the communication. Answer quickly, even if the answer is that you are checking with your team. Clients forgive a delay they hear about; they do not forgive silence.
• Collect the content early. Ask the client for texts, photos and the logo at the start, with a date. Late content is the most common reason a launch slips.
• Plan the months after launch. Agree with the partner on who makes small edits and how fast, so your client is never left waiting once the site is live.

How white label works at Good Sites Only

Good Sites Only builds the websites your agency sells under its own brand, at the price you set. Our studio works with fixed packages, so you can quote a client the same day.

• 20% off our list price. Our list prices are $3,000, $5,000 and $8,000, depending on the size of the site. Your agency pays $2,400, $4,000 or $6,400 and charges the client its own price.
• Delivery in 7 days. Every package is designed and delivered in 7 days.
• Your brand, your client. You keep the relationship and present the work as yours.
• No plan required. Buying sites needs no plan and no fee. If you want more, there is a plan for $250 a month, with a 6-month minimum.

Browse our website designs to judge the work before you talk to us, and read how the program works on the white label page.

Questions about white label partners