Quick Summary: White Label WordPress Maintenance operates in an Agency environment by way of a Six Step Process. The first step is Partner Onboarding; this includes Brand Setup (including Service Level Agreements and Pricing). Client Site Onboarding is the second step; this includes Credential Setup for both the customer and the agency, as well as auditing of each site and establishing the necessary level of Monitoring. Daily Operations are the third step; this includes Updates, Backups, Security Checks and other routine tasks that help ensure your clients’ sites are up-to-date, secure and performing at their best. The fourth stage is Issue Resolution via Ticketing, which allows agencies to focus on marketing their services rather than dealing with day-to-day technical issues. Branded Monthly Reporting will be provided to the agency’s customers as part of the fifth stage. Finally, the sixth and final step is Scalable Growth; because a white label partner provides all the technical aspects of maintaining multiple client websites, agencies can grow from supporting just a few sites to dozens without having to hire additional employees.
White-label WordPress Maintenance offers an attractive model for creating a monthly recurring income stream by selling WordPress Support in your company’s name while a white-label partner performs all of the back-end (technical) work. However, as with most models, it will only be successful if you can execute on it cleanly and provide a seamless client experience. Agencies that have concerns about this type of relationship typically don’t know how the day-to-day operations would function.
How would clients’ request(s) be processed? Who would perform each task? Would the clients ever even know there was another party involved? While these are valid questions, I’m here to tell you that they are easier to answer than many agencies believe.
The goal of this guide is to take you through each stage of establishing a white-label partnership for maintaining a client’s WordPress site. This will include setting up the initial agreement through scaling the partnership to multiple client sites.
Step 1: Partner Onboarding
Prior to ever touching a client site; the initial setup of the partnership (white label) must occur. This is where everything begins.
White label partner onboarding is primarily an introductory meeting for your agency to meet with the white label service provider to discuss the foundation of the partnership. In our case at Deutrix Care, there are many key components covered in the call such as:
Brand configuration. We capture all information about your branding which can include but are not limited to your logo, your brand color scheme, your font(s), your language usage. So when reports, emails, communications etc. touch your client, they look and feel like they were sent by you.
Communication channels. We agree on how you and your staff will communicate with each other. Examples can include using a dedicated Slack channel, a Partner Portal that includes Ticketing, Email, or a mix of the above. Our intent here is to integrate into your agencies’ current workflows instead of changing how you work because of our technology.
SLA alignment. We determine what your response time and/or resolution window are so that these parameters align with what you tell your clients you will provide. For example if you commit to responding to all Critical Issues within four hours of being reported, then we must operate internally under a faster response/resolution timeframe so that you have enough of a safety net.
Pricing and billing. The wholesale pricing structure is established, the billing cycle frequency is determined, and the invoice template and style is defined. There should be no surprises down the road.
This onboarding process usually occurs over one to two business days. Once completed you now have a completely branded, and completely functional maintenance infrastructure for receiving client sites.
Step 2: Client Onboarding
In the partnership established above, adding an individual client’s website(s) is relatively quick and repetitive. Following the structured checklist for each new client website will allow us to have the best chance to establish all necessary services with that client efficiently:
Transferring Credentials: Your company provides WordPress administrator access to their websites as well as their hosting credentials and any third party vendor login information (e.g., CDN, email account, etc.). Secure Credential Sharing – No password sharing via e-mail in plain text format.
Defining Scope: Every client does not require the same level of service. For example, some clients may only require updating/backup of their website while others will require additional services such as security hardening, optimizing performance, and utilizing our “hourly” support services. Scope is defined by client requirements and dictates which items we will be monitoring and reporting on for that particular client.
Audit Baseline: Prior to commencing the long term care of a client’s website(s), we conduct a complete audit of those website(s). Areas covered in this audit include but are not limited to; checking plugin/theme versions, identifying potential security vulnerabilities, verifying performance benchmark data, verifying backups, and reviewing hosting environment. Any identified issues prior to establishing the ongoing relationship will be flagged allowing your company to determine how best to resolve those issues prior to entering into our Ongoing Care Agreement.
Establishing Reporting Preferences: Some clients prefer detailed technical reports regarding their website(s); other clients may simply prefer a single page summary. Reporting will be determined on a client-by-client basis as directed by your company.
Monitoring activation. After completing the initial audit and onboarding process, we activate uptime monitoring services, security scans and scheduled back-ups. At this point the website is actively being maintained by our team.
Typically, Client Onboarding will take approximately 1-2 business days per client website. If you are planning to onboard multiple client websites at the same time we can perform them simultaneously.
Step 3: Daily Operations
This is what generates continuous value for clients. After a site has been brought into the system by your agency, our team provides a series of standard daily and weekly services that include:
Core, plugin, and theme updates. The team updates all sites with wordpress core updates, plugin updates, and theme updates as part of their regular maintenance routine. When possible, testing occurs within a staging environment prior to applying the update. A full backup is completed before each update. In addition, if there is an issue resulting from an update, we will revert back to the previous version and fix it prior to allowing the client to be impacted.
Monitoring uptime: All sites are checked regularly (typically every five minutes) to see if they are “up”. As soon as a site is determined to have gone down, the team receives immediate notification and starts diagnosing the problem. Downtime incidents are documented and reported out monthly.
Verification of backups: While daily automated backups occur, we cannot simply rely on them working properly. Therefore, on a regular basis, our team confirms that the backups can restore correctly so they will be functional if required.
Automated Security Scans: Automatic security scans check for malware, files being modified/added/deleted, vulnerable plugins and suspicious activity. If anything triggers during these scans our team will research and act upon these findings (whether to clean up a malicious file, update a vulnerable plugin, etc., secure a configuration).
Performance checks. Page load time and server response time are continuously monitored along with Core Web Vitals. Should any of the above mentioned metrics decline, our team will determine why and make recommendations or take corrective actions.
Your agency does not need to think about any of this. It just happens, every day – for every client site.
Step 4: Issue Resolution
Maintenance isn’t just about doing things every day. Things will break. Your clients may have some new ideas. Emergency situations come up. What you do to resolve the issue is what makes a professional white label partner different than a freelancer who does WordPress “on the side”.
Submit Ticket. This means when one of your clients has an issue they contact your agency; you then create a ticket using the partners portal, Slack or Email. Add the site name, add a brief description of the problem and indicate which level of urgency this issue falls into.
Triage and response. Based upon how urgent we believe the issue is our team assigns it a level of importance. If it is critical (the site is down, there is a security breach etc.) we address this right away. If it is standard (a broken form, a styling error, a conflict with a plug-in) we will pick it up within the SLA time frame you agree to.
Diagnosis and resolution. Once diagnosed as necessary, we complete the repair and perform testing to ensure the issue has been resolved. In cases where an item could be more complicated than normal, we send you a summary of what happened and how we prevented it from happening again.
Client communication. Depending on the type of partnership you’ve established, if needed, you are responsible for communicating with your client regarding the status of the work being completed. Alternatively, we can communicate with your client regarding the status of the work being completed, providing them with regular communications. Either way, your client will receive regular communications regarding their issue and its progress towards resolution.
Escalation. There are times an issue will need to go back to your agency. Examples would include requesting approval for changes made to design, or requiring assistance from your clients hosting company. We will escalate such items as needed with a summary of the reason why, and recommendations on the best course of action going forward.
Step 5: Reporting
The best way to keep your agencies’ white label clients happy and engaged in their maintenance plans is with monthly reporting. This is also the most effective way you have to retain those customers.
Monthly, each of your agency’s client sites will receive an in-depth, branded report showing:
- Percentage of total uptime during the previous month
- Total number of updates installed on the website (core files, plugin updates, theme changes)
- Results from all security scans conducted and any issues solved
- Status and success information regarding backups performed
- Website performance statistics (site load time, server response, Core Web Vitals trending data)
- All support requests opened and closed by your technical staff
- Suggestions for improvements or potential work items for the upcoming month
Your agency’s technical staff does not need to do anything; we generate these reports based upon the data collected throughout the prior month and deliver them to your agency for review. You may choose to forward the reports directly to your clients. Alternatively, we will send the reports on your behalf using your branded email domain.
In addition to providing value to your clients as justification for continuing to pay for your services, these reports provide you with opportunity to sell additional services. For example, if a report shows performance is dropping off it is likely time for a performance improvement project. Similarly, if a security issue arose and was addressed, this provides clear evidence that your agency’s proactive approach to maintaining your clients’ websites is well worth paying for.
Step 6: Scaling
The most important thing about white label maintenance is that when your business grows; the amount of work your company will have to put into it does not grow proportionately.
When you go from having three client sites to thirty client sites, the process remains exactly the same. Your partner’s infrastructure, tools, and teams are designed to take on large volumes. You won’t be required to hire another developer, purchase additional monitoring tools, or alter how you operate.
Here are some scalable strategies that should work well for you:
Add maintenance as an option in all of your proposals. By bundling maintenance with each new project, you’ll have a much higher success rate getting your existing clients to continue using your services versus trying to sell them maintenance after the fact.
Reach out to previous clients. Every website your agency has ever developed is a potential maintenance client. Send a quick email to all of your previous clients, and you could potentially gain anywhere from five to ten new maintenance clients.
Create tiered service plans. Provide your clients with options (i.e., Basic, Standard, Premium) so they can select the plan that best fits their budget. If you want to maximize profits and revenue, consider offering these plans now.
Use volume discounting. As you add more sites under management, you’re usually going to see a reduction in cost per site. When this happens, your margin increases which gives you the ability to either reinvest money back into marketing/sales efforts or provide more affordable pricing to compete in the marketplace.
For more on the revenue math behind scaling a white label maintenance book, read How Agencies Can Add $5K+ per Month with White Label Maintenance.
See how the white label model works for your agency. Explore the Deutrix Care White Label Program.
Part of the White Label WordPress Maintenance series.
Frequently Asked Questions
The partner onboarding process typically takes one to two days. Once that is completed, it normally takes 24-48 hours to complete the onboarding process for each client site. Most agencies are fully functional within a week.
When a client cancels their maintenance plans we simply remove them from our database. There are no long term commitments required for each individual client site. However, you may continue to use the white label partnership as an ongoing business opportunity. Individual client sites can be added or removed at any given time.
No, all technical responsibilities fall under the scope of services provided by us. You will only need to be able to communicate with your clients regarding their respective sites; however, you will not require any understanding of the technical aspects related to the maintenance of their sites. We provide all necessary information including talking points and summary reports so that you can effectively communicate with your clients.
Yes. We can configure a branded support portal for your company through which your clients can submit requests and view the status of those requests. The configuration of this portal will make it appear as though your clients are interacting directly with your company’s internal support system.
You certainly can. In fact many companies transition some or all of their current maintenance clients to the white label model when they initially implement this program. By doing so, you are able to free up some of your own time while maintaining all of your current client relationships. You also have the option to continue to manually manage some of your sites and allow us to handle others.
