Whitelabel - How to Conceal Any Trace of Using AWR Cloud

Oct 19, 2016

5

min read

Today we're continuing our series of AWR Cloud-oriented articles that will help you maximize the potential of your subscription.

Even though - as some of you might remember - AWR Cloud started out as a reporting tool, it has evolved into a rankings monitoring tool we're proud of today.

And since we know many of you still prefer it because of its great reporting features, I thought I'd write a piece to tell you a bit more about the Whitelabel mode.

The Whitelabel is a feature within AWR which allows you to hide any trace of our tool when sending reports to your clients. What’s more, you can customize it to such an extent that even users you invite to your Cloud account will think you’re working through your own in-house app.

You’ll be the coolest SEO ever!

incognito

The way you present yourself to your clients is one of the most important aspects of your success and credibility.

Using the Whitelabel feature helps attest to your clients - who are often far removed from the process of SEO and rank tracking - that you do all the hard work.

Moreover, it saves you the trouble of having to explain to clients what AWR Cloud is so they can remember and recognize it when it shows up in their inboxes. With Whitelabel set up, they see the emails as coming from you, from your company - and they don’t end up in the spam folder.

This hero feature deserves a bit more attention, and I’m going to tell you all there is to know about it.

In a nutshell, these are the benefits of using a whitelabel approach:

  • Personalized Domain: team members and clients you work with will go to your domain to access the ranking data.

  • Personalized UI: use your own logo, favicon, and color theme.

  • Personalized Reports and Email notifications: no trace of AWR in the reports and emails you send clients.

no-whitelabel-vs-whitelabel-ui

Who can use the Whitelabel feature?

The Whitelabel feature is available for all AWR Cloud users. It is also available for testing and exploration in the 30-day free trial, on all plans.

So as long as you can set up all the requirements, you and your business can benefit from this feature which highlights the importance of your work and adds an essential finishing touch to your reports.

Now let’s take a look at how to fully enable the whitelabel feature by changing your account settings.

1. Add your company details

The setup for your company details enables you to replace the AWR logo in both UI and generated reports, and is as simple and straightforward as can be:

  • Log into your AWR Cloud account.

  • Go to Settings in the left side menu.

  • Select [Account Settings].

  • Click on the Whitelabel tab.

At the left side of the [Company Details] box, you’ll see a toggle button that says “Off”. Click to turn the option On. You’ll see this option on the other two boxes in this tab as well - but only activate them if you want to fully enable the Whitelabel mode.

whitelabel-company-details-for-reports

Then just follow these steps:

  • Type in your company name in the “Company name” bar

  • Copy your company logo URL and paste it in the second field. Hitting the info button there will tell you the ideal size for logos (width: 200px & height: 40px).

  • Copy your company favicon URL and paste it in the third field. This will appear up on the tab when you (or your clients/ colleagues/ shared users) open AWR Cloud in browser.

Simple as that!

Now all the reports will feature your own company logo, and you can stop at that if all you’re interested in is sending personally branded reports to your clients.




If you want to hide any trace of AWR trademarks from your account, go through the following steps as well.

2. Add your domain name

The next box allows you to map a subdomain of your website to AWR Cloud, so that you can have your AWR Cloud account appear under your own domain.

That way, instead of logging in at www.awrcloud.com, you, your team members and clients will go to www.customname.yourdomain.com:

whitelabel-account-login

By enabling this feature, the reports you email to your clients will also appear as if hosted on your own domain instead of the default awrcloud.com. And when you or your invited members/clients log into the application, it will appear as if hosted privately.

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Turn it on, then type in your subdomain name as shown in the example there (eg. “seoreports.yourcompany.com”). Make sure you check out the Info box for clear instructions on how to properly set up a CNAME DNS record.

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3. Configure your SMTP settings

This is the final part of fully enabling the Whitelabel mode in your AWR Account. Without the setup of a new SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), the application will use the default SMTP when sending your reports via email, meaning that your clients will see your messages as coming from AWR Cloud <reports@awrcloud.com>:

no-whitelabel-report1

To configure this, you first need to type in your own SMTP mail server. If you’re less tech-savvy and don’t know what an SMTP is, or where to find yours, check out this article that lists all SMTP providers.

smtp-mail-serversmtp-mail-server

Then, you need to provide the following information:

  • SMTP port

  • SMTP security (this is the type of authentication you use)

  • SMTP username (also needed for authentication)

  • SMTP password (chosen and confirmed)

  • Email address (this is the address that email notifications will be sent from - so it should be your domain name email address)

  • Sender name (yours or the person’s responsible for delivering the SEO reports in your company)

Click the green button under the completed fields and test your SMTP configuration. A pop-up box will appear telling you whether the configuration was successful, and you’ll also receive an email confirming it. Finish by clicking the blue “Save Whitelabel settings” button.

And what do you know, you’re ready to go!

whitelabel-report-email-customized

It’s as simple as that, yet so favorable to your business. Now all your notifications and reporting will be done with your company details.

Just as AWR Cloud promised from the get-go, you and your associates and clients have beautiful, neat, and easy to understand SEO reporting.

AWR Cloud allows you to create lovely reports that position you as an expert in your field and consolidate your image, and that you can refer to when developing your SEO strategy, or share with each of your clients.

the-greatest-day

I’m really curious to know if you’ve used the Whitelabel mode before, and whether you prefer it for reporting, or generally. And how would you see the feature improved?

I look forward to your comments!

Article by

Lia Boangiu

Lia Boangiu was part of the marketing team at AWR. Her lifelong passions include literature, theater and film, but her newly found enthusiasm for blogging, search engines and SEO, trumps other hobbies at the moment.

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