Awkward Media

Off-page SEO services · Canada and the USA

Off-page SEO. Make Google trust you.

Your website says you’re good. Google wants a second opinion. It checks who links to you, where you’re listed and where your name comes up. We build all of it, so you rank higher on Google, on Google Maps and in AI answers.

30 minutes on Google Meet. For businesses doing $20k a month or more.

A local newspaper reporter with a notebook interviewing a smiling bakery owner behind her counter

A story in the local paper is off-page SEO too.

Proof from a business we rank · 360 Hazardous Cleanup, Louisville

Google Maps: “blood cleanup services”

One review. Still first on the map.

#1

(01) Businesses we rank

1 review beat 76. Here’s how.

Off-page work shows up on the map and in the AI answer at the top of Google. Here’s both, from businesses we rank.

360 Hazardous Cleanup · Louisville

Google Maps

One review. First on the map, above a business with 76.

Google Maps results for blood cleanup services: 360 Hazardous Cleanup Louisville first with a 5.0 rating from 1 review, Bio-One second with 5.0 from 76 reviews
Google Maps for “blood cleanup services”: 360 Hazardous Cleanup is first with 1 review. Second place has 76.

Searches in the map top 3

8

in 20 days

Biggest jump

#37 → #1

The lesson

Reviews aren’t the whole game.

Angkorscape · Seattle

Google AI Overview

Named by Google’s AI. #1 below it.

Google AI Overview text mentioning design-build firms like Angkorscape
Google’s AI Overview: “design-build firms like Angkorscape”.
Google search results with Angkorscape in first place
The results below the AI answer: Angkorscape first.

In Google’s AI answer

Named

In the results below it

#1

The same work, another market

Maurice and Sons, Manitoba: seven searches at #1 on Google within 21 days.

Case study

(02) How Google decides who to trust

Six things Google checks. None of them live on your website.

Your website says what you do. These six tell Google whether to believe it. Off-page SEO is the work of building all six.

Your
business

01

Links from real websites

02

Listings that match

03

Local press and mentions

04

Reviews

05

Your Google Business Profile

06

The sites AI answers read

On the map, Google ranks on three things.

Relevance

Do you do what they searched for?

Distance

How close are you to them?

Prominence

How well known and trusted are you?

Prominence is built from many signals: links, listings, mentions, your website and reviews among them. Most of it is earned away from your website. That’s the part we build.

Said differently

A new customer asks around before they hire you. Google does the same thing, across the whole internet, every time someone searches.

(03) Bought or earned

Bulk link packages are cheap. Google knows that too.

Buying links to rank breaks Google’s rules. Trust that holds up is earned from places that have a real reason to mention you.

Bought in bulk

  • Hundreds of links from websites nobody reads

  • Sites with nothing to do with your trade or your town

  • Your listings still disagree about your name and phone number

  • Can push your site down instead of up

Earned, the way we do it

  • Links from your suppliers, trade bodies, local news and industry sites

  • Every listing showing one name, one address, one phone number

  • Your name in the local paper, the club sponsor list, the trade magazine

  • Trust that keeps building month after month

(04) What we do

Six jobs. Every month.

Links, listings, press, reviews, your Google profile and the places AI reads. Each one gives Google another reason to put you above the business down the road.

A landscaping business owner shaking hands with a woman from the town business association at an outdoor community fair
The business association, the fair, the local paper. Every place that knows you can say so online.

01

Links from real websites

A link is another website pointing to yours. We get them from places with a reason to mention you: suppliers, trade bodies, local news, industry sites. More on link building

Your supplier’s “where to buy” page→ you
Your trade association’s member list→ you
The local paper’s story→ you

02

Listings that match everywhere

Your name, address and phone number sit on directories, map apps and review sites all over the web. When they disagree, Google is less sure you’re who you say you are. We find them and make every one match.

Smith Plumbing & Heating Ltd.×
Smith Plumbing, old address×
Smith Plumbing, one name everywhere✓

An illustration. Smith Plumbing is a made-up business.

03

Local press and mentions

A story in the local paper. Your name on the hockey club’s sponsor page. A quote in a trade magazine. We find the ones your business can earn and go get them.

Local newsSponsor pagesTrade magazinesBusiness associationsYour name

04

Reviews, as one part of the plan

Reviews are one signal Google names, and the one your customers read first. We set up a simple way to ask every happy customer, then keep working on the signals people can’t see.

★★★★★

One signal among the six

05

Your Google Business Profile, complete

That’s the listing that shows on Google Maps. Google’s map and its AI answers both read it. We fill in every part and keep it current.

✓ Categories✓ Services✓ Hours✓ Photos✓ Service area✓ Description

06

The places AI answers read

ChatGPT and Google’s AI answers lean on what other websites say about you: industry lists, directories, articles. We get your name into the ones that matter for your trade.

AI answer

“…local firms like your business are often recommended for…”

An illustration.

(05) What Google finds

Search your name. Here’s what Google sees.

Same business, same website. The difference is everything around it.

Before

Hard to trust
Three spellings of your name across directories
Your old address still on two sites
No local website links to you
Google profile missing services and photos

After

Easy to trust
✓ One name, one address, one phone, everywhere
✓ Links from your supplier, your trade body and the local paper
✓ Google profile complete, with fresh photos
✓ Named on the lists AI answers read

An illustration of a typical starting point.

As seen in and rated on

USA Today LA Weekly Clutch TopSEO UpCity

(06) Do it yourself, free

Three jobs for this week. No web person needed.

Each one takes under an hour. Do these whether you hire us or not.

  1. 1

    Make your listings match

    1. 1. Search Google for your phone number, in quotes.
    2. 2. Open every directory that lists you.
    3. 3. Check the name, address and phone match your Google profile exactly.
    4. 4. Fix any that don’t.
  2. 2

    Ask a supplier for a link

    “Hi [name], we’ve been working with you for a while now. Do you have a page listing your stockists or installers? We’d love to be on it, with a link to our website: [your web address]. Thanks!”

  3. 3

    Ask happy customers for a review

    “Thanks again for choosing us. If you were happy with the job, would you leave us a quick Google review? It takes a minute and it helps a local business a lot: [your review link].”

(07) Before you sign

Five questions for any off-page SEO agency.

If an agency won’t answer these plainly before the call, keep looking. Here are ours.

Can I see a business you rank?

Yes. 360 Hazardous Cleanup is first on Google Maps for “blood cleanup services” in Louisville. Angkorscape is named in Google’s AI answer and first in the results below it. The screenshots are above. More case studies

Where will my links come from?

Real websites with a reason to mention you: your trade, your town, your suppliers. Never bulk packages, and never networks of sites built to sell links.

What will it cost me each month?

Usually $1,497 to $5,000 a month, set by your market. Work across several websites usually starts at $5,000. See pricing

How long am I locked in?

Zero months. It’s month to month.

What happens if it doesn’t work?

No visible improvement in 20 days: your payment for that period back, plus $200. Your qualifying keywords not on page one of Google in 60 days: we keep working free until they are. The guarantee

(08) Is this for you?

We turn clients away. On purpose.

Under $20k a month? We’re not your agency. Over it, and ready for Google to trust you? Let’s talk.

Who it’s for

$20k+

a month in your own revenue. This is for established businesses already doing $20k a month or more.

How many we take

15

new clients a month, at most. That’s what it takes to hold the rankings we promise.

What it costs

$1,497 to $5,000

a month, set by your market. No contracts. Month to month.

See how pricing works →

Our SEO guarantees

Page one in 60 days. Or we keep working free. That's for your qualifying keywords on Google, and we confirm which ones qualify on the strategy call.

Guarantee 01

20days

If you don’t see visible improvement in your key metrics within the first 20 days, we refund $200 on top of returning your payment for that period.

What we measure: your traffic, what that traffic is worth, how much authority your site and its pages carry, and how many other sites link to you, against the day we start.

Guarantee 02

60days

If your qualifying keywords aren’t on the first page of Google within 60 days, we keep working for free until they are.

What counts: at least one high-value search for your business on page one of Google.

No long-term contracts. Results keep you here. Paperwork doesn't.

Your next step

Find out who's vouching for your competitors.

On a free 30 minute call we look at who ranks above you, what the rest of the internet says about them, and what it doesn't say about you yet.

Bring with you

Your websiteYour main serviceTowns you serveCompetitors you see
  1. 01

    We search your market live

    The way your customers do, in the towns you serve.

  2. 02

    We show who's above you, and why

    On Google, on Maps and in the AI answers.

  3. 03

    You leave with a road map

    Yours to keep. If we can help, we'll invite you to work with us.

For established businesses doing at least $20,000 a month.

Questions

Off-page SEO, answered.

What business owners ask us before they book.

Book my free strategy call
01 What is off-page SEO?

Everything outside your own website that helps you rank: other websites linking to you, your business listings across the web, mentions in local news and industry sites, your reviews and your Google Business Profile. Work on your website makes it clear what you do. Off-page work gives Google reasons to believe it.

02 How is off-page SEO different from link building?

Link building is one part of it: getting real websites to link to yours. Off-page SEO is the whole picture: links plus listings, mentions, press, reviews and your Google Business Profile. Our link building page covers the links side in depth.

03 Do Google reviews decide where I rank?

No single thing does. Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence, and prominence is built from many signals: links, listings, mentions, your website and reviews among them. Reviews are one signal, and the easiest one to see. 360 Hazardous Cleanup ranks first on Google Maps for blood cleanup services in Louisville with one review, above a business with 76.

04 How long does off-page SEO take to work?

We guarantee it. No visible improvement in 20 days: your payment for that period back, plus $200. Your qualifying keywords not on page one of Google in 60 days: we keep working free until they are.

05 Is it safe to buy links?

Buying links to rank breaks Google's rules, and bulk link packages can push a site down instead of up. We earn links from real websites that have a reason to mention you.

06 Does off-page SEO help with ChatGPT and Google's AI answers?

Yes. Those answers lean on what other websites say about a business: industry lists, directories, articles and reviews. The more trusted places name you, the more reasons an AI answer has to name you too. Angkorscape, a business we rank, is named in Google's AI Overview.

07 How much do off-page SEO services cost?

Usually $1,497 to $5,000 a month, set by your market. Month to month, with no lock-in.

08 Do I still need work on my website?

Yes. Off-page work tells Google you're trusted. Your website tells Google, and your customers, what you do and where. They work together, and we do both.