Google Local Listing

[kevinbp]

Q1a: How do I do off-page SEO for Google Local Listing?
or
Q1b: Where can i find the resources to learn about off-page SEO for Google Local Listing?

Q2: Is the off-page SEO for google Local Listing similar to off-page SEO for a website? In this case, I will have to create backlinks to my google+ business page?

Cant seem to find the answers by googling. The results that come out are mostly on-page SEO to complete my profile for Google Local Listing

[RyanKnoll]

I can confirm as well. I've run a lot of tests hoping this would help but it never moves the needle it's all about building high quality citations or cleaning up your already existing citations.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Kevin,

A couple of years ago, I was talking with Mike Blumenthal about this very topic, and he kindly turned it into this blog post, which I believe you'll find very educational:

http://blumenthals.com/blog/2013/07/02/should-you-do-linkbuilding-to-your-g-page-for-local/

Hope it helps!

[RyanKnoll]

When you're doing off-page for Local SEO you're looking to build what are called citations. These are anywhere you're name address and phone number (NAP) information appear on the net. This is something I typically outsource. I have used both The Hoth seen here: http://www.thehoth.com/local/ and a company called Citations Pros seen here: http://www.citationspros.com/ Both are great companies and will help you in different ways when you get to different levels of your business. Not to give away to many secrets but I typically see Maps listings not ranking to well until they get around 100-250 citations built depending on the GEO and the niche.

[LindaBuquet]

Kevin, most of the experts I read seem to think backlinks to your G+ Local listing don't boost ranking at all.

Thanks parayama for the mention.

Happy New Year all!

[LauraSultan]

Local SEO is a different animal than organic SEO, but organic signals have played a much bigger part since the Pigeon update. External factors that affect your rankings in the local pack include business citations and reviews. Check out the 2014 Local Search Ranking Factors. Backlinks do have an effect on local search but probably not as much as they do on organic search.

Below are some great resources for local SEO:

• Mike Blumenthal
• David Mihm
• Andrew Shotland
• Phil Rosek 
• Local Search Forum (Linda Buquet)
• Whitespark (Darren Shaw, Nyagoslav Zhekov, et. al.)
• BrightLocal (Myles Anderson)

[RangeMarketing]

In short, yes, off-page SEO for local listings is similar to off-page for your website.

When deciding to link to your website or a local listing page I always consider the user first. There may be instances when it makes more sense to link to your Google+ page instead of website, for example, to provide location information / directions quicker.

You should definitely put some effort into creating backlinks to your Google+ page but from my experience, as far as ranking goes, the authority (and amount of quality links) to your web domain is a greater factor.

Hope this steers you in the right direction!