Local SEO in Ottawa: what your website has to get right
Showing up when someone nearby searches for what you do depends on a handful of basics. Most of them are things you can check yourself in an afternoon.
· 5 min read · Poki Labs
Start with your Google Business Profile
The map results at the top of a local search come from Google Business Profiles, not from websites. If you have not claimed yours, do that first.
- Choose the most specific primary category that fits what you do
- Fill in your hours, service area and phone number
- Add real photos of your work or premises
- Keep your business name, address and phone number exactly the same as on your website
Say what you do and where, in plain words
Search engines read your page titles and main headings first. A title like "Home" tells them nothing. A title that names the service and the city tells them who should see the page.
Give each service its own page instead of listing everything on one. A page about one service can answer the questions people ask about it, and it gives search engines one clear topic to match.
Make it fast on a phone
Many local searches happen on a phone, often on a mobile connection. Oversized images are the most common reason a small-business site is slow.
When we audited our own site, a few large background images made up most of the page weight. Converting them to a modern format took the home page from about 4.7 MB to 1.7 MB.
Add structured data
Structured data is a block of code that states your business name, address, hours and services in a format search engines read directly. It does not guarantee a better position, but it removes guesswork about who you are and where you work.
Ask for reviews, and answer them
Google says the number of reviews and the rating are among the things it uses to rank local results. Ask customers after a job goes well, and reply to the reviews you receive, including the critical ones.
Do not buy reviews, and do not ask only the customers you expect to be positive. Both are against Google's rules and can get reviews removed.
Be sceptical of guarantees
Nobody outside Google controls its rankings, so anyone who guarantees the first position is promising something they cannot deliver. Where you rank also depends on your competitors and on how useful your content is.
We build the technical groundwork into every site: fast pages, clear structure, accurate titles and structured data. We do not promise positions.