Local SEO breaks into five core areas that all need attention. Start with your Google Business Profile—claim it, verify it, fill every field (categories, hours, services, photos), and keep it updated. This is your direct line to the map pack, which captures 40–50% of clicks for local intent searches. Add posts weekly if you can, respond to every review within 48 hours, and upload fresh photos monthly. Next is NAP consistency: your business name, address, and phone number must match exactly across your website, GBP, and every directory (Yelp, Yellow Pages, industry-specific sites). Even small differences like "Street" vs "St." can dilute your local signals. We use tools like BrightLocal or Moz Local to audit and fix citation errors across 50–100 directories depending on the niche. On-page optimization means putting your city and region in strategic places—title tags, H1s, service pages, footer. Don't keyword-stuff "Ottawa plumber" 20 times, but do create dedicated pages for each service area if you serve multiple neighborhoods. Add LocalBusiness schema markup with your NAP and service radius so Google understands your geography. Local backlinks carry more weight than generic ones. Get listed in Chamber of Commerce directories, sponsor a Little League team, contribute quotes to local news sites, partner with nearby businesses. One link from the Ottawa Citizen or a .ca university in your city beats ten random blog comments. Reviews are a ranking factor and a conversion driver. Ask every happy customer to leave a Google review, ideally mentioning the service and location. A steady flow of 2–4 reviews per month signals you're active and trustworthy. At Ottawa SEO, we've seen businesses jump from position 8 to position 2 in the map pack just by going from 12 reviews to 65 over six months, assuming the other factors were already solid. Track your rankings weekly with a tool like Local Falcon to see how you perform across different parts of your city—you might rank first downtown but eighth in the suburbs.