Local SEO help

I run a local cleaning service and notice competitors have webpages that are all the same except inserting a specific towns name. They rank really well and are crushing me.
Is this a good idea? will I get penalized for such tactics?
example
mycleaningco.com/town one cleaning
mycleaningco.com/town two cleaning
mycleaningco.com/town tree cleaning

All exact same content except inserting towns name into the body of text.
Thanks.

 

Before you go changing URLs, do you have Google My Business setup?

I would be hesitent doing this as the content is technically duplicated with just the town name changed. Duplicate content is not something Google likes, even if you're currently getting crushed.

If you do setup multiple pages and URLs for different towns, then at least make the content different.

 

I have often seen this and wondered if this kind of strategy will eventually be penalized. I personally avoid it by slightly modifying the text, in addition to changing the town names.

 

Any deceptive practices are frowned upon. You'll be trying to manipulate search results... it's a no-no.

 

I cannot recommend doing that. So, you can create a separate page for each town, but with unique content only. Otherwise your website can get penalty. In addition, such strategy looks bad for website visitors.

 

Thanks for the replies. Ill take the advice. My top competitors have been doing this for years.