PM Consulting Inc.

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Prepared for Martin Services · Brody and Keith Martin

Martin Services has the reviews to win North Bay.
Here is why competitors still rank above you, and the plan to pass them.

Martin Services holds 59 five-star reviews, yet North Bay companies with as few as 5 to 20 reviews are showing up first when people search. This is not bad luck, and it is not your reputation. It is four fixable settings on how Google reads your business. This report shows the proof, then the plan.

Analysis date
July 3, 2026

Market
North Bay and area, Ontario

Competitors analyzed
Chad's, Garlands, Edwards, Bay Mowing

Prepared by
Paul Meyers, PM Consulting Inc.

The short version. When someone searches "lawn care near me" or "landscaping near me," Google ranks businesses on three things: relevance, distance, and prominence. Most people assume the closest business wins. It does not. Distance is the weakest of the three, and prominence and relevance beat being nearby.

Here is the proof. If distance decided it, you would win every search from your own house in Powassan, because you are the closest lawn company there. You don't. That means your location is not what is holding you back. Your competitors win because they run a tight, focused profile, they point their primary category at the exact service, and they have built more prominence. A landscaper with only 20 reviews outranks you on "landscaper" while you sit at position 23, and that has nothing to do with who is closer.

The good news: every one of these is a setting or a habit, not a wall. This report walks through the evidence, then lays out a phased plan to fix the foundation, build your prominence, and lock in the 2027 season.

The Proof

Your own ranking map tells the story

These are live 15x15 grid scans of where Martin Services actually ranks across North Bay on July 3. Green is top 3. Orange is page one. Red is buried. The two searches could not look more different.

Search: "landscaper"

Nearly invisible. Average position 23.6

Top 3 in just 1% of the map. Two green cells, then a sea of red. This is the high-value construction and hardscaping work you want more of, and you are not showing up for it.

Search: "lawn care service"

Competitive. Average position 7.7

Top 3 in 16% of the map, clustered on the North Bay core. This is the work you are already fully booked on. The map proves you can rank in North Bay when the settings are right.

Top 3 Positions 4 to 10 Position 11 or worse The only real difference between these two maps is which category is set as primary. That is the whole game.

How to read the grid: each dot is a separate spot where we checked your ranking, spaced one kilometre apart. The scan is 15 by 15 (225 points), so it covers roughly a 7 km radius from the centre, about a 14 km (9 mile) span across North Bay, from Cooks Mills in the north to Corbeil and Champlain Park in the south. The number in each dot is exactly where Martin Services ranks if someone searches from that spot.

The Landscaper Race

What winning "landscaper" actually looks like

We ran the same North Bay grid scan for the one word you most want to own, "landscaper," on your competitors. You sit at position 23.6. Here is the top of that race, and what those businesses have in common.

On "landscaper"	Business	Avg map position	Visibility	Why they win or lose
1st	Edwards Landscape & Construction	3.3	69%	"Landscaper" is the primary category, plus a North Bay address
2nd	Complete Landscaping	5.6	47%	Landscaping is the business name and identity, plus a North Bay address
3rd	Gateway Landscaping	6.7	22%	Landscaping is the business name and identity, plus a North Bay address
Buried	Martin Services	23.6	1%	"Landscaper" is only a secondary category, and the address is hidden
Buried	Bouwers Design Landscaping	31.2	2%	Service-area business, hidden address, thin profile

1st · Avg 3.3

Edwards Landscape & Construction

Almost the entire map is top 3. "Landscaper" is its primary category and it shows a North Bay address. Visibility 69%.

2nd · Avg 5.6

Complete Landscaping

Landscaping is right in the name, so the profile is pointed at the exact word. North Bay address. Visibility 47%.

3rd · Avg 6.7

Gateway Landscaping

Landscaping in the name again, strong across the west side of the city. North Bay address. Visibility 22%.

Buried · Avg 31.2

Bouwers Design Landscaping

A real landscaping company that ranks even worse than you, because it hides its address and runs a thin service-area profile. The same setup you are in.

This is you · Avg 23.6

Martin Services

Same word, same map, same day. Two green cells and a wall of red. You actually edge out Bouwers (23.6 to their 31.2), but you are both stuck at the bottom for the same reason: a hidden-address service-area profile with "Landscaper" buried as a secondary category. This is the exact gap Phase 1 closes.

What the winners have in common. Every business ahead of you made landscaping its core identity. For Edwards it is the primary category. For Complete Landscaping and Gateway Landscaping it is literally their name. You have "Landscaper" sitting behind "Lawn care service" as a side category.

Now look at the bottom of the list. The only two businesses buried down with you are hidden-address service-area businesses, you and Bouwers. A real landscaping company ranks even worse than you, at 31.2, because it hides its address and runs a thin profile, which is exactly the setup you are in.

The path up is the same two moves every winner made: make Landscaper your primary category, lead with landscaping on your profile and website, and give Google a location to anchor to.

Side by Side

How the four North Bay competitors are set up

Live data pulled from Google on July 3, 2026. Notice that reviews are not your problem. You have more reviews than two of the businesses beating you.

Business	Primary category	# of categories	Rating	Reviews	Address shown	Website	Photos
Martin Services	Lawn care service	10	5.0	59	Hidden (Powassan)	Yes, 245 pages	Under-fed
Chad's Grass Snow & More	Lawn care service	1	4.9	163	North Bay	Yes	36
Garlands Property Care	Lawn care service	2	5.0	60	North Bay	Yes	72
Edwards Landscape & Construction	Landscaper	3	5.0	20	North Bay	No	50
Bay Mowing	Lawn care service	2	5.0	5	Hidden (SAB)	No	30

The headline: Edwards ranks for "landscaper" with 20 reviews and no website. You have 59 reviews and a 245-page website, and you are at position 23 for the same word. The difference is that Edwards set "Landscaper" as its primary category. You have it buried as a secondary.

The Smoking Gun

Your categories are working against you

Every competitor beating you runs a razor-focused profile of 1 to 3 categories. Martin Services runs 10, including three retail hot-tub and sauna categories that no one else in the space carries. That blurs what Google thinks you are.

Recommended primary

Landscaper

Keep as secondary

Lawn care service Landscape designer Property maintenance Demolition contractor Junk removal service Snow removal service

Remove (retail dilution)

Sauna store Hot tub store Hot tub repair service Service establishment

Add (real hardscaping work)

Excavating contractor Paving contractor Masonry contractor

The Diagnosis

Four reasons they rank above you, in order

This is not guesswork. Each reason maps directly to the data above.

Distance is not what beats you. Prominence is.

If Google simply ranked by who is closest, you would win every "lawn care near me" search from your own house in Powassan, because you are the closest lawn company there. You don't. That proves the problem is not your location. Google weighs relevance, distance, and prominence, and distance is the weakest of the three. Chad's carries 163 reviews on one tight category, so Google trusts it more and shows it ahead of you, even to a searcher standing right next to you in Powassan.

This is the number one reason

Your primary category does not match the search.

Edwards wins "landscaper" with 20 reviews because "Landscaper" is its primary. You have "Lawn care service" as primary, so on landscaping you are all but invisible at position 23. Switch this one setting and your 59 reviews should leapfrog Edwards.

Highest-ROI fix available

Powassan is a small market, so Google reaches into North Bay.

Only a handful of established lawn and landscape businesses are based in Powassan, so Google widens the net to the nearest hub, North Bay, and pulls the most prominent players from there. Even at home you are being ranked against North Bay firms, which means you have to beat them on strength, not just be nearby.

A blurry, quiet profile loses to a sharp, active one.

Ten categories, including retail sauna and hot tub listings, tell Google you are part storefront and blur what you are. Your photos are actually strong, but the profile is not posting Google updates or pulling in fresh reviews at the pace of the leaders. Focused and active wins.

One duplicate to clean: Keith's old Bradford business profile is deactivated but still visible to Google, which can split your entity signal. It comes down in Phase 1.

Everything We Found

Your issues, and the fix for each

The complete list of what is holding Martin Services back, why each one matters, and exactly how we fix it. Every fix maps to a phase in the plan below.

The issue	Why it matters	How we fix it
Primary category is "Lawn care service," not "Landscaper"	You are invisible for the exact word you want to grow, sitting at position 23.6.	Change the primary category to Landscaper. Phase 1
Ten categories, including retail sauna, hot tub, and a generic "Service establishment"	A blurred identity that Google trusts less than a focused competitor.	Cut the retail and junk categories, add excavating, paving, and masonry. Phase 1
Your phone number is different on your website and your Google profile	The website says (249) 506-9211, Google says (705) 499-6919. Inconsistent contact details weaken trust and can misroute calls and texts.	Standardize one number everywhere, forwarding and text-enabled. Phase 1
A duplicate Bradford listing is still visible to Google	It splits your identity and competes against your real profile.	Remove the duplicate. Phase 1
Your website homepage leads with lawn care, not landscaping	Your site and your Google profile tell Google two different stories.	Realign the homepage to landscaping-first. Phase 1
Reviews have gone stale and the profile is not posting	Google rewards fresh, active profiles. Review velocity beats total count.	Review engine (QR plus a Friday habit) and weekly Google posts. Phase 1 to 2
Hidden-address service-area profile	No location for Google to anchor to. The two bottom-ranked landscapers are both hidden service-area businesses.	Point the service area at North Bay and build local prominence. Phase 2
Leads split across Jobber, QuickBooks, and the CRM, with texts being missed	Follow-up falls through the cracks, and every missed lead is lost revenue.	Consolidate into the CRM, route the website form in, import and tag, then reactivate. Phase 3

The Plan

How we pass them

Four phases, sequenced so the cheapest, highest-impact fixes happen first and the results compound into the fall.

This is the done-for-you plan. Every step below is handled by Paul Meyers and PM Consulting Inc. across a focused 3-month campaign. You stay on the tools, we run the engine.

Phase 1

Fix the foundation

Week 1

Change the primary category to Landscaper. The single biggest lever. Aligns your profile with the work you want and your 59 reviews start doing real work.

Clean the categories. Remove sauna store, hot tub store, and hot tub repair. Add excavating, paving, and masonry to match your real hardscaping.

Point the website at landscaping too. Update the homepage headline and hero to lead with landscaping and hardscaping, so your site and your Google profile tell Google the exact same story.

Standardize your phone number. Put the one number, (249) 506-9211, on your Google profile and your main citations so everything matches the website, then confirm it forwards to your phone and can send and receive texts (this includes the one-time A2P registration that unlocks SMS). One consistent number is a trust signal Google rewards.

Kill the duplicate Bradford listing so Google reads one clear business.

Launch the review engine. QR codes for invoices, trucks, trailers, and your phone, plus a simple Friday habit of texting the review link to every customer you just finished.

Outcome: a clean, focused, consistent profile that stops competing with itself, and review velocity begins.

Phase 2

Build North Bay prominence

Weeks 2 to 4

Point the service area at North Bay and build North Bay signals so Google associates you with the city, not just Powassan.

Feed the profile weekly. Google Business posts and fresh photos from your jobs, the excavator and demolition footage already on your phone.

Post everywhere from one place. Connect Facebook, Instagram, and Google to the CRM and schedule a month of posts in one sitting, so every channel stays active with no extra work.

Start the dollar-a-day method. Put a dollar or two a day behind your best job videos and let the winners rise. The two short videos below explain exactly how.

Boost the doorbell testimonial. Five dollars a day, North Bay, 15-mile radius. The couple on camera in front of your work is the strongest ad you own.

Publish that job everywhere: new website hero image, a dedicated blog post, YouTube, and a Google Business post.

Outcome: an active profile and rising North Bay relevance. The "landscaper" map starts turning from red to orange and green.

Phase 3

Compound and convert

Ongoing through the season

Two blog posts a week from your job content: landscaping, hardscaping, and demolition across North Bay and the surrounding towns. You supply a photo and a paragraph, we build the rest.

Database reactivation. Import your QuickBooks customers, tag customers separately from leads, then run targeted SMS and email so no past customer goes cold.

Route every lead into one place. Point the website and ad lead forms into the CRM so no call or text gets missed the way it has been.

Content pipeline. Drop photos and videos into the shared Drive folder as you work. That footage becomes posts, ads, and pages.

Outcome: steady organic traffic, booked landscape jobs, and a customer list that keeps paying you back.

Phase 4

Lock in 2027

Fall, September to November

Deposit and pre-booking system in the CRM. Collect 25% deposits on landscape jobs this fall, quote before the snow, and drop each one straight into the calendar for 2027.

End-of-season grass campaign. An early-signing, no-price-increase offer while customers are still happy and looking at your work.

Outcome: 2027 booked and funded before winter, so the team is secure and the phone does not have to save you in spring.

Your Video Edge

The Dollar-a-Day method

This is how you turn the footage already on your phone into a steady stream of leads without a big ad budget. Post your best job videos, put a dollar or two a day behind each one, and let the winners rise. Watch these two short videos, they explain exactly how it works.

The $1 a Day Marketing Hack That Built Big Brands

Featuring Dennis Yu. Why a dollar a day beats big one-time ad spends.

Dennis Yu Dollar a Day Strategy, Step by Step

The exact setup: boost your best content for a dollar a day and scale what works.

How We Know It Is Working

We measure the map, not opinions

Re-scan the grid

We re-run these same North Bay heatmaps every 7 days. Week by week you will watch the "landscaper" map go from red to green.

Top 3 share

Track the percentage of the map where you rank top 3. The target is to move "landscaper" from 1% toward the 16% you already hit on lawn care.

Reviews and calls

New reviews per week and inbound calls and form fills from the profile. Velocity is the signal that closes the gap on Chad's and Garlands.

Action Checklist

One number, everywhere

Use this exact information on every listing below. The goal is consistency: same name, same number, same format, so Google reads one clear business. Check each off as you go, and try to do them in one sitting so they all match on the same day.

Business nameMartin Services

Phone(249) 506-9211

Websitehttps://martinservices.org

Service areaPowassan, North Bay, Callander, and surrounding communities (keep the address hidden, service-area only)

Core listings, do these first

Google Business Profile. Set the primary phone to (249) 506-9211. This is the most important listing of all.

Facebook page. Update the phone in the About section and any Call or contact button.

Apple Business Connect (Apple Maps). Claim the listing if needed and set the phone. This is what iPhone and Siri use.

Bing Places. Update the phone on the listing.

Instagram. Update the contact phone and the Call button in the business profile.

Yelp (yelp.ca). Update the business phone number.

YellowPages.ca. Update the phone on the listing.

Foursquare. Update the phone. This one feeds Apple, Bing, and many other apps.

Contractor and trust listings

HomeStars. Update the phone on the profile.

TrustedPros. Update the phone.

Houzz. Update the phone. Strong for landscaping leads.

Better Business Bureau. Update the phone if you are listed.

411.ca. Update the phone on the listing.

One aggregator (Cylex Canada or N49). Update the phone. These feed smaller directories automatically.

If a listing does not exist yet, create it with the details above. The website already carries (249) 506-9211, so no site change is needed for the phone. Before you start, confirm the number forwards to your phone and can send and receive texts. Short on time? We can build and standardize 300 citations for you as a one-time add-on. See the investment section below.

Straight Talk

What is realistic, and the one move that removes the ceiling

We want to be honest about how far these fixes take you, and where geography still has a say.

What the plan wins you. Once the settings are fixed, you should own your home area outright, climb to the top of the pack across the southern half of North Bay's map, and become genuinely competitive across the rest of the city. From position 23, that is an enormous jump, and it is the difference between invisible and booked.

The one honest limit. Distance is only one of Google's three ranking factors, and it is the weakest, but it is not zero. A landscaper with a physical address in the middle of North Bay will always hold a small edge in the blocks right around their door. From a Powassan base, whether your address is hidden or shown, that last stretch of the North Bay core is the one thing settings alone cannot fully close.

The move that removes the ceiling: a North Bay address

You mentioned wanting to buy two or more acres. If that land sits inside North Bay proper, you gain a verified North Bay address, and that flips the single biggest structural factor in local search in your favor. You would be anchored in the city overnight, competing head to head with Edwards, Chad's, and Garland's on their own ground instead of from 25 minutes south. So when you go looking, North Bay is not just a smart home for the shop and the future landscape supply store, it is the highest-leverage marketing decision you could make.

Your Investment

What it costs to run this

One monthly engine that handles the profile, the content, the reviews, the ads, and the reporting, so you can stay on the tools while the phone keeps ringing.

3-Month Growth Campaign

$2,000plus HST

A focused 90-day build that executes Phases 1 through 3, billed at the end of July.

Google Business Profile management and weekly posts
Review engine and QR review generation
Two blog posts every week from your job content
Multi-channel posting to Facebook, Instagram, and Google
Dollar-a-day ad management and the doorbell testimonial boost
Database reactivation campaigns by SMS and email
Weekly rank-grid report so you can watch the map turn green

Your ad budget

$5 to $15/day

Paid directly to Google and Facebook, not to us. This is the fuel behind the dollar-a-day method and the testimonial boost. You control it, and you scale it up as the leads come in.

Also available

A Mission Control dashboard that pulls your leads, pipeline, and priorities onto one screen, plus crew scheduling and time tracking inside the CRM for when you are ready to retire Jobber.

Coming separately

You have already sent over your Google Ads reports. We are analyzing that campaign now and will bring you a dedicated proposal to tighten your ad spend and improve your return.

One-time add-on

Citation Blast: 300 listings built for you

Instead of updating directories by hand, we build and standardize 300 citations with your correct name, number, and details across the web. This is one of the strongest, fastest ways to boost the trust and consistency signals that drive local ranking.

$497

one-time, plus HST

The Phase 1 foundation work is included in the campaign. Start date confirmed at kickoff. Phase 4 (locking in the 2027 season) runs in the fall and is quoted separately when the time comes.

Ready to start with Phase 1

The foundation fixes take one working session together. Give me the word and we will change the primary category, clean the profile, remove the duplicate, and set up your review engine the same day.

Text Paul to start: (705) 491-2627

paul@pmconsulting.ca | PM Consulting Inc.