Almost all snow and ice contractors have asked some version of this question: "Why does my competitor show up first on a search engine like Google when my work is just as good or better?"
The truth is Google doesn't rank the best company in your market. It ranks the one that looks the most trustworthy, credible and active online. The good news is you can fix it. Most contractors judge their marketing by the wrong things, like ad views, clicks or how nice the site looks – none of which are tied to revenue.
This isn't just theory – it's proven. One of our commercial snow and maintenance clients saw firsthand what happens when you build your system around these ideas. In 2025, the client quoted $1.6 million and landed $400,000. Just a year later, after rolling out a coordinated plan focused on SEO, reviews and content, the client quoted $6.7 million and brought in $1.1 million.
By focusing on rankings, optimizing for diverse search channels and maintaining a consistent online reputation, contractors can move beyond "showing up" online to becoming the trusted, authoritative choice that search engines and customers prioritize.
What Google rewards: E-E-A-T
Google (and all search engines and AI) rank on four things:
The modern digital marketing landscape is defined by three primary channels that offer distinct advantages for lead generation. Understanding the synergy between these immediate, long-term and emerging channels is essential for a comprehensive marketing strategy.
Maybe your competitor has 200 Google reviews and you have 40. Even if your work is better, that gap costs you rankings and jobs. What matters is volume, recency and whether you reply. The fix is consistency. It's one of the best moves you can make since a simple ask-every-customer system can close a 5x gap in a year.
Online searches have split into three separate games, and contractors who get all three beat the ones still only thinking about "showing up on Google."
Two gaps quietly separate who ranks from who doesn't. The first is authority (how much Google trusts your site), measured by backlinks and Domain Authority (DA). A competitor at DA 30 beats you at DA 18 for the same keyword, even if you do better work. The second is technical: Your site's speed and how it works on a phone. A slow phone site makes people leave before they read a word.
Authority score (i.e., domain authority): How much does Google trust you. It's out of 100, but landscape companies rarely top 30. What matters is your score next to your competitors. If you're behind, where is the gap? This will show you how much work you have to do to catch up. If Google trusts you more, they are more likely to rank you.
Referring domains (i.e., backlinks): The unique sites linking to you. When sites Google trusts link to you, some of that trust transfers. More high-quality backlinks typically lead to a higher authority score in time.
Monthly traffic: Estimated organic traffic to your site and theirs (this does not include any traffic coming from paid ads). More authority and high-quality backlinks usually mean more organic traffic.
Top 100 keywords: How many keywords or phrases you currently are ranking for on Google.
Positions 1 to 3: The keywords or phrases you have in the best spots. If this is low, you're probably only ranking for your business name.
Positions 4 to 20: The low-hanging fruit, these keywords and phrases will be the easiest to move up on Google.
Positions 21 to 100: These are the words and phrases that are on page two and beyond that you'll likely get minimal, if any, traffic from. Worth moving up if the keyword earns it, but will be a much slower process.
Vanessa McQuade is vice president of sales and co-owner of Intrigue Media. Contact her at vanessa@intrigueme.ca and learn more at intriguemedia.com.