Pest Control Marketing Strategies to Increase Leads & Grow Your Business

Does it bug you that your company doesn’t get the visibility it deserves? You don’t want to pester people with your services, but if they can’t find you online, your business will likely be exterminated.

Okay, enough of the puns, but digital marketing for pest control companies is an essential part of modern business. If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve assembled the ultimate marketing guide for pest control companies to help. Follow us, and we’ll help you generate the leads you need to succeed!

If you have any questions along the way, our experts are standing by to answer your questions. All you have to do is call.

Let’s get started.

Start with a Better Pest Control Website

Your website is the heart of your pest control business. It’s where people learn about your company and reach out for service. If done properly, it should be your main source of leads. Here’s how to make your pest control website your company’s top salesperson.

Build Your Website for the User

The internet is all about ease and instant gratification. If people have trouble using your website, they’ll go somewhere else for their pest control needs. So, include website features to make it as easy as possible on the user:

• Simple navigation menus
• Sticky headers
• Easy-to-find contact info

Avoid common website design mistakes and keep everything clean and clutter-free. The easier it is for users to find the information they need, the more likely they are to use your services. Studies have shown that 88% of people won’t return to a site after one bad experience.

Once you get people to stay on your website, you need to convince them that your pest control services are the best. Include trust builders like reviews and certifications to prove that you know what you’re doing.

A fun team page with pictures and bios is always a good way to add a personal touch to your company. If people feel like they know who you are, they’re more likely to work with you.

Mobile-Friendly or Bust

Smartphones have taken over the internet. In fact, 83% of the U.S. population surfs the internet using mobile devices. If you want to make your pest control website user friendly (and you really do), it needs to be mobile-friendly.

Mobile-friendly sites are optimized to work on smaller screens. They help mobile users (most people) find information and navigate your website more easily. Mobile-friendliness is so important that Google uses it as a ranking factor.

If you don’t optimize your website for mobile devices, you might as well not have a website at all.

Need for Speed

Don’t you hate it when you click on a site and it takes forever to load? So does everyone else. Studies have shown that 47% of people expect a website to load within two seconds. With every additional second of load time, you’ll lose 11% of page viewers and see a 7% reduction in conversions. Even if you have the greatest pest control website in the world, it won’t generate leads if it’s slow.

Here are a few things you can do to boost your website’s load speeds:

• Compress files to 150 bytes – big files take longer to load, so keep them small.
• Optimize images for the web – use PNG files for graphics with fewer than 16 colors and JPEG for photos.
• Use browser caching – when a visitor returns to your site, they won’t have to reload all the files.

Whenever you change your website, recheck your website speed using a tool like Pingdom. Experiment with different features and layouts to see how fast you can make your website. Your goal is under two seconds!

Keep It Local with Local Services Ads

Marketing is all about visibility. To get people to find your website, it needs to be at the top of the search engine rankings.

Around 46% of all Google searches are to find local information. That means that of the 70,000 Google searches per second (yes, per second), 32,200 of them are looking for local services and businesses.

Local Services ads put your pest control business at the very top of Google for everyone to see.

Local Services ads for pest control companies are small online listings at the top of local search results. They’re all about fast information, so they include:

• Business name
• Phone number
• Hours of operation
• Review rating

They also come with a Google Guarantee badge to show that Google verifies your business—an important trust booster!

With Local Services ads, you pay for each lead. That means you don’t pay a penny unless someone calls you. They’re a cost-effective way to generate leads and boost your online visibility by shooting your business straight to the top of the local search engine results.

Pay Per Click Ads for Pest Control Companies

PPC stands for pay per click, and it’s one of the most effective marketing strategies for pest control companies. PPC ads work like Local Services ads, except you can add a customized description, links to your website, and other calls to action.

With PPC ads, you pay Google every time someone clicks on your listing.

In exchange, Google will push you to the top of the search results. You get to choose how much you want to pay per click, so staying on budget is easy, but there’s a catch: If a competing pest control company bids higher than you for the same keywords, they could show up higher in the rankings.

Although bidding and keyword management can take time and effort, pest control PPC management services are a great way to jump to the top of the search results and start earning leads immediately without waiting for SEO equity to build (something we’ll touch on later). Most businesses make an average of $2 for every $1 they spend on PPC ads.

If you’re ready to start earning leads immediately, check out our beginner’s guide to PPC search ads.

Rank in the Local Pack with Local SEO

In a local search, the local pack appears just below the PPC search ads. It’s a listing of all the businesses in the area related to the search query. At the top of the local pack is a map of the user’s area with the locations of related businesses. Under the map is a list of the top businesses Google could find. That’s where you want to be.

It’s not cost-effective for pest control companies to market outside their service area. The local pack is how you target your marketing efforts to people inside your service area.

When someone searches for “pest control companies near me,” Google scours the internet to find the best answer possible. The more information Google can find about your business, the higher you’ll appear in the rankings.

Here are a few ways you can boost the local SEO value of your website:

• Use online directories like Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp, etc. to generate reviews
• Ensure all NAP citations (name, address, phone number) are consistent across platforms
• Optimize and maintain your Google My Business page
• Use localized keywords like “[your city] pest control” throughout your web copy

The more localized information you can offer to search engines, the higher you’ll rank in location-based searches.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Pest Control Websites

If the internet were a building, all the cockroaches would hide on the second page of Google. It’s the best hiding spot on the internet because nobody ever goes there!

In fact, around 92% of internet users select businesses on the first page of Google. If you’re not showing up on the first page, your business might as well not even exist online. The way to boost your rankings organically (without paying for it) is with search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO for pest control companies is the act of organizing your website to make it easy for search engines to find information. Google uses over 200 ranking factors to determine where a website shows up in its organic search results, which are powered by SEO strategies. The better you cater to the ranking factors, the higher you’ll climb in the results.

Just because your website is optimized for SEO doesn’t mean you’re going to rank right away. SEO is like building a relationship between your site and search engines. They’re not going to fall in love with you right away. The more you help them, the more they’ll rely on your site for information. This is called SEO equity.

Most organic ranking factors fall into three categories:

• Website structure – the layout of your website and how many pages you have.
• Site content – the information on your website. Include related keywords and links to other pages on your website to help search engines navigate your information.
• Offsite factors – online reviews and backlinks (links to your site found on other websites).

If search engines know they can trust your website for accurate information, they’ll rank you higher in searches.

Start a Pest Control Blog

Blogging might seem like a silly pastime for young people who think their opinions are important, but it’s actually an essential marketing tool for pest control companies.

Google doesn’t rank websites; it ranks individual pages.

Each blog counts as a new web page, and thus, a new chance to rank for a specific keyword or phrase. Content marketing offers many other benefits for your business as well:

• Create shareable content to generate backlinks to your website
• Establish your authority in the pest control industry
• Provides potential customers with useful information
• Gently guide visitors down the sales funnel at their pace

Not only can blogs help you soar to the top of the search engine rankings, but they also give potential customers engaging content to consume. You can show off your industry knowledge and explain to users exactly why they need your services.

Get Chummy on Social Media

To interact with potential customers in real life, most businesses attend trade shows or sponsor events. On the internet, where can you go to interact directly with potential customers? Social media!

Social media is a powerful marketing tool that every business should be using. It’s free to use and instantly connects you with millions of potential customers. Pest control companies in the know use social media to speak to customers, research trends, and manage their brand reputation.

Every social media platform is different, so be sure to learn the platform “rules” to maximize your posts’ effectiveness.

Use Email Marketing

Email might be old, but it’s far from dead. This “ancient” method of communication is still applicable in pest control digital marketing campaigns and is actually one of the best ways to generate leads:

• 90% of emails reach their intended destination (only 2% of your Facebook followers see your posts).
• 99% of people check their email every day.
• Emails get 600% more clickthroughs compared to Tweets.
• The average ROI is $44 for every $1 spent (4,400%!).

Pest issues typically aren’t a one-time deal. If you have ants now, they’ll probably be back in the future. For pest control companies, a well-managed email marketing campaign can help your brand stay top of mind with your previous customers. The next time they have an issue, they’ll remember to call you because they just saw your email.

Email marketing is one of the best ways to get the right message to the right person at the right time—and isn’t that what marketing is all about?

Implement the Ultimate Pest Control Marketing Strategy with Blue Corona

Pest control marketing isn’t a simple task. Even if you know the basics, keeping track of the moving parts and implementing them correctly takes time and energy—two things pest control companies don’t always have.

If you really want to find success in online marketing, get an experienced team on your side.

The experts at Blue Corona are leaders in pest control marketing and can help your business stand out online. Contact us to start building your ultimate marketing strategy today.