If you want to rank well online for relevant pest control search results, you’ve got to have a great content marketing strategy. The right amount and right quality of content can have you recognized by Google and other search engines as the subject matter expert for each target pest in each city you service.
Without informative and consistent pest control content, it will be pretty hard for Google to rank you highly for relevant search results. The content you publish on your pest control website can establish your authority online in your local service area and build your credibility in your local pest control industry. Quality content means showing the right things to the right people at the right moment.
It may not always be easy to know what kind of pest control content to create to show to the right people at the right moment but creating pest control buyer personas can help you craft a great content strategy. A buyer persona is a semi-fictional description of your ideal customer. Using these personas can give you a general idea of potential concerns your prospects might have and help you create content that responds to them.
Example Pest Control Buyer Personas
Begin by separating your residential customers from your commercial customers. Let’s say you have a residential customer who is a first-time homeowner and a commercial customer who is a restaurant owner. First, create an outline of their character traits:
Residential Customer: Homeowner Heather
- New homeowner
- Mother of small child
- Dog Mom
Commercial Customer: Restaurant Owner Ryan
- Owns a chain of local restaurants (small business owner)
Now that you understand your buyer personas’ character traits, make an outline of their possible pest concerns. Based on who they are, what concerns might they have?
Residential Customer: Homeowner Heather
- Never used pest control services before
- Wants kid-friendly and pet-friendly pest control
- Wants odorless pest control products
- Terrified of spiders and other bugs and insects
- Unaware of common household pest problems
- Wants to enjoy a yard free of pests
Commercial Customer: Restaurant Owner Ryan
- Cares about the reputation of his businesses
- Must keep restaurant locations clean for health inspection checks
- Must keep pests away from outdoor dining areas
Now take just one of these concerns and think about what a prospect would do to find a solution. Contrary to what you might think, their first step will not likely be to call your company. They are most likely to pick up their smartphone and do a Google search about their problem.
When the weather is warm and Homeowner Heather wants to sit out on her lawn to enjoy the nice breeze with her small child and dog, she may begin to notice buzzing sounds followed by itchy bite marks on herself and her child. Her search query might be something to the effect of “Why are there mosquitoes in my yard?”
Heather is in the first stage of the buyer’s journey: the awareness stage. This is the stage prospects, like Heather, are aware they have a problem and begin seeking information to understand their problems. Your mosquito content should include blogs and other information that speaks directly to Heather at this stage of her buyer’s journey to inform and educate her of her problem. Create content that will appear as an exact match to her search. An example would be a blog post titled “Why are there mosquitoes in my yard?”
After reading your awareness stage content and clearly defining her issue, Heather will begin researching the best possible options to resolve her issue. This is known as the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey. Now you can show Heather content that speaks to her pain points. This might include a downloadable guide or a video explaining ways to protect her yard from mosquitoes. An example blog post title might be “What is the best solution to rid my yard of mosquitoes?”
Finally, Heather will enter the decision stage of the buyer’s journey. At this stage, she will decide how she will resolve her mosquito problem. Now, you can begin offering her exclusive offers and promotions that create a sense of urgency to hire you. An example blog title would be: “Who should I hire for mosquito control in [my city]?”
Conclusion
Ranking high for relevant pest control searches is important, but the focus of your content marketing strategy should not be on how you can rank highly. Rather, you should focus on the pest control concerns your buyer personas might be faced with on a daily basis. Your content should be useful, informational, educational, and engaging to attract the right prospects. Offering the pest control content your buyer personas want to see will reward you with high rankings that attract quality prospects, generate leads, and grow your business.
