It’s no secret that Google is the dominant search engine on the planet. In fact, 93% of all internet searches are conducted through Google. For businesses, the higher they rank in Google search results, the better their chance to capture the attention of their target audience and convert those visitors into sales.
Landing in the first three spots will provide a majority of the search traffic (about 60% of all searches result in clicks on the first few links). For pest control businesses, this can be a challenge especially if you have fierce competition in your area. Having the right strategy in place can provide your business with the ability to satisfy Google’s algorithm requirements and outrank your competitors in search engine results.
1. Improve Your Website’s SEO
Search engines like Google rely on extremely complex algorithms to help connect internet users with the information they want. The internet is an extensive library of information, so it’s sometimes difficult to stand out from the crowd. Even a fairly specific search can yield millions of results. Unfortunately, if your website isn’t ranked near the top of the results, it is highly unlikely that the search will result in a visitor to your website.
- Keyword Research – It’s important to research and understand which keywords people are using when searching for pest control services and information in your area. Too many businesses make the mistake of trying to target only the highest volume keywords. While these are the most commonly used, there is usually a high level of competition. Instead, focus on a combination of high volume keywords and ones with a lower search volume. This can produce a higher number of conversions because there will be less competition for those keywords. Also, long-tail keywords are often more effective than short-tail keywords.
- Clear Headlines and Menus – A well-structured website that is easy to navigate and find information will naturally rank higher as search engines crawl and index your content.
- Backlinks – Creating content that other websites want to connect to is key to building authority and demonstrating to search engines that other people use and trust your information. High-quality backlinks to industry publications or trade groups are the most desirable.
- Metadata – Metadata is a form of data that provides information about other data on your website in a way that search engines can understand. Most websites have fields for metadata, tags, image descriptions, and target keywords.
2. Focus on Architecture
Creating a simple website is perfectly fine when you are just starting out. However, taking this approach won’t work well if you want to rank high on Google or other search engines. The Google algorithm tries to match user searches with the most relevant content. Basic websites may not be specific enough to match the search criteria. For example, if someone searches for solutions to deal with an ant infestation, sites and pages that are entirely dedicated to this topic will naturally rank higher. This is one of the core strategies of our SMART Pest Control Website approach.
To improve your rankings, try to give each part of your website a specific focus. Instead of building out a page that provides information on a dozen different types of pests, a separate page for each pest type will perform better. You can also take this approach with geographic locations. For example, if you provide services in three different towns, you can have a version of your website that is dedicated to each area. Localized content can perform especially well since most searches for pest control services will include the name of their city or town.
The good news is that most pest control companies don’t build their websites with this approach. The reality is that it does take more time and money to properly set up and maintain website. However, being able to reach the top of search engine results will produce a great return on investment by allowing you to attract more paying customers.
3. Create High-Quality Content
Most people try to find solutions to their problems before they decide to fork out the money to hire a professional. Home and business owners in your area are frequently turning to the internet for information on dealing with various types of pest control challenges including how to identify certain pests or DIY remedies for the most common pest control problems.
By creating high-quality content to answer these questions, you have the opportunity to show up more frequently in Google search results. Not only will you appear more often, but you will be attracting the types of visitors that are most likely to purchase your services.
Many pest control companies worry that providing all this free information will make people less likely to hire them. After all, why do people need pest control services if they can resolve the challenge themselves? The reality is that not all pest control issues can be resolved by an inexperienced person. The true purpose of producing high quality content is to demonstrate that you are the expert in your field and a trusted source to turn to when the pest issue is beyond what they can handle.
When it comes to creating content, there are a wide range of content types that you can publish including blog posts, downloadable guides, pest control checklists, and video tutorials. A good practice is to start with content that answers many of the questions that you receive from your existing customers on a regular basis.
4. Leverage Google Ads and Local Service Ads
Having strong SEO and producing high-quality content should be your priority when trying to rank high on Google’s search results. However, in markets that have a high concentration of pest control businesses, reaching the top results could still be a challenge. The good news is that Google provides businesses with the ability to pay for advertising that puts them at the top of search results.
There are two main ways to advertise a business through Google – Traditional Google Ads and Local Service Ads. With traditional Google Ads, your ad will be published on top of the search results. The business is required to pay an advertising fee every time someone clicks through their ad to your website or landing page. The challenge is that not every click is a good quality lead.
A better alternative for pest control companies is to use Local Service Ads. These cost a little more, but they have some added benefits. First, Local Service Ads show up at the very top of the page in Google, even ahead of Traditional Google Ads. Also, businesses only pay for customers who contact you directly via a call, booking, or direct message. This provides a much better conversion rate than a Traditional Google Ad.
5. Continuously Monitor Your Google Performance
Google provides a suite of analytic tools called Google Analytics that helps business owners monitor and track their website’s performance. Regularly reviewing the results can help you identify changes or improvements that you can make to enhance your search engine ranking over time.
Key metrics include traffic volume, traffic sources, bounce rate, conversion rate, loading speed, and dwell time. If you are seeing a lot of visitors but they are leaving in a short period of time, it could be because your website is loading too slowly, or they realize that the page doesn’t contain the information they were looking for. By using this information, you can try new strategies and test how changes impact your website’s rankings on Google.
6. Mobile-Friendly Design
Currently, over half of all internet searches happen over a mobile device and in the pest control industry we are seeing closer to 80%. This is expected to increase over time as more and more people adopt smartphones. For this reason, the Google algorithm considers whether a website is mobile friendly when deciding website rankings.
Most website building applications will automatically provide mobile friendly versions of your website. However, you should still test this to make sure the fonts, layouts, and options that you have selected are compatible and visually appealing to mobile users. It’s a good idea to review your site from both a mobile phone and tablet perspective.
Building a Website with Search Engines in Mind
Having a great website that ranks well on search engines is key to building and growing your pest control business. If you’re not sure where to start, the experts at Rhino Pest Control Marketing have you covered. Reach out for a free website review and let us provide the feedback you need to make the most out of your online presence.
