As a pest control company, you probably hear a lot from companies that promise to instantly transplant your website to the top of the search results, and all for a shockingly low cost. Sounds too good to be true, right?
The short answer is yes–because it is. Unfortunately, there’s no secret to overnight success. In order to perform well in the SERPs (search engine results pages), you’ve got to dedicate yourself to understanding how the search engines operate and put in the hard work. However, there is good news: With some hard work and effective SEO marketing strategies, it is possible for your pest control company to dominate your local market.
How does SEO work?
SEO, or search engine optimization, is based on two simple concepts. When users type a query into a search engine like Google, the search engine’s goal is to find the web pages that best match the user’s query. How well you rank in the SERPs depends on two factors: how relevant your website is to the user’s search and how well the search engine can “read” your website’s content. SEO refers to your efforts to make your website pages as readable as possible, and by doing so, improving where you land in the search engine results pages.
Believe it or not, some websites are entirely ignored by the search engine simply because they aren’t written or formatted in a way that the search engine can interpret what content they contain. You can have the perfect content for a user’s query and never be seen if the search engine can’t properly read your website pages.
Steps to Incorporate in Your Pest Control Company’s SEO Strategy
So, how can you improve your pest control company’s SEO? Here are 4 steps to improve your pest control company’s ranking on Google.
1. See where you’re currently ranked
First, you need to understand if you rank at all, and if so, what queries you rank for. Fortunately, this is simple–perform your own queries with popular search terms using Google and look for your pest control company’s website. Some examples of search terms that you should show up for include:
- “Pest control company near me”
- “Exterminator near me”
- “Best spider control in my area”
- “Ant problem in my town”
You might be surprised to learn that 30% of Google searches pertain to local information. These are your ideal clients, and your SEO strategies should be geared at capturing this audience, rather than more general search terms.
2. Optimize, optimize, optimize
After understanding where your pest control company’s website currently ranks on Google in your local market, it’s time to optimize the areas that need improvement. Take a critical look at your website, site pages, page titles, H1 tags, meta descriptions, and alt tags to ensure they contain relevant keywords and concise, relevant information. These elements are your best tools for helping the search engines be able to understand what your website is about.
3. Evaluate the structure of your website
Next, take a hard look at the structure of your website. What information does your website contain and who is it geared towards? Like we mentioned previously, the answer should be your local market. Questions like these will help you assess the quality of the content that you have and where you can improve:
- Do you have a fully optimized site page for all of the services offered in your local market? Service offerings include things like pest control, mosquito control, and ant control.
- Do you have fully optimized pages for all of the communities that you serve?
- Do you have fully optimized pages for all of the services offered within each unique community?
4. Evaluate your content
The next step is to assess the overall quality of your content. Ask yourself if it’s high quality, professional-sounding, whether or not it is clear and makes sense, and if your content is actually answering queries your target audience will ask. Again, think particularly hard about your local market, including pests that are common in your area.
Remember there’s no instant recipe for success
Finally, remember that success with SEO requires hard work. There’s simply no secret to landing at the top of the Google overnight, regardless of what SEO companies may try to tell you. Successful SEO is the result of all of the efforts from your SEO pest control marketing strategy. You simply have to work harder than your competitors to create better content and understand how the search engines work.
Improve Your Pest Control Company’s SEO Today
While the SEO world can feel intimidating at first, remember that there’s no secret to instant success. Once you understand the basics of how search engines work, with a little patience and hard work, you’ll be well on your way to dominating your local market.
For more information about developing an SEO strategy for your pest control company, schedule a free pest control marketing assessment today.
