PCO’s Ask: Can I do My Own SEO?

Every pest control operator needs SEO, that much is a fact. But most pest controllers don’t understand the intricacies of it, which is why we decided to cover some of the basics. If you do these three things well, you’ll be on your way to ranking in Google for your local area for pest control.

The first thing you need to do is select a domain. There are a lot of options out there, but your main consideration should be to answer this question:

Is this Memorable?

The tld (.com, .org, .biz, .net) has no impact on ranking in Google, though whatever you pick should convey trust to the user.

For example, the most common ending is .com, so it should be your first option. .Net, .org, and .biz are also acceptable, but make sure what you pick doesn’t closely resemble another business in your area that could make it confusing. Don’t overthink this, but reach out to us if you have questions.

Content

Search Engines love content, there are no two ways about it. The more content you have, the better your chances are of getting exposure online. It’s not a standalone strategy, but it will help you on your way to converting visitors.

One additional thing that having a blog does is it creates legitimacy for your pest control company. If someone comes to your site and sees a whole host of articles, tips and tricks, and information, they’ll know you’re a real company. Users are more skeptical than ever that they’re not actually getting the service promised by a website, which could technically be set up by any random person.

Having a lot of content also is a great chance to reinforce your brand. Link back to your homepage with the link text as your company name. Link to helpful articles and landing pages that you want to promote. Share these on social media. Even though they might not lead to tons of extra customers at the start, it’s a great way for current customers to see that you are active in the online community.

And props if you use a typewriter to do it all!

Directories

Create profiles on every relevant directory, including locally. Google wants to make sure you are who you say you are, so having your business information in multiple places online can help make sure you’re golden with the search engines.

Create a Google Business page and keep it 100% updated. This will get you into the “maps section” on Google searches.

You may not pull up first, but getting verified is the first step. One quick way to see which directories are important is to simply search Google for “pest control (city) and see what pulls up. Usually there will be Yelp, HomeAdvisor, AngiesList, and others that are in the top 100.

Go through the first few pages of Google and make sure you’re a part of any listings that pop up.

This is definitely not an expansive list of pest control marketing ideas, but simply a quick overview of a few factors that we look at when assessing a website for SEO.