Local SEO for pest control: Exterminate low-ranking factors

You’d have to be living in a mouse hole not to realize that local SEO for pest control should be an important part of an exterminator’s online strategy. With some reports claiming as many as 46% of all searches today have local intent, it’s clear that the days of looking up pest control companies in the Yellow Pages are well and truly over. Local SEO for pest control companies involves distributing NAP data (name, address, phone number), generating reviews and tracking ranking progress as you put your business in front of more people in need of your services. 

When executed correctly, good local SEO for pest control companies will transform you into the go-to exterminator for your area, shooing off the competition. But much like pest control, local SEO isn’t something to just charge into without the proper tools and knowledge. Fortunately, Semrush’s Listing Management is all you need to get started the right way so you can be sure your local SEO is 100% pest free.

Pest control SEO: How it boosts search visibility

Pest control is a thriving industry in the United States. There will never not be a need to prevent and remove pests, especially in big cities where insects and rodents can cause serious health and safety issues. But with industries that are generally considered a safe investment comes stiff competition, so to stand a chance of getting ahead, you’ll need a solid local SEO strategy that will set you apart from other pest control companies in the SERPs (search engine results page). 

When someone has a pest problem, their first port of call is usually to type in a search query along the lines of “pest control companies near me” or “pest control in [location]”. But instead of simply seeing organic results for pest control services, Google presents users with its top three ranked results, known as the local pack. In the pest control industry, where the potential customer might be quite anxious to get in touch with someone to get their cockroach infestation under control, this shortlist of three local results is usually where their search ends. Pest control companies that appear in the local pack typically have the highest number of five-star reviews, and a good online presence in other business listings, making the customer feel confident about picking up the phone. In fact, 60% of users make contact with businesses directly from SERP results without even clicking through to their website. 

With a complete Google Business Profile featuring great reviews, a specific business category (“Pest control service”), detailed description, accurate service hours, phone number, service areas, photos and other useful information, people can usually make their minds up about which pest control company they like the look of. Local SEO for pest control companies should be a priority to make sure you’re not the listing buried below position three, where few people are going to find you. 

Rank faster: Getting local SEO for pest control optimized to the point that you’re ranking above your competitors takes time, especially building citations and generating reviews. Get noticed faster with Semrush’s Listing Management, which takes your business details and distributes them to the web’s top directories while also helping you manage reviews efficiently.

How to start taking control of your local SEO

Good pest control SEO starts with a good distribution of business listings. Getting your business on the main platforms people use to find pest control companies increases your chances of being discovered online and also signals to Google that you’re a prominent, well-known business. But before you start blasting out your pest control company’s essential details to the first directories you come across, take a little time to plan how you’re going to roll things out. The best place to start is Google Business Profile, which is where both Google Search and Maps pull data from. This is arguably the most important place for a local business to be online and where you’ll probably receive the majority of client reviews. If a profile already exists for your business (a former employee may have created one and abandoned it, or Google itself may have created it based on NAP data available on other directories) you’ll need to claim it. If not, it’s quite simple to set one up, you just have to wait until it’s verified before you can properly manage it. Go through every section of the profile edit screens to complete as much of your profile as possible, being sure to describe the services you offer in detail with keywords relevant to pest control and the areas you serve. 

Once you have a clear template for your business listings, begin publishing to more directories, double-checking everything so there are no inconsistencies. Google uses other directories to verify your pest control business’s NAP data, so it’s important to make sure business names, addresses and phone numbers all match. And if you make a change to anything, it has to be updated on every directory your business is listed on.

Constant care: Inspecting the web for erroneous business listings is a tall order for busy pest control companies that already have their hands full with inspecting homes and businesses for pests. Leave it to Semrush Local's Listing Management to keep a constant eye on your listings and alert you to anything that needs fixing.

Attract more attention with solid review management

Now your pest control SEO is buzzing with a strong online presence in the most important directories, it’s time to give your local reputation a checkup. Pest control businesses with lower than a 4.5 average rating might struggle to rank in Google’s local pack if competitors have a stronger review profile. Worse still, Siri is thought to overlook Yelp ratings of lower than 4.5 altogether, according to Semrush's 2020 Voice Search for Local Businesses Study . But attracting positive reviews for your pest control business isn’t as hard as it might seem. In fact, a lot of people are more than happy to leave a glowing review for businesses that have done a good job—and all you have to do is reach out and ask them. Once you’re sure you’ve eradicated your client’s pest problem, reach out via SMS (it’s more likely to get opened) asking if they were satisfied with the service with a link to your Google reviews . Drop all reviews a polite reply—including any negative ones—so people can see you’re actively engaged with your clients and dedicated to doing a good job for them. 

The pest around: Replying to reviews with a thank you or to address complaints is an important part of local SEO for pest companies. It shows people you value their opinion and can actually lead to an increase in the number of reviews you receive. Manage your reviews the simple way in Semrush Local's Review Management so you don’t leave any customers hanging without a “thank you”.

Pest control SEO content: Attract clients with 

E-A-T

While a lot of users contact pest control companies directly from SERPs, that doesn’t mean you can neglect the content on your website. Whenever you write anything on your website, consider whether it demonstrates expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T). If it doesn’t, it might not be doing a good job of persuading people to choose you for their pest control needs. 

Well-written articles on pest control and dedicated location pages for the areas you serve not only help your potential customers understand your business, but they also help search engines determine how to rank you. If you’ve never written content with local SEO for pest control companies in mind, you might want to hire an expert freelancer or agency to help you.

Thorough keyword research should be conducted before putting pen to paper, and all posts and pages need to be properly structured with H1 tags, meta descriptions, and image alt-tags. Be as helpful as possible to people looking for advice on pest control. For example, you might suggest easy things landlords can do to prevent pests in the first place. While it might seem bad for business to encourage people to solve problems without professional help, being useful paints you in a positive light and you’ll be remembered when your pest control services are needed. Plus, great content like this is likely to be shared among friends with similar problems on social media and can attract links from other relevant blogs and news sources. 

Be consistent: Publishing content for your pest control business on a regular basis is hard work. It’s best to create a bulk load of content and schedule it out at least a month in advance across your channels. On top of using Semrush Local's tools for local SEO for pest control, explore the platform’s other tools such as Social Poster, which you can use to schedule content across Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Google Business Profile.