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Local SEO Strategy for Pest Control Business & Franchisees
Pest control business owners and franchisees rely on their outstanding reputation, but it's not enough to deliver a great service when trying to compete with other companies. You also need to make sure people in your local area can find you and connect with your service online.
Did you know that search queries, which include the words “near me” and “close by,” have increased by 900% in the last two years? Local search engine optimization lets you access all of these potential customers. It helps you appear at the top of the organic search engine rankings when people in your area search for businesses like yours.
Your local search engine optimization (SEO) efforts will also help you connect with your community and build trust. This could be through educational content, special offers, or even just a social media page that you update with your success stories.
Edge's platform can drive growth for your business or franchise location with its customer-centric solutions. It has everything you need to grow your pest control business in a single platform.
Read on to learn more about local SEO strategies and how to build your brand online.
Why your pest control business needs local SEO
Local SEO can help your pest control business grow in loads of different ways.
- Better visibility: Home service businesses need to build their online presence if they want to compete. Local SEO helps you appear at the top of the search results when customers search for things like “pest control near me.” That makes it more likely they'll read about your business and book your service.
- Targeted organic traffic: Local SEO lets you connect with people in the same area as your business. It lets the right consumers find you at the right time, helping you acquire more customers that you can drive to in your region.
- Building trust with customers: When you develop a strong online presence, you tell every customer searching for your business that you're reliable. As a plus, when they find you online, they can read positive reviews that other people leave about you, making it more likely they'll trust your expertise.
- Great user experience: Local SEO is about more than just getting noticed online. It's also about making sure your website is an inviting place to be and creating content that is really valuable for your audience. This helps convert visitors into paying customers and creates brand loyalty.
How to build your local SEO strategy for pest control
Here are five things you need to take into account when building your pest control local SEO strategy.
- Create your Google Business profile
First things first—you should claim your Google My Business listing so people can find your service in the search rankings.
Start by going to Google My Business and signing up. You can then search for your business. If you can find it, claim it. If not, create a new listing.
You can then fill out the listing with important information like a contact number and your business hours. Also provide a link to your website or franchise location listing here to let customers visit your site.
If you don't have a physical location, you can toggle off “Show business address to customers” if necessary. While it will mean people can't find you on Google Maps, it won't impact your ranking in the online directory.
- Find relevant keywords
Keywords are really just the words and phrases that people enter into Google when they look for pest control businesses like yours. Including target keywords in your website and content lets Google match user search queries to your business.
You need to think about what location-specific things your audience will be searching for when they look for your pest control services. Google Keyword Planner or SEMRush are two keyword research tools that can help with this.
If you’re running your business in Portland, for example, you could have keywords like:
- Pest control in Portland
- Portland exterminator
- Portland pest control
- Bed bug treatment in Portland
You can also target more niche long-tail keywords like “bee removal” or “termite treatment Portland” that deal with specific scenarios a customer might be facing.
Once you have your keywords, you should include them in your meta descriptions, headers, and website content so your website appears when users search for these terms. You might, for example, make a landing page dedicated to electrician services in your area or create a blog post that educates users on how to fix a clogged toilet that includes all of the keywords you found.
That said, make sure you don't include keywords if they aren't relevant to your page. This is known as keyword stuffing, and Google hates it, meaning it might penalize your site.
Edge's franchise and service brand growth platform is built for businesses like yours looking to expand. It has a range of tools to help you grow your brand and connect with your customers.
- Optimize your on-page
Keywords help you get qualified leads, but your website needs to be optimized to keep customers on your page.
You should organize your site so it’s easy for people to navigate. Have pages for contact information as well as the different services you offer.
You should also make sure your website is responsive. Many people use mobile search these days, so you'll want to check your site on different devices to make sure it works as intended on every platform. Your page should adapt to different screen sizes, like mobile devices or tablets and desktops.
Finally, make sure your site looks attractive. You can include images and videos for some added aesthetics. Just remember to optimize them so they don't impact your page load speeds.
Do all of these things, and you'll reduce bounce rates and keep customers on your page for longer.
- Create great content
High-quality content can help you build a connection with your audience. If you provide valuable educational resources and engaging stories, people will trust your brand and be more likely to purchase your service.
There's an unlimited number of ways to make great content. You could showcase client testimonials and create educational blogs that give valuable insights about common household problems. You might host a giveaway, collaborate with a local influencer, or even write about local events that you'll be attending.
Regardless, remember to include the keywords you discovered so that the search engine algorithms can match user online searches with your content.
Don't forget social media. It lets you engage with your local community. You can geotag your posts to show your location and even add buttons so people can share your content.
Edge has customer engagement tools that can retain local customers. Track customer interactions, communicate with your audience, and handle leads to build brand loyalty.
- Encourage positive online reviews
Finally, there are customer reviews. Positive feedback will help clients decide whether to give you a call or not. Plus, Google will often display pest control businesses with lots of positive reviews higher in the online listings.
You'll want to encourage clients to leave a review if they like your service. Their endorsement will tell others that you're trustworthy.
If you do get a negative review, respond quickly. It shows your professionalism and tells your audience you care about their experience.
Edge's platform can automate customer reviews, making it easier for you to collect feedback through email or text without manually asking each client.
Grow your pest control business with local SEO using Edge
It's essential for pest control business owners to practice local SEO. It helps your business appear online and build trust in lots of different ways. By creating your Google My Business listing, finding location-specific keywords, and creating content that helps you connect with your community, you'll have all the pieces in place to start growing your online presence.
Want to find new ways to grow your pest control business? Get a demo today with Edge to start attracting new customers and building your business.
Edge Team
