SEO for Pest Control: How to Choose High-Ranking Keywords

Every pest control business wants to optimize their website for SEO for pest control to rank high in the search results and generate as much traffic as they can to their site.  

However, you need to understand that more traffic doesn’t automatically mean more revenue for your business.  

Instead of aiming for volume, focus on getting high-quality traffic instead.

By choosing high-intent keywords for your pest control business, you can connect with your target market and attract users who will likely convert and become customers.  

Importance of Choosing the Right Keywords for SEO for Pest Control

93% of online experiences begin with a search. This means that people who are looking for pest control services will likely use the web to find companies near them.  

53% of web traffic comes from organic search. If you appear first on Google search engine results pages (SERPs), you’re going to get an average click-through rate of 31.7%.  

That’s ten times more clicks compared to those results found on the second page of the SERPs.  

By optimizing your site for SEO for pest control and using high-intent keywords in your digital marketing campaigns, you can capture a huge chunk of this traffic and clicks that converts.  

Things to Consider When Selecting SEO Keywords for Your Pest Control Business

Search Volume

When choosing keywords for your pest control business, you need to consider if anyone searches using those terms. Otherwise, you won't get any visitors, even if you rank number one for that keyword.  

This is why search volume is important. Search volume refers to the number of searches for a given keyword within a certain time. The results reveal a keyword's competitiveness and popularity among users.  

A lot of companies compete for popular keywords, but we recommend that you take a more strategic approach. Instead of competing for words that your competitors are already ranking for, figure out search terms that your ideal customers use but your competitors haven’t optimized for yet.  

Avoid going for keywords with very low volume too because this means that you won’t be getting enough traffic to sustain your business.  

Keyword Difficulty

Keyword difficulty shows how challenging it is to rank for a specific keyword.  

The higher the keyword difficulty, the more challenging it is to rank in the top spot for a certain keyword because of the high competition. On the other hand, a low keyword difficulty means it's easier for you to rank for those keywords because fewer sites are competing for the top spot.  

Cost-Per-Click (CPC)

CPC refers to the amount you pay every time someone clicks on your paid ads. The higher the CPC for a certain keyword, the more likely it is to result in conversions. If the CPC is low, the keyword isn’t as competitive or the traffic generated by this keyword doesn’t convert well.

If you ever consider running ads on Google, you must consider this metric because the more clicks you get, the more your costs will add up. Note that a high CPC could mean that you won’t be able to achieve a return on your advertising investment.  

If you’re not running paid ads, you can use this information to determine what keywords you want to rank for. Usually, high-converting keywords cost more.  

Paid Difficulty

Paid difficulty refers to how challenging it is to rank for a certain keyword in paid search results.  

If a lot of sites are competing and paying a lot for a certain keyword, it could indicate that a lot of sites are competing for it in the organic search results too.  

Low-difficulty keywords are easy to rank for, but they’re not always worth it.  

5 Tips and Tricks for Choosing the Best SEO for Pest Control Keywords

1. Put Yourself in Your Customers’ Shoes

When coming up with an initial list of pest control keywords, put yourself in your customers’ shoes and think about what terms they’ll likely use if they want to find the services you offer.  

What would they type into Google?

Some examples would be: “pest control near me”, “how to get rid of house rodents”, or “affordable pest control in Miami”.  

2. Examine Your Competitors

Determine who your direct competitors are and go to their websites. Find out what keywords they’re using in their content and blogs.  

Here are the five ways you can determine your competitor’s keywords:

• Go to the HTML page source of your competitor's website and look in the code for a keyword in the title tag and meta description.  

• Conduct an SEO audit on your competitor’s site.

• Use the Google keyword planner tool to help you discover the keywords your competitors are using.  
• Determine what type of content is ranking for the leading search terms using SEMRush’s organic keyword tool. This will give you an idea of what keywords to include in your content and what types of content you should be doubling down on for specific search terms.  

3. Go for Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific search terms that a user will likely use if they’re closer to making a purchase.  

Long-tail keywords tend to have a lower search volume, but they do generate traffic that is more likely to convert.  

Every time you come up with a keyword, try to make it more specific to your pest control business by doing the following:

• Add adjectives that best describe your services. If you use natural pesticides, then consider using organic pest control as one of your keywords.  
• Localize your keywords. Add your location to your keywords to target customers in your area.  
• Create branded keywords by adding your business name to your keywords. If your business is already established in your area, use branded keywords so your patrons can easily find you.  

4. Use Tools to Conduct Keyword Research

Use keyword research tools to help you identify high-intent search terms and understand how you could rank for these terms on Google.  

Here are some free tools you can use to conduct keyword research:

• AnswerThePublic – Displays questions related to the search terms you enter. This allows you to generate keyword ideas and discover what your potential customers want to know.  
• Keyword Sheeter – Generates autocomplete results from Google. It provides real-time data on what people are searching for in search engines. It’s a great source for keyword ideas.  
• Google Trends – Provides a visual representation of a keyword’s search popularity over time.  

• Ahrefs Keyword Generator – Presents a list of one hundred keyword ideas with monthly search volumes and fifty question-type search terms.  
• Google Search Console – Enables you to track your site’s performance in organic search by showing you which keywords you’re already ranking for.  

5. Analyze Your Site’s Performance

After choosing the best SEO pest control keywords, incorporate them into your digital marketing strategy.

Track and analyze the results to see how you’re performing compared to your previous rankings and compared to your competitors.  

It’s important to monitor your keywords so you can identify which ones are generating more business for your pest control company and which ones you don’t need.

Are You Using SEO Keywords That Generate Business for Your Pest Control Company?

Let Digital Resource assess your current SEO for pest control strategy and make expert recommendations.

Our team of SEO experts and digital marketing specialists will work with you to create a custom SEO plan that will put your business ahead of your competitors and generate more customers for your company.  

Click here for a FREE SEO scan!

‍