When people start noticing signs of mice, termites, or other critters invading their homes, they don’t wait around. They’re going online to find pest control pros like you to take care of the creepy crawlies fast.
The challenge? The pest control industry is booming. Increasing urbanization means people are moving closer together, giving pests easier access to food and shelter—the very things they need to survive and breed.
The demand for bedbug, ant, termite, and mosquito control services in the U.S. has been steadily on the rise. In 2025, the pest control industry boasts $26.1 billion in revenue, growing by 2.7% from 2024, and is projected to reach $42.79 billion by 2032.
With such a saturated industry, how do you make sure customers are finding and choosing your business when they need you the most? The answer is local SEO for pest control.
[Related: An Introduction to Pest Control Marketing]
Why do you need local SEO for your pest control business?
The premise for local SEO is simple. Local SEO for pest control is a digital marketing strategy that optimizes your business’s online presence for unpaid, location-based search results on Google Search, Google Maps, and other popular search engines.
It’s important because your pest control business is inherently local. You can’t exactly treat someone’s termite infestation without actually visiting their residence, right? It helps customers in your area find you when they’re conducting online searches for the services your pest control business offers. We’ll give you the top five reasons why Local SEO for pest control companies is a must-have.
[Related: Does SEO Matter for Your Local Business's Website?]
1. Targeted web traffic
Have you ever had to turn down a customer who was ready to book a service because they were a few towns over and outside of your service area? It’s a bummer to have to turn down business and disappoint a customer simply because your site isn’t locally optimized.
When you do optimize your pest control website for local search, you don’t have this problem because you’ll be attracting web traffic from users who are already in your area and already looking for the services you provide. This then leads to high conversion rates.
2. Better online visibility
“Near me” searches have increased by more than 900% in recent years and a staggering 99% of people have used the internet to look up information about a local business in the past year. With those kinds of numbers, there is no denying that your online presence as a small business owner is more important than ever.
When you invest in local SEO activities for your website, including things like citation and link building, your business becomes much more prominent in local searches. Potential customers will be able to find (and choose!) your business more easily when they’re making those aforementioned queries online.
3. More calls and sales
The ultimate goal when optimizing for local SEO is getting more calls and sales. How exactly does that translate? Well, a few ways…
First, your Google Business Profile (GBP). An optimized GBP is the #1 most valuable asset when it comes to local SEO. It can lead to better Google Maps visibility, which in turn means more calls and in-person visits. After all, 46% of Google searches have a local focus and 72% of consumers who searched for local information on a smartphone visited a store within 5 miles.
Second, your reviews. Whether these are on your website, your Google Business Profile (see, told you it was important), or other online directories, your reviews are a major part of your local SEO strategy. Customers will use them when deciding which pest control company in their area they want to call. When you have a good overall rating and regularly reply to reviews, it’s your business that will get those calls and sales. The U.S. pest control industry had more than 33,000 different businesses operating as of August 2024, so some stellar reviews make all the difference.
Third, overall SEO strategy simply focuses on attracting customers who are much closer to making a purchase. When someone searches “pest control near me,” they need service now. They’ve already done their research and made previous searches like “what do bed bugs look like?” or “how to tell if I have termites?” and determined they have a problem that needs to be fixed. When they get to the local search stage, they’re ready to book an appointment.
4. Improved brand awareness
Your pest control business probably only serves the town you’re located in and perhaps a few surrounding ones, so instead of making your brand known across the whole web, you really only need to concentrate on your immediate community.
Local SEO tactics like creating location-specific content and web pages help build up your brand awareness specifically within your community, which in turn makes your pest control business more notable and top-of-mind for local customers.
5. Cost savings
As we mentioned, when you run a local service business like a pest control company, you only focus your digital marketing on your specific service area. With a good local SEO pest control strategy, your marketing spend is much less costly.
An optimized GBP and location-based service pages on your website help your business rank organically, reducing your need to use broad advertising campaigns. Not only this, but we also previously established that once potential customers make that “near me” search, they’re usually ready to make a purchase, meaning you don’t need to spend as much time, effort, and cash to turn a lead into a paying customer.
Compared to some other traditional advertising strategies, local SEO is a much more cost-effective way to reach your target audience.
Hibu has local SEO services for pest control companies like yours
We get how busy life as a small business owner can be. Between invoices, orders, scheduling extermination appointments, and answering frantic calls from homeowners who just found a raccoon in their attic, there’s not much time left in the day for creating a local SEO marketing strategy.
That’s where Hibu comes in. We can optimize your website, review and add keyword-rich content, help you get relevant, localized backlinks, and more. You’ve got the expertise to run your pest control business, and we have the experience to run your digital marketing.
Ready to learn more about how local SEO and other digital marketing strategies can take your pest control business to the next level? Complete our short Get Started form or call us today at 877-237-6120 for a free, no-obligation consultation.
