It happens every year: the busy season seems to sneak up on you, and suddenly you're caught in a whirlwind of work.

As a business owner, you're thinking of a thousand things at once; and more than likely, updates to your pest control website and online profile aren't at the top of the list. But they should be.

Having an accurate, consistent, and widespread online presence is crucial to driving new leads to your business – and it's even more critical at the height of your busy season. Your lead potential is high as pest activity starts to increase, so if you're not in the right place at the right time with the right information, you're missing out on the leads that could feed you for the rest of the year. 

There’s a lot you can be doing to take your online presence to another level, but here a short list of easy ways you can ensure that this season is your best ever. 

1. Create location-specific content for your website

Search engines are in the business of providing the most helpful information possible to the users that are searching. To improve your website’s ranking in search engines such as Google and Bing - as well as improve overall user experience - create location-specific content for your website.

Think about it: If you're looking for a pest control service in Raleigh, what information do you want? 
Most likely, you're expecting to land on a website for a company that operates in Raleigh, and you want more information about treatment options and pricing. 

If you have robust content on your site that appeals to searchers in each of your primary markets, it makes you more likely to rank for local searches and increases the likelihood that someone who clicks through will stay on the page. Users don’t want to have to work to find the information they need – so don’t make them!

By creating localized landing pages for specific pest control services that you provide in specific markets, your pest control website will have better visibility when prospective clients are searching and you'll be more likely to draw in new leads when it matters most!

2. Make sure your business’s local listings are consistent

In order to avoid confusion and make your pest control company's website as accessible as possible to potential customers, you actually have to think beyond the website! Your name, address, phone number, and website should be consistent across all online platforms.

You don’t want a customer showing up at your former address or calling the wrong number! Anywhere that your business information is mentioned on the Internet is a local listing. Think: Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp, and so on.

The more consistent your business information is across the Internet, the easier potential customers will be able to find you, and the more likely it is that you’ll rank in the map section of Google.

3. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews

When it comes to making decisions about local businesses, people place their trust in the opinions of others. The quantity and quality of your pest control business’ reviews are so important; and while you can’t control the latter, you can certainly play a hand in encouraging satisfied customers to leave reviews.

Whether it’s through email, face-to-face interaction with your customers, or using a tool like Podium to help with outreach and response rate, you simply need to have a review generation strategy in place.

In this day and age with social proof being so readily accessible, it’s extremely important to focus on your off-site brand. It’s great to have an awesome website with testimonials being displayed here and there, but remember: users are acutely aware that the information on your website is biased. Give them the social proof they’re looking for to push them through the decision-making process much faster.

4. Call the users on your website to action – tell them what to do!

Make it easy for visitors on your website to take the new step by telling them exactly what you want them to do.

One of the biggest conversion issues that websites have is simply not calling their users to action. After all, people are more inclined to do what they’re told, so if you tell them exactly what you want them to do - "Schedule your free inspection!" or "Contact us now" - they’ll be all the more likely to do it!

5. Offer seasonal coupons to give potential customers the push to sign up

People love to feel like they're saving money - so offering a special deal on service can help push potential customers to take the plunge when they're making a purchasing decision. 

Think about what you're willing to pay for a lead, given their lifetime value. It may also be worth testing if specific seasonal offers appeal more to customers, or whether a bigger offer results in more customers signing up for recurring packages. 

Creating and maintaining your online presence is a huge time investment - but it's also one of the fundamental pieces of your digital marketing strategy. Don't wait until it's way too late in your busy season to take steps to improve it!