Google Ads For Pest Control Companies

A simple guide for pest control PPC in 2025. Put your pest control business at the top of the search results and increase your lead generation efforts with Google Ads.

Utilizing Google Ads For Your Pest Control Business

Have you considered using Google Ads for your pest control business? Google Ads can help increase your customer base significantly.  Google has over 90% of the global market share for search engines, with nearly half of those searches demonstrating local intent. In fact, 77% of consumers report using Google when looking for local business information. If your business can’t be found on Google, you’re missing out on potential customers.

 

Google Ads can not only help deliver traffic to your website, it also offers clear and meaningful statistics to evaluate the performance. With properly targeted and maintained campaigns set up and a clear way to measure new customer leads through conversion tracking, you will be able to evaluate how much budget you are putting into Google Ads and the return on your investment. 

 

Google Ads Creation For Pest Control

 

How Does It Work?

Within a Google Ads account there can be multiple campaigns. Campaigns should be focused on a single theme, goal or service/segment of your business. Within each campaign are ad groups, with each ad group containing a keyword theme and their respective ads. Keywords are used to match users’ search queries on Google. The ad is what is displayed to the searcher once their query matches your keyword. Once a searcher clicks on your ad, they are brought to your website (or the specific sub-page of your website that you specify) and you are charged for the click. If the searcher sees your ad, but does not click on it, there is no charge.  

 

You can think of the Google Ads structure as a hierarchy. Take a look at the below visual to get a better understanding of the structure:


 

 

 

How To Get Started 

This section will give you a brief understanding about how to get started on Google Ads, but it’s important to keep in mind that there is certainly lots of nuance.

  • Create account – First, you will need a Google email account to create a Google Ads account.
  • Plan – Before you even begin to create campaigns, plan ahead of time how you want to structure your account. What services are most important for you to target? How many campaigns will you have? What ad groups will be included in each?  It’s important to remember that you do not need to advertise for every service you provide. Get started by choosing the top few: either those that are most profitable, most in demand, or whatever meets the goals of your individual business. You can always add more later or rotate them based on seasons.
  • Create a campaign – Choose to create a campaign without goal’s guidance (This option offers the most control of settings and features).
  • Campaign type

For the purpose of showing ads when people search for terms related to your business you want to create a Search campaign.

 

 

  • Other options include Performance Max, Display, Shopping, Video, App, Smart and Discovery campaigns. These may be beneficial if you want to expand outside of search, but for a local pest control company search is ideal to begin with. 
  • Results – Choose the results you want to get from the campaign. For a pest control company the two that make the most sense are website visits (Get people from your ad to your website) and phone calls (get them to take action and book an appointment). 
  • Network settings – This is an important step that will have a substantial impact on campaign performance. It is also a step that is very often missed by those who are not highly experienced in Google Ads. Google automatically selects both the Search Network and the Display Network. Here is the difference between the two:
    • Search Network – a user searches for a set of terms such as “exterminator near me” and then are shown results.
      • There is a further sub-setting within Search campaigns giving you the option to include Google Search Partners or not. This is not to be confused with the search network itself. Google Search Partners are a group of search-related websites and apps where your ads can appear (not to be confused with Search Network. These other search entities include Ask.com or Walmart.com and many others. To get the most activity from Google.com itself it is best to unselect Google search partners. It can always be turned on down the road if you are looking to expand traffic. 
    • Display Network – a user is not actively searching anything and is browsing the web on non-search engine sites. Depending on the settings, they may not even be interested in or have a need for an exterminator. They are shown your ad anyway as they browse other things.

 

While the Display Network may have its place in a large budget, brand awareness campaign,  local pest control companies are better off starting with search only. For this reason, we recommend that you unselect Display Network. 

 

 

  • Ad rotation – Ideally, as you continue to grow and optimize your campaigns, each ad group will have more than one ad variation for testing purposes. Google will automatically show the best performing ad if you have the ad rotation setting on “Optimize: Prefer best performing ads.” 
  • End Dates – This section gives you the ability to set an end date (not required). Unless you have a specific marketing period, this isn’t necessary. Campaigns can be manually paused whenever necessary.
  • Ad scheduling – This gives you the ability to have your ads run only when you want them to. If your pest control company is open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day you can leave it on the default setting for all days/times. If not, you may choose to have the ads not run on Sunday, for example, if there is no one available to answer calls on that day.
  • Audience segments – These are groups of people with similar interests, behavior or demographic criteria that Google compiles based on their internal data. In relevance to pest control, there are audience segments of those who are in-market for pest control services and home inspection services (which may require a termite inspection). You can also create your own audiences such as people who have visited your website in the past (remarketing). These audience segments can be added to your campaign in “observation mode.” This allows you to see how each segment performs in terms of clicks and conversions (phone calls or contact form submissions). This data comes in handy in making more advanced decisions once your campaigns have been running for a while.
  • Location setting – This is unique to every pest control business. You should choose locations that your business offers service to. You can select a state, metro areas, cities, counties, zip codes, or even a radius around your central location. There can be any combination of these location options as well. Location settings ensure that your ad is only shown to those who are within your service area. This makes for the best experience for both the user and the business who is advertising.

 

Although Google recommends to target “Presence or interest: People in, regularly in or who’ve shown interest in your targeted locations,” Google Ads professionals advise to use “Presence: People in or regularly in your targeting locations” in order to cut down on out of area activity.

 

  • Language settings – This may seem like a good opportunity to expand your reach, but Google will not translate your ads or keywords. The language they are written in is what they will be displayed in, which can cause confusion. If a user searches for “exterminadora de cucarachas” (cockroach exterminator) and an ad appears in English, they may not be able to read it. If they do click on the ad and go to your English website, they may just leave quickly and you now wasted money on that click. As a side, we are seeing a lot of search terms in Spanish along with other languages despite having campaign language settings set to only English. In these cases (if desired) we are adding negative keywords for the foreign language terms.

 

If your business is located in an area that has multiple languages spoken and your business can support those potential customers if and when they contact you, you can create multiple campaigns with keywords and ads in other languages with corresponding landing pages on your website.

 

  • Bidding – This is a complicated process of figuring out what works for your specific campaign. Factors such as location, competition, or which specific bug or pest you are targeting all matter. If you bid too high, you may run out of budget very quickly. If you bid too low, your ad may not be shown.  Bids may also vary greatly within your account, especially when targeting various pests with different exterminating needs.  It is recommended to start out with manual CPC. It is vital to check back often and adjust bids based on performance. After you are consistently seeing clicks in your campaigns you may opt to switch to automated bid strategies such as maximize clicks or maximize conversions. 

 

As previously mentioned, campaigns and ad groups should be focused on a single theme. You may even want to create a separate campaign for each individual type of pest or group into similar themes (bees, wasps, and hornets as an example). This will provide the opportunity for more granular targeting and ad assets. 

 

Ad Assets (Previously known as Ad Extensions)

 

Ad assets are extensions to your main ad text. 


They provide additional information about your business. There are a variety of ad assets available. You should aim to include any that are relevant to your business.  Ad assets can be applied on the account, campaign, or ad group level. If you have multiple campaigns, it may make sense to customize the assets by campaign. The main ad assets relevant to exterminators include:

 

  • Sitelinks – links to additional pages of your website that a searcher may find relevant. This can include your contact page, information about your business, a coupon, or other relevant pages a searcher may find useful in deciding to contact you. Besides the link, you can customize a headline and description of what you want the sitelink to say. Aim to add at least 4 sitelinks. (underlined in red in the screenshot above)
  • Callouts – This asset allows you to list standout features of your business. There is a 25 character limit so they should be short and to the point. Free estimates, Open 24/7, 25+ years experience, etc. This is a great opportunity to highlight what differentiates your business from competitors. 
  • Structured snippets – Offers the opportunity to create a list based on Google’s predetermined list of options. In relation to pest control the most relevant category would be “service catalog” where you can list the top 10 pests that are important to your business.
  • Call – This asset is extremely important, especially considering more than 60% of Google searches in 2024 were from mobile devices. By having a call asset with your ad, a user can simply click on the phone number and call you.  You can set the days and times that you want this asset to be active if you do not want to receive calls at all times.
  • Images – This asset allows small thumbnail photos to be displayed next to your text ad on a search results page. Using the tool in Google ads, you can scan your website to find images that are already the correct size, or you can upload other images. These can be added on the campaign or ad group level and should correspond to what the campaign or ad group is for. It is important to keep the images closely linked so that a person specifically searching for bees sees an image of bees and does not see an image for a bed bug. 
  • Promotion – Promotion assets have the ability to highlight a deal or discount that you are offering. (underlined in green in the screenshot above)
  • Business name and logo – These assets are only available after you complete Google’s verification process. They are self explanatory, being the name and logo of the company. 

 

Assets will be displayed along with your ad in various formats. Google may choose to show only some assets at a time and it may differ for each search conducted. With the addition of assets to your ad, your ad takes up more real estate on the search engines results page, which captures more attention from the searcher and increases the likelihood of them clicking on your ad compared to an ad without all the extra information. 

 

Creating Ad Groups & Choosing Keywords

Now that your campaign shells are created, it’s now time to set up the inner parts. First, you will need to create your ad groups. For pest control it is best to have at least one ad group per type of pest. Some may require more than one ad group if they have multiple name variations. By separating each pest into its own ad group you can assure that the ad text will match. A user who searches for mice extermination will see an ad that says mice, not rats. 

 

  • Start by creating an ad group for general pest control keywords and another for exterminator keywords. You can then continue to create ad groups for any pests that you identified as important to your business.
  • Next, for each ad group create a list of keywords to target. Google offers the “Keyword Planner” tool that allows you to enter keywords and get additional ideas. Keywords should not be too general so that the meaning could be ambiguous. Having “mouse” as a keyword will match search queries for the rodent as well as a computer mouse or Mickey Mouse. It is better to include words that indicate the true meaning we are targeting along with intent to purchase: mouse exterminator, mouse exterminator, mice removal services, etc. Keywords including “near me” or specific location names are also helpful for conversion rate as they include some intent to purchase, such as “mouse exterminator near me” and “mouse exterminator Springfield.”


 

If you’re interested in related reading, we talk a bit more about keyword intent in this article. 

 

  • Match types – Google offers 3 match types for keywords. It is imperative to know the differences between them and utilize the types that make the most sense for your business.
    • Broad match – The most basic of the keyword match types. It leaves it up to Google to match your keyword to a user’s search query as Google sees fit. It does not require the words in your keyword to even be in the search. The broad keyword mouse exterminator might trigger your ad to show for the search query mouse traps. While the user may have a mice problem, they are looking to buy mouse traps, not seeking a professional’s help. It is not the best use of your budget to spend money on searches like these when there are plenty of people actively looking to take the next step and hire an exterminator.
    • Phrase match – Offers slightly more control of the queries that match your keyword. Phrase match is indicated by quotation marks around your keyword such as “mouse exterminator.” All of the words within the quotes should be contained in a user’s query in order for there to be a match. An exception exists for very closely related words such as singular/plurals or words that have similar meaning such as service and treatment. There may be additional words before or after the phrase such as in “mouse exterminator near me”. I will also add, as of fairly recently, Google has been treating phrase match keywords a lot more ‘loosely’ than they had in the past. 
    • Exact match – Provides the most control over what queries will match your keywords and trigger your ads to show. Exact match is indicated by brackets such as [mouse exterminator]. Only when the user’s search query matches exactly to your exact match keyword will your ad be eligible to show as a search result. Google does still make an exception for words they deem as close variants.
    • Negative keywords – Perhaps the biggest mistake DIY Google Ads users make is ignoring this. Negative keywords allow you to block your ad from showing when words you have deemed negative keywords are present. There should be a robust list of negative keywords that is added to frequently. With Google’s broad match keyword initiative, their aggressive(?) tactics to get advertisers to utilize broad match keywords as often as possible and the even the function of phrase match keywords acting a lot more like broad match keywords lately, it is imperative that you take negative keywords very seriously in order to avoid wasted ad spend. In relation to exterminators some common examples would be: 
      • People looking to buy products → -lowes, -depot (for Home Depot), -Amazon
      • Job seekers → -apprenticeship(s), -career(s)
      • Medical advice for bug bites → -bite(s), -medication(s)
      • Alternative meanings → 
        • Bats→ -baseball
        • Ants → Antman
        • Mouse → Mickey, Disney
      • Any pest control services you do not offer or do not want to increase business for.

 

Not understanding and utilizing Google’s keyword match types is the biggest contributing factor in wasted spend. If you do not indicate a match type with quotes or brackets, they will be input as broad match. Combined with a lackluster negative keyword list, the search queries your ad comes up for could be wide-ranging and irrelevant, enabling your campaigns to waste money. 

 

Creating Ads 

 

 

Finally we arrive at writing your ad text that will be displayed as part of Google’s search results. This process will be repeated for each ad group and the ad text for each should directly relate to the keyword theme of the ad group. 

  • Enter your final URL. This should be the most relevant page of your website for the specific ad group. If your ad group is for Bed Bugs, the ad should lead people to the page of your website with the most information about Bed Bugs. 
  • Enter the display path if applicable. This would be the part of the URL that indicates the page name. If your page is named /bed-bugs enter bed-bugs as the display path. It provides further details to the searcher of where the ad will be taking them. Using a display path is recommended, but not required. 
  • Headlines are a key component of the ad text. There are 15 available headline slots with up to 30 characters each. Do your best to utilize as many headlines as you can. Headlines should be clear and provide helpful information. They should include keywords and selling points of your business. Some examples:
    • Get Rid Of Your Bed Bugs Fast
    • Exterminator For Bed Bugs
    • Free Estimates
    • Over 40 Years Experience
    • Bed Bug Service In Springfield
  • Descriptions represent the bulk of your ad text. There are 4 available description slots with up to 90 characters each. Using text from your website to come up with ideas is a good place to start. Utilize features of your business and include calls to action – what do you want the searcher to do next? All 4 descriptions should be different. Some examples:
    • Effective, Environmentally Friendly Pest Control Options. Call Now For Immediate Service
    • Kill Bed Bugs Before They Spread! Our Innovative Techniques Will Eliminate Bed Bugs Fast.

 

Because we are using Google Responsive Search Ads (in most cases), it is important to remember that not all 15 headlines and 4 descriptions will be displayed at once. Google will mix and match to display up to 3 headlines and 2 descriptions. For this reason the headlines and descriptions should have some variation. It avoids having 3 headlines that say “Bed Bug Treatment” “Bed Bug Service” and “Bed Bug Removal”. The algorithm will eventually show the combinations that perform best. 

 

From Google Ads support docs:

Responsive search ads let you create an ad that adapts to show more relevant messages to your customers. Enter multiple headlines and descriptions when creating a responsive search ad, and over time, Google Ads tests different combinations and learns which combinations perform best. By adapting your ad’s content to more closely match potential customers’ search terms, responsive search ads may improve your campaign’s performance.

More information on Responsive Search Ads can be found directly from Google here: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7684791

 

To take your ads to the next level you can create a 2nd variation with slight differences from the 1st. This allows the 2 ads to run simultaneously and establish which one yields the best results. 

 

Budget

The last step before publishing your brand new campaign is to set the budget. Google utilizes a daily budget. Your campaigns may spend slightly more or less on any given day – they can spend double your daily budget in a given day(!). In order to account for these fluctuations, in total for a month you will not be charged more than your daily budget times 30 (monthly average).  Set a daily budget that you are comfortable with, but be aware that a budget that is too low may not give you significant traffic, which will lead to not collecting enough data for optimization.

 

Lastly, review everything you have input and publish your campaign! 

 

Tips For Successful Google Ads Pest Control Campaigns

 

Improving Your Quality Score

 

Google assigns a quality score to each keyword based on factors including relevance, landing page experience and the expected click through rate. The quality score is then used along with your bid to determine your ad rank. Ad ranks amongst all eligible advertisers are then compared and if your ad rank is too low your ad will not appear. Higher ad ranks will have higher placement on the search results page. This process is repeated for each and every Google search that is done. Google uses Quality Score as a way of fulfilling their goal of providing relevant and reliable information to users. It also makes it more fair for advertisers since raising your bid will not affect your quality score. Improving your quality score will help though. 

 

Google determines relevancy by looking at:

 

  • Are the keywords in the user’s query?
  • Does the content of the final URL match the user’s query?
  • Does the landing page experience provide accurate information and a good user experience? 
  • Is the ad text relevant? 
  • Will a user likely click on the ad? (Known as expected click through rate)

 

Search Terms & Negative Keywords

One key way in improving Quality Score and overall account health is to regularly review your search terms. These are the exact words used by searchers who viewed your ad. Within your Google Ads account you will be able to see search terms from both searches that resulted in clicks and those that only triggered impressions.  To access the search terms report you will want to start by logging into your Google Ads account. Once in the account navigate to campaigns from the left navigation bar, then choose the subfolder for “Insights and reports.” This will drop down to include a few reports, but the one you want to focus on is the “Search terms.”  

 

As mentioned earlier in this article, Google’s keyword mapping has gotten a lot more liberal. I cannot stress enough how important it is to launch your account with a robust negative keyword list and continue to develop it over time.

 

You may be on the look-out for the following themes of keywords to add as negative keywords:

  • competitor names, competitor phone numbers, competitor addresses (believe it or not, we have seen any of those searches map to a general phrase match keyword)
  • educational/training/course related terms
  • careers/jobs/opportunities related terms
  • pictures/vides of —
  • towns/cities/states/countries not in your service area
  • foreign language related terms
  • specific product related terms
  • Etc.

 

 

Carefully review this report and make note of any words that are not relevant. Focus especially on those search terms that you received a click for since that is where your money is being spent. Focus also on search terms that have a high number of impressions, meaning that users’ searched this multiple times. Add to your list any word that will never apply to your business in any context. This would be a word such as Logitech that would be associated with a computer mouse. Another example would be if a search term was for “bumblebee costume”.  Costume(s) will never be relevant to your business so you want to add those words to your list. Unlike broad/phrase/exact where close variations are included, negative keywords are only as written so you want to include singular and plural variations.

 

Broad, phrase and exact match can still be applied to negative keywords. If you find a multiple word search term that you want to add as a negative keyword such as “bed bath and beyond” you can enter it onto your negative keyword list with quotations. This is helpful in situations where you do not want to exclude the individual words such as bed or bath since those may be relevant in other contexts. The same applies to exact matches, which would be applied as follows: -[off mosquito spray]. In this case “off” is too general to add as a broad negative keyword and mosquito spray is relevant, but the whole search term together is not. 

 

Once you have finished reviewing the search terms report you can navigate to the negative keywords tab and enter them. It is imperative to review this search terms report often and continually expand your negative keyword list. This will help improve your click through rate and prevent you from wasting money on irrelevant clicks. 

 

 

Setup Conversion/Goal Tracking

Whether your goal is to have potential customers call or fill out a contact form to reach you, there are ways to set up tracking. Call tracking can be set up through Google Ads itself or through third party vendors. Forms can be tracked through Google conversion tracking. Set up for each can be found under the Goals tab in Google ads. From here you can create conversion action for whatever you wish. Having goals set up allows you to know exactly how many leads you received from Google Ads. Using this data to evaluate performance and influence strategy is key to a successful pest control Google Ads campaign. 

 

Optimize Your Landing Page & Website

You’ve built the campaign, are getting clicks, click through rate looks good, search queries are relevant, but you aren’t receiving calls or leads.  Why not? The answer may be your website. Even the most ideal campaign setup won’t be effective if your website is not optimized. In order to begin to optimize your website, visit it with fresh eyes and put yourself in the potential customers’ shoes. 

 

A key factor to take into consideration before you even examine the content of your website is how long is the load time? Most people today are used to quickly loading content on the Internet. If your website loads slowly, they likely won’t wait. They’ll just move onto the next competitor. Once the page loads are there any popups blocking the content? 

 

Now comes your website. Some basic website features that sometimes get overlooked:

  • Overall appearance of the website and compelling value proposition
  • Do you have a clear call-to-action?
  • Is the website built to convert (via form or phone call) as that is the main goal – lead generation
  • Is the text readable? 
  • Do you have high-quality visuals? (pictures, videos, etc)
  • Are all links and buttons functional? 
  • Especially important on mobile, are your phone numbers enabled to click to call? 
  • Does your quote form function properly?
  • Are your special offers outdated? 

 

In regards to the content of your website, the information given should be clear, organized and informative. Images can help break up longer paragraphs of text and make the website more visually appealing. Avoid using extremely long paragraphs with agonizing detail. The visitor does need to know every detail about rodents. They only care about how to get rid of them from their home or business. The website should also highlight what sets your business apart from others as well as any special discounts or promotions you are currently running.

 

Lastly, there should be a direct call to action to let potential customers know what the next step should be in using your company. Your phone number should be highly visible, as should the link to your contact form. 

 

Google Ads for Pest Control Companies – Ongoing Management

Google Ads is not something you can set and forget. It requires continuous management to achieve the best results. Based on the performance data, changes will need to be made to maintain or increase the performance.  Google often releases new features that can help performance and it is best to incorporate these quickly. At Declare Media we have a team of highly trained and experienced Google Ads experts to build and maintain your Google Ads account with your unique goals in mind. Book a free consultation with our experts today!