Adam: Welcome to Pest Control Marketing That Actually Works, the podcast for pest control operators who want real growth, not empty promises. I'm Adam Bennett.
Elisabeth: And I'm Elisabeth Pallante. We're from Cube Creative Design, and for over 20 years we've helped pest control companies stop wasting money and start growing.
Adam: Today's episode: Google Ads for Pest Control — Stop Wasting Money. We're joined again by Chad Treadway, Chief Marketing Officer here at Cube Creative. Here are your three key takeaways.
Elisabeth: First: most pest control companies waste 40 to 60 percent of their Google Ads budget on the wrong keywords and wrong audiences. Second: your ad only works if your landing page earns the click — a weak page kills even the best ad. Third: you can run a profitable Google Ads campaign on a small budget if you focus on high-intent, local keywords.
Adam: Let's dive in. Chad, we talk to pest control companies all the time who are running Google Ads but not seeing results. What's going on?
Chad: The honest answer is that most of them are paying for clicks that will never convert. They're not targeting wrong on purpose — they just don't know what to look for. Pest control is one of the most competitive Google Ads verticals. Cost per click can run anywhere from eight dollars to well over thirty, depending on your market and what you're targeting. At that price, you can't afford to waste clicks on people who aren't going to call you.
Adam: So what are the biggest waste patterns you see?
Chad: There are three main ones. First: broad match keywords. If you're bidding on "pest control" as a broad match, Google will show your ad to people searching for pest control school, DIY products, or pest control jobs. Those clicks cost you the same as a real lead and will never produce a call. The fix is to start with exact match and phrase match only — be specific about what you want to show up for.
Elisabeth: That's the one we fix in almost every account we audit. The match type settings are buried and Google defaults to broad. They want to spend your budget.
Chad: The second waste pattern is no negative keyword list. Without negative keywords, Google matches your ad to searches you'd never want to pay for. Build a negative keyword list on day one — start with: DIY, free, cheap, how to, certification, jobs, school, salary. That one fix alone can cut wasted spend by 20 to 30 percent.
Adam: And the third one?
Chad: Running ads 24 hours a day, seven days a week with no schedule. People call pest control companies during business hours — mostly seven to seven. Running ads at 2 a.m. means you're paying for clicks no one answers, and an unanswered call is a wasted lead even if the click was good. At minimum, set an ad schedule that matches when your phones are covered.
Elisabeth: We've seen companies cut their monthly spend by $400 to $600 just by turning off ads overnight — same number of leads, way lower cost.
Adam: So now that we know what not to do, let's talk about what actually works. What keywords should pest control companies be bidding on?
Chad: High-intent local terms — searches from someone who's ready to pick up the phone. Things like: pest control near me, pest control in your city, exterminator in your city, termite treatment in your city, bed bug removal in your city, rodent control. Those are your priority.
Elisabeth: City-specific terms are where we see the best returns. Someone searching "pest control Asheville" isn't doing research. They have a problem and they want someone to fix it.
Chad: Don't overlook specific service keywords either. They're cheaper than generic terms, and the person searching already knows what they need. Ant control in your city, roach exterminator in your city, wasp nest removal in your city — lower competition, lower cost per click, higher conversion rates.
Adam: Does seasonal timing factor into keyword strategy?
Chad: Absolutely. Pest issues are inherently seasonal, so your bids should be too. Mosquito and ant keywords heat up in spring and summer — increase bids around March and April. Termite swarm season will spike in certain markets, so be ready for that. Rodent and wildlife keywords climb in the fall when animals are looking for shelter. Google Ads lets you set bid adjustments by month — use that. You shouldn't be spending the same in February as you are in May.
Elisabeth: One more targeting issue we see constantly: companies targeting the entire metro area when they only serve five zip codes. You can target by zip code or by radius in Google Ads. If someone 40 miles outside your service area clicks your ad, that's money wasted.
Adam: And that's a painful one. You're paying for a lead you can't even service.
Elisabeth: Next I want to talk about something that kills campaigns even when everything else is right: the landing page. You can have perfect keywords, perfect targeting, and a great ad — and still lose the lead because you sent them to the wrong page.
Adam: What do you mean by the wrong page?
Elisabeth: The homepage — that's the most common mistake. Your homepage has too many choices: navigation, services, about us, blog, contact. Nothing wrong with that for general visitors, but a Google Ads click should go to a page built for that one ad. If your ad says termite control in Raleigh, the page should say termite control in Raleigh. Google also measures how well your landing page matches your ad — they call it a quality score.
Chad: Quality score is worth understanding because it directly affects what you pay. Google scores every ad from one to ten based on ad relevance, expected click-through rate, and landing page experience. A higher score means a lower cost per click. You can literally outrank a competitor and pay less per click than they do just by having a more relevant landing page.
Adam: So what does a good landing page actually look like for pest control?
Elisabeth: Five things. First: a strong headline that matches the ad — if the ad says termite control, the page says termite control. Google sees it, and so does the visitor. Second: a phone number at the top, large and clickable on mobile. Third: one clear form — name, phone number, what's the pest, zip code. Don't ask for anything beyond that. Fourth: social proof — a handful of real reviews, years in business, a trust badge. Fifth: no navigation menu. Every link is an exit. Keep them on the page.
Chad: Mobile matters more here than almost anywhere else. The majority of people searching for pest control do it from their phone. If your form is hard to fill out on mobile, you lose those leads automatically.
Adam: Building separate landing pages for every ad sounds like a lot of work. Is that realistic for a small operator?
Elisabeth: You don't need one for every ad. Start with your top two or three services — termite, general pest, maybe mosquito — and build a dedicated page for each. That alone will outperform sending everything to the homepage. Just start somewhere.
Adam: Let's put some real numbers on this. What does it actually cost to run Google Ads for a pest control company?
Chad: Realistically, your floor is somewhere in the $500 to $800 a month range. Starting below that means you don't have enough clicks to know what's working — you need data before you can optimize anything. In a competitive metro market like Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, or Raleigh-Durham, you're looking at $1,500 to $3,000 a month just to be competitive.
Elisabeth: And that's just the ad spend. If you're paying an agency to manage the account, factor that in separately.
Adam: What about how you bid? Google has a lot of options and they all sound smart.
Chad: Start with manual CPC — cost per click. That gives you control while you're learning which keywords and ads are working. After you've tracked 30 to 40 conversions, you can consider switching to target CPA bidding, where you tell Google what you want to pay per lead. Don't hand the keys to Google's Smart Bidding before you have real conversion data. Without data, it's just guessing with your money.
Adam: And speaking of conversions — you have to be tracking all of this.
Elisabeth: That's non-negotiable. If you're not tracking phone calls from ads, you have no idea what's working. Google Ads has built-in call tracking — it's free. Set it up before you spend a dollar on ads. Also connect Google Ads to Google Analytics so you can see what happens after someone clicks. Did they fill out the form or did they bounce?
Chad: We've audited accounts spending $2,000 a month with zero conversion tracking set up. They couldn't tell us which keywords were producing leads. Without tracking, you're flying blind and hoping for a prayer.
Adam: And that's a hard way to make any decision on what to keep running.
[OUTRO]
Adam: Chad, thanks so much for joining us. Elisabeth, let's recap those three key takeaways.
Elisabeth: Number one: most pest control companies waste 40 to 60 percent of their Google Ads budget on wrong keywords and wrong audiences. Fix your match types, build a negative keyword list, and set an ad schedule. Number two: your ad only works if your landing page earns the click. Send ad traffic to a dedicated page that matches your ad — not your homepage. Number three: you can run a profitable Google Ads campaign on a small budget. Focus on high-intent local keywords, track your calls, and let the data guide your spending.
Adam: If you want help implementing what we talked about today, visit marketingthatactuallyworks.ai to get your free pest control marketing audit. We'll show you exactly what's working and what's costing you money.
Elisabeth: While you're there, download our Pest Control Marketing Checklist — the same 20-point checklist we use with every client.
Adam: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you don't miss next Tuesday's episode. And if you got value out of today, leave us a five-star review — it helps other pest control operators find the show. Thanks for listening to Pest Control Marketing That Actually Works. See you next Tuesday.
