I’ve spent years helping pest control companies set up Google Ads campaigns, and I’ve seen the same mistakes over and over. Companies throwing thousands of dollars at Google every month, targeting the entire United States when they only operate in two cities. Running one messy campaign instead of properly structured ones. Sending all their traffic to their homepage instead of relevant landing pages.
The worst part? Google doesn’t care if you waste money. They’ll happily take your budget and show your ads to people who will never become customers.
But here’s the good news: Google Ads can be one of your best lead sources if you set them up correctly. I’m talking about bottom-of-funnel leads, people actively searching for pest control right now, ready to hire someone today. These aren’t cold prospects scrolling Facebook who might need pest control someday. These are hot leads with a problem they want solved immediately.
In this guide, I’m going to show you exactly how to structure your Google Ads campaigns like a professional, how to target the right keywords without bleeding money, and how to write ad copy that actually gets clicks. I’ll also cover Bing Ads (which most companies ignore but shouldn’t) and Local Service Ads, which have become essential for pest control companies.
Let’s start with the foundation.
Why Most Pest Control Companies Structure Their Google Ads Wrong
Think about how you build your website. You should have dedicated pages for each service: termite control, mosquito control, spider control, general pest control. Then you layer in location pages under those services, like xyzpestcontrol.com/termite-control/chicago.
Your Google Ads campaigns should follow the exact same structure.
Here’s what that looks like. Google Ads has three levels: campaigns, ad groups (or ad sets), and individual ads. Most companies make the mistake of setting up one campaign and throwing everything under it. Google hates this. You can’t track performance properly, everything gets meshed together, and your quality score tanks.
Instead, set up separate campaigns for each major service you want to advertise: termite control, mosquito control, bed bug control, spider control, whatever your main revenue drivers are. Then within each campaign, create ad groups for different cities you serve. Finally, create multiple ads within each ad group to test different messaging.
This structure isn’t just cleaner, it’s how Google wants you to operate. When you segment everything properly, Google rewards you with better ad placement and lower costs per click.
The Three Types of Google Ads (And Which One to Start With)
Google offers three main ad types, and understanding the difference will save you a lot of wasted budget.
Search Ads are the basic Google Ads you see at the top of search results. Someone types “pest control Chicago,” you bid on that keyword, your ad shows up. These are the most bottom-of-funnel ads you can run because the person is actively searching for your service right now. This is where you should start, period.
Performance Max (PMAX) is Google’s newer ad type that shows across all their platforms: Gmail, YouTube, search, display networks, everything. These ads are great for brand awareness. If you just want to get in front of as many eyeballs as possible, PMAX works. But don’t expect direct conversions at the same rate as search ads. These are top-of-funnel.
I usually only recommend PMAX for bigger companies, ones doing over $10 million a year. If you’re smaller, focus your budget on search ads first.
Display Ads show up on other websites as visual banners. They’re more image-heavy and less direct than search ads. Similar to PMAX, these are awareness plays, not conversion drivers.
Start with search ads. Once those are dialed in and profitable, then consider adding PMAX to your mix for brand building.
Google is definitely pushing everyone toward PMAX because it’s more automated and you’ll probably spend more money. But that doesn’t mean it’s the best ROI for you right now.
How to Target Keywords Without Burning Your Budget
Here’s where most people mess up: they either target too broad or they don’t understand the three keyword match types Google offers.
Exact match means your ad only shows for that specific keyword. If you bid on “pest control Chicago,” that’s the only search that triggers your ad.
Phrase match means your keyword phrase needs to be present, but other words can come before or after. So “pest control Chicago” would also trigger for searches like “best pest control Chicago” or “pest control Chicago reviews.”
Broad match is where Google interprets the search intent and shows your ad for related searches. This is risky, especially when you’re starting out. You could bid on “pest control” and show up for searches like “DIY pest control” or “pest control jobs,” which aren’t what you want.
I recommend starting with exact match and phrase match. Get those dialed in first. Broad match can work later once you have more data and understand what converts, but it’s not where you want to start.
And please, for the love of everything, make sure you’re geo-targeting correctly. I’ve seen companies spending thousands of dollars running ads across the entire United States when they only operate in one or two states. There’s a little button that’s easy to miss during setup. Double-check it. Triple-check it. Make sure your ads only show in the cities and zip codes you actually service.
The Only Negative Keywords You Actually Need
A lot of Google Ads guides will tell you to build massive negative keyword lists. Honestly, you don’t need as many as you think.
The biggest one: other company names. You don’t want to spend money showing up when someone searches for your competitor by name. Beyond that, Google has gotten pretty smart about filtering out irrelevant searches automatically.
Back in the day, you had to manually exclude everything. Now, Google’s algorithm does most of that work for you. Don’t overthink negative keywords, especially when you’re starting.
How to Write Ad Copy That Actually Gets Clicks
Your ad copy needs to do three things: include the exact keyword someone searched, present an irresistible offer, and give a clear call to action.
Let’s break that down.
First, use the exact keyword. If someone searches “pest control Chicago,” your headline should literally say “Pest Control Chicago.” Don’t get cute with it. Google will even bold keywords in your ad when they match the search, which makes your ad stand out more.
You can create multiple headline variations with different keyword formats: “Chicago Pest Control,” “Exterminators Chicago,” “Chicago Pest Control Services.” Google will test these and figure out which performs best.
Second, include a strong offer. This is where you lean on all the offer creation work you should already be doing for your business. If you have a killer offer like “$50 off your first service” or “free termite inspection,” that needs to be in your ad copy.
The beauty of offers is you can use them everywhere: Facebook ads, website, Google Ads, all your marketing. Once you nail a few great offers, just plug them into different platforms and test what works best.
Third, add a clear call to action. “Call today.” “Get your free inspection now.” “Schedule online in 60 seconds.” Use an exclamation point or capitalize key words like FREE to create emphasis and urgency.
Here’s an example of what a complete ad might look like:
Headline: Pest Control Chicago | $50 Off First Service | Free Inspection Description: Pest Badger has been Chicago’s most trusted pest control company for 20 years. Same-day service available. Call now for your free inspection.
The headline grabs attention with the keyword and offer. The description builds trust by mentioning how long you’ve been in business and reinforces the call to action.
Headlines vs. Descriptions: What Really Matters
The headline is 80% of the battle. If you don’t grab attention with the headline, nothing else matters. People won’t even read your description.
Your headlines should be attention-grabbing and emotionally compelling. Use your best offer here. Stack value if you can.
The description is supporting information. This is where you build trust: “Family-owned and operated for 15 years.” “Over 10,000 five-star reviews.” “Licensed, bonded, and insured.” These details don’t hook people, but they help convert someone who’s already interested.
Think of it like this: the headline hooks them emotionally, the description sells them logically.
Testing Ad Copy the Right Way
Google Ads makes testing incredibly easy. You can write 10 different headlines and 10 different descriptions, and Google will automatically test combinations to see what performs best.
My recommendation: create 5 to 10 headline variations right from the start. Include different keyword formats, different offers, different calls to action. Then let Google figure out which ones resonate.
But don’t just set it and forget it. Every month, go into your top campaigns and look at what’s working. Are certain headlines crushing it while others get zero impressions? Great. Write more headlines similar to the winners. Keep testing.
This is how you improve over time. You start with a baseline that works pretty well, then you keep optimizing month after month until you have campaigns that are absolutely dialed in.
The Seasonality Strategy Most Companies Miss
Your Google Ads don’t have to be static year-round. You should be adjusting for seasonality.
Let’s say you have five to 10 main campaigns running. For your top campaigns, it makes sense to create seasonal ads that talk about specific pest issues during different times of year.
In fall, run ads about rodents getting ready for winter. In spring, talk about mosquito season ramping up. You can even add seasonal offers: “Fall pest control discount” or “Spring mosquito prevention special.”
You don’t have to do this for every single campaign, especially if you have 20 cities you’re targeting. But for your biggest markets, seasonal ad creative can give you an edge.
Where to Send Your Traffic (Hint: Not Your Homepage)
I see this mistake constantly. Companies spend all this time setting up perfect campaigns, writing great ad copy, bidding on the right keywords, and then they send everyone to their homepage.
Your landing page needs to match the ad and the search intent.
If someone searches “termite control Chicago” and clicks your ad, they should land on your Chicago termite control page. Not your homepage. Not a generic “services” page. The exact page that talks about termite control in Chicago.
This isn’t just better for conversions, it’s better for your quality score. Google looks at the relevance between your keyword, your ad, and your landing page. The more aligned everything is, the better you perform and the less you pay per click.
If you don’t have dedicated service and location pages built out on your website, you need to fix that before you spend serious money on Google Ads. Otherwise, you’re throwing money away.
How Often You Need to Check Your Campaigns
At minimum, check your Google Ads once a week. That’s the baseline for any company.
If you’re doing over $10 million a year in revenue, you probably want someone checking daily to make sure nothing is broken, you’re not overspending, and campaigns are performing properly.
For smaller companies, up to a million or even one to 10 million in revenue, checking once a week is usually fine. There’s a lot of setup involved with Google Ads, but once that’s done, the recurring maintenance isn’t overwhelming.
What are you checking for? Make sure campaigns are still running, no policy violations, budget isn’t getting burned too quickly, and you’re actually getting leads from the spend.
Here’s a real example of why this matters: I worked with a company that had their Google Business Profile set up with a CallRail number. That number somehow died and wasn’t connected to anything. They caught it within a week because they were checking regularly, but they still probably lost 30 to 40 leads in those couple days. If they hadn’t been monitoring, it could have gone on for weeks.
Check your stuff. Once a week, minimum.
Tracking Performance the Right Way
You absolutely must connect your Google Ads account to your Google Analytics account. This is non-negotiable.
First, make sure Google Analytics is properly set up on your website. Then connect it to your Google Search Console and your Google Ads account. Once that’s done, you can set up conversion events (also called key events) in Google Analytics.
These conversion events track the actions that matter: form submissions, phone calls, time on site, pages visited per session. Google Analytics has gotten better about setting some of these up automatically, but you still want someone to verify everything is tracking correctly.
The other critical piece is call tracking. You should be using something like CallRail to assign different phone numbers to different campaigns. Ideally, you have a unique number for every campaign so you know exactly which campaigns are generating calls.
This level of tracking is how you figure out what’s working and what’s not. If you’re spending the same amount on two different campaigns but one is generating 20 leads and the other is generating zero, you need to know that so you can shift budget accordingly.
The AI Max Question: Should You Use It?
Google recently launched AI Max, which is basically their attempt to make Google Ads as easy as possible to set up. You don’t even have to tell it what keywords to target. It pulls from your website automatically and figures everything out.
It’s similar to how Local Service Ads work, super simple and owner-friendly. But AI Max is still really early. It came out in early 2025, and I haven’t even personally used it yet.
If you’re running professional ads with someone who knows what they’re doing, stick with properly structured campaigns for now. AI Max might be worth exploring in the future, but I’d be cautious jumping on that train just yet.
The broader trend here is that all these platforms, Google, Facebook, everyone, they’re trying to make advertising as easy as possible because they want more people spending money. Think about Amazon. They revolutionized distribution by making it absurdly easy to buy things. One-click purchase, all your info saved. Google wants to do the same thing with ads.
Google makes 80 to 90% of their revenue from Google Ads, so they have a huge incentive to make it simple for anyone to start running ads. That’s where things are heading.
Why You Shouldn't Ignore Bing Ads
Most pest control companies don’t even think about Bing Ads. I get it. Google has 90 to 93% of the search market. Why bother with Bing?
Here’s why: Bing actually owns Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and AOL. So when you run Bing Ads, you’re not just getting Bing traffic, you’re getting traffic from all those platforms too. That gives them more search market share than you’d think, closer to 6 to 10%.
Bing also has an older demographic, typically people over 35, and they’re mostly on desktop. My dad searches on AOL. That’s technically Bing traffic.
For pest control companies, this demographic is actually perfect. You’re targeting homeowners, and homeowners skew older and are more likely to be on desktop.
The best part? Bing Ads are usually 20 to 30% cheaper than Google Ads because fewer people are using the platform. It’s basic supply and demand.
Here’s the rule I use: spend about 10% of your Google Ads budget on Bing. If you’re spending $5,000 a month on Google, put $500 toward Bing. That’s roughly how the math works out since Google is about 10 times bigger.
And here’s a secret most people don’t know: Bing lets you import your campaigns directly from Google. You don’t have to rebuild everything from scratch. Just go into Bing’s dashboard, click import from Google, and all your campaigns copy over. Then you just adjust the budget to about 10% of what you were spending on Google.
Same principles apply to Bing as Google. Check it at least once a month, make sure nothing is broken, track your calls with unique phone numbers for each campaign, and send traffic to relevant landing pages.
Local Service Ads: The Owner-Friendly Platform You Can't Ignore
Local Service Ads (LSAs), also called Google Guaranteed, are one of the best things that’s happened to pest control marketing in the past few years.
These ads show up at the very top of Google search results, even above regular Google Ads. When someone searches for pest control in your area, they see two Local Service Ads, then two regular Google Ads, then the map pack, then organic results.
LSAs came out for pest control around 2020 or 2021, and the first few years were absolute gold. Leads were cheap, not many companies were using them, and conversion rates were insane. Now, a lot more companies have caught on (partially my fault because I tell everyone to set them up), but they’re still worth running.
The best part about LSAs is they’re incredibly easy to set up. This is what I call an owner-friendly platform. You don’t need an agency or a virtual assistant. You can literally do this yourself in 20 minutes.
Just search “Local Service Ads,” click get started, and Google walks you through the setup process. You’ll need basic business information: your name, number of techs, insurance details, LLC documentation. Nothing crazy.
Google will verify you within a week or two, and then you’ll get an email saying congrats, you’re Google Guaranteed. Now you’re running Local Service Ads.
How to Optimize Your Local Service Ads
Unlike Google Ads where you have a ton of settings to tweak, LSAs are pretty limited in what you can optimize. That’s by design, it’s supposed to be simple.
First, add great photos. You can upload 10 to 20 photos on your LSA profile. Make them high-quality images of your technicians actually doing work. Technician smiling in the van. Technician smiling while spraying. Technician smiling in the attic. You get the idea.
Don’t upload blurry pictures of ants or raccoons. I’ve seen so many companies do this. Use real photos of real people doing real work.
Second, only advertise the services you actually provide. For pest control, there are about 11 or 12 services you can check off: bed bugs, spiders, general pests, mosquitoes, termites, wildlife, inspections, etc.
If you don’t provide a service, don’t check the box. Seems obvious, but I’ve seen companies advertise for services they don’t even offer, then they get charged for leads they can’t help with.
Some companies in expensive markets like California are even removing lower-tier services. If your cost per lead is $150 and someone calls for basic ant control, that doesn’t make financial sense. You might only want to advertise your high-ticket services where the math actually works.
Third, make sure you’re targeting the right areas. Add all your service areas and any negative areas you want to exclude. Maybe there’s a zip code where you have a bad reputation or the clientele is consistently cheap. Exclude it.
Fourth, set your profile to open 24/7 if possible. This is huge. Google doesn’t want to show your ads when you’re marked as closed because they want to help people solve problems immediately.
You don’t have to actually be answering phones 24/7, but at least have an auto-responder or a virtual assistant picking up after hours. This lets leads come in around the clock and might even reduce your cost per lead since fewer companies are advertising at night and on weekends.
What Actually Impacts Your LSA Ranking
Google looks at a few key factors when deciding which LSA to show first.
Reviews are the biggest factor. Your Google Business Profile reviews directly impact your LSA ranking. The more reviews you have and the higher your rating, the better you’ll rank.
But here’s a nugget most people don’t know: reviews you collect directly through LSAs are weighted more heavily than regular Google Business Profile reviews. Google sees them as more trustworthy because the person had a good experience specifically from an LSA lead.
So after every LSA job, ask the customer to leave a review through Local Service Ads, not just on your Google Business Profile.
Answering your phone matters. If you’re not picking up the phone quickly or you’re letting calls ring, Google will demote your ads. Same thing happens with Google Business Profiles.
Why would Google want to show your ad if you’re not helping people solve their problems? If your competitor picks up every call on the second ring and you’re letting them go to voicemail, Google is going to start showing their ads more than yours.
How to Budget for Local Service Ads
This is going to sound crazy, but I recommend maxing out your budget to start.
LSAs are cost per lead, not cost per click. You’re only paying when you get an actual qualified phone call, not every time someone clicks. That makes them way less risky than Google Ads.
The problem is, everyone is bidding on LSAs now, so Google purposely won’t spend your entire budget. If you set your budget at $5,000, Google might only spend $3,000. But if some huge company sets their budget at $20,000, Google will spend $15,000 of theirs.
So set your budget high, at least initially. You can always dial it back if you’re getting too many leads (which usually isn’t the problem).
The other advantage of LSAs is that you only pay for qualified leads. Google used to make you manually mark every lead as qualified or not, which was a pain. Now they do it automatically. It’s not perfect, but it saves a ton of time.
Managing Your LSA Leads
Someone needs to be picking up the phone when LSA leads call. That’s obvious.
Beyond that, check your LSA dashboard once a week to make sure your budget is on track and nothing is broken. Look at policy violations in the left column. Sometimes Google will flag something like your images being wrong or you can’t advertise in a certain area. Your ads will usually still show, but they’ll show less.
Fix any policy violations as soon as you see them. You want to stay on Google’s good side.
How All These Ad Types Work Together
Here’s how I think about the different ad platforms:
Local Service Ads should be your first priority. They’re easy to set up, cost per lead instead of cost per click, and they show at the very top of search results. Start here.
Google Search Ads should be second. These are your bottom-of-funnel ads, people actively searching for pest control right now. Set these up with proper campaign structure, target the right keywords, and send traffic to relevant landing pages.
Bing Ads should get about 10% of your Google Ads budget. Import your campaigns from Google, adjust the budget, and let them run. You’ll capture an older demographic on desktop at a lower cost per click.
Performance Max is for bigger companies doing over $10 million a year. This is brand awareness, not direct response. Only add this after your LSAs and search ads are dialed in.
The companies that dominate paid search in pest control are running all of these in combination. They’re not picking one and ignoring the rest. They’re building a comprehensive paid advertising strategy that captures demand at every stage.
The Biggest Mistakes to Avoid
Let me wrap this up with the mistakes I see most often:
Targeting the wrong geography. You’re spending money on clicks from people who aren’t even in your service area. Check your geo-targeting settings and make sure they’re correct.
Poor campaign structure. You’re running one big messy campaign instead of separate campaigns for each service and ad groups for each city. Fix your structure.
Sending traffic to your homepage. Match your landing page to the ad and the keyword. If someone searches for termite control in Chicago, send them to your Chicago termite control page.
Not tracking calls properly. You don’t have unique phone numbers for each campaign, so you have no idea which campaigns are actually generating leads. Set up CallRail or another call tracking system.
Ignoring LSAs. You’re leaving money on the table by not running Local Service Ads. They’re easy to set up and they work. Do it.
Setting up ads once and never checking them. You need to review your campaigns at least once a week. Things break, budgets get wasted, opportunities get missed. Stay on top of it.
The pest control companies crushing it with Google Ads aren’t doing anything magical. They’re just following the fundamentals: proper structure, targeted keywords, compelling offers, relevant landing pages, and consistent optimization.
If you want to go deeper on offers, branding, or SEO strategies for pest control companies, check out our free Facebook group, Pest Control Millionaires. We’ve got over 2,000 active members sharing what’s working right now in their businesses. And if you want the most comprehensive guide to pest control marketing ever written, grab a copy of Zip Code Kings.
But start with what I’ve laid out here. Get your LSAs running. Build out your Google Ads campaigns the right way. Test your ad copy. Track your results. And don’t ignore Bing just because everyone else is.
The leads are out there. You just need to make sure you’re the one capturing them.
Related Articles
- Google Local Services Ads for Pest Control Companies: How to Get Google Guaranteed (And Why Your Reviews Are More Heavily Weighted) – Dan Leibrandt
- Bing Ads for Pest Control: Why You Should Spend 10% of Your Google Budget Here (20-30% Cheaper Clicks) – Dan Leibrandt
- Google Ads Copy for Pest Control: Why Your Headline Is 80% of the Battle (And How to Test It) – Dan Leibrandt
- Google Ads Targeting for Pest Control: Why Most Companies Waste Thousands by Targeting the Entire US – Dan Leibrandt
- Google Ads Campaigns for Pest Control: Why You Need Separate Campaigns for Each Service (Not One Giant Mess) – Dan Leibrandt
