How Web Marketing Can Find You New Employees

Web marketing is a common solution to many business problems. Customers don’t know what you offer? Build a good services menu. Need to build relevance in your target markets? Run an SEO campaign.

But, there’s another solution that web marketing can provide, and it’s for an increasingly common business problem for pest control companies ... finding new employees.

Regardless of industry, it’s become more and more difficult for business owners to find good help these days. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released findings that indicate that there are more job openings than unemployed job seekers. This puts businesses in an uncomfortable position where they are unable to support their pest management services with a properly staffed team.

Enter web marketing. A pest control business that’s well-marketed online is more likely to find and keep better employees. The principles of web marketing lend themselves greatly to recruitment efforts. And seeing that our country’s unemployment rate is almost at its lowest since the 1960s, small pest control businesses need to use all of the tools in their toolbox!

To help with your hunt for quality team members, here are some guiding principles:

In a competitive job market, you need to make candidates want to work with you.

Employers are not in a position of power these days. When businesses are fighting over a small group of applicants, it’s key to make your company look like an appealing place to work. Your website is a great place to start. Just like customers take to the web to find pest control providers in their area, job hunters will head online to find out more about potential employers. Regardless of where they find your job listing, it's likely that they will head to your website to decide whether or not your company would be a good fit for them.

Your website needs to clearly outline how your company is different and who youare. Take your company website’s “About” page as a chance to not only introduce yourself to customers, but future team members as well. Lay out your company’s values, and you’ll give applicants a chance to decide whether they can relate. You should also feature photos of your team, office and service trucks, which will further illustrate your company as a great place to work.

If you want candidates to find you, your company and its job openings must be visible.

Pest control companies that run SEO campaigns know how important it is to show up where it matters. An SEO campaign matches people looking for a service with companies that offer that service. Take this idea and apply it to your recruitment efforts. Set up a job form on your website and feature prominent “We’re Hiring” buttons to guide users to this form. Make sure your Google listing is up to date, so that applicants can find you easily online (an experienced pest control technician will probably search for pest management companies near them). Don't make the mistake of waiting for candidates come to you ... make sure you're meeting them halfway.

Before you look for applicants, find out who your target applicants are.

You know you need more employees, but you can’t hire just anyone. In marketing, it’s key to understand who your audience or ideal customer is before you spend any money on a program. So when searching for new hires, make sure you know what you’re looking for. It may help to look inward at your existing team. Who are they and how did they find you? If you’ve found good workers on sites like Indeed and Monster in the past, start posting on those sites again. Remember that job listings aren’t “set it and forget it,” either – they require maintenance and some sprucing up to stay on top of applicants’ minds.

Don’t let the tight job market get you down. If you run a great pest control company that provides excellent service, quality candidates will want to work with you. The trick is to make sure you’re getting in front of these applicants before other companies do. A good web marketing strategy can help you achieve any goal!

 Alain Parcan, Director of Marketing for Market Hardware, Inc., contributed this article. Alain brings nearly 10 years of experience in educating businesses so they can market themselves more effectively. Market Hardware helps small businesses compete on the web and offers special discounts for PCOC members. You can reach Alain’s team at 888-381-6925.