Backlinks still matter — a lot. If you're a pest control company looking to improve your SEO, backlinks are a critical piece of the puzzle. In this article, I’ll break down what backlinks are, which ones are worth getting, how to get them, and what to avoid.

What Are Backlinks and Why Do They Matter?

Backlinks are links from another website to your website. When someone links to your page, it acts like a vote of confidence. It signals to Google that your site is credible and worth visiting. The higher the authority of the site linking to you, the more powerful the vote.

That’s why five strong backlinks from relevant, authoritative websites are worth way more than 10,000 low-quality links from random places. In fact, spammy backlinks can hurt your rankings — and if Google catches on, it can actually damage your trust score.

The Most Valuable Types of Backlinks

The best backlinks for pest control companies fall into two buckets:

1. Local Backlinks

These come from other businesses or organizations in your area — ideally other home service companies, charities, chambers of commerce, or local publications. A link from a local nonprofit or event sponsor site is often more powerful than a random national link.

2. Industry-Relevant Backlinks

These come from websites in or around the pest control niche. That might include pest control product sites, magazines like PCT, or even fellow pest control companies in non-competing markets. If you have a friend with a company in another state, consider linking to each other.

You want backlinks that are both authoritative and relevant. That's the winning combo.

How To Get Quality Backlinks

Here are a few proven ways to earn real, valuable backlinks:

1. Local Sponsorships & Donations

This is one of the easiest and most consistent strategies. Reach out to local sports teams, community events, or charities. Many have donation packages that include putting your logo on their website — and that’s your backlink. Look for keywords like "[your city] sponsorship opportunities" or "[your city] donations." Reach out, offer support, and politely ask if there are any website opportunities.

2. Outreach and PR

Backlinks often come as a byproduct of good PR. If you’re sponsoring something, doing a community project, or just have a good story, reach out to local news outlets, bloggers, or associations in your industry. Ask if they’d be open to sharing your story on their site.

3. Content Worth Linking To

Create videos, guides, or blog posts that are actually helpful. If your content is good enough, others may naturally link to it. That’s the long game — but it's worth it.

What To Avoid: Risky or Low-Quality Links

Stay far away from packages offering thousands of backlinks for cheap. These usually come from low-authority, irrelevant sites and can actively harm your SEO.

A good rule of thumb: if it’s easy to get, it’s probably not valuable. Google can spot low-effort spam from a mile away. Buying shady links or stuffing your site with AI-generated pages is a shortcut to long-term penalties.

Instead, aim to get 3–5 solid backlinks per month. That’s a realistic and effective pace.

Measuring Backlink Quality and Progress

It’s hard to measure backlink impact in the short term. SEO is a long game. But here’s how you can keep track:

• Use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz to monitor new backlinks.

• Track your rankings over time for target keywords.

• Focus more on quality than quantity.

Backlinks work more like PR than paid ads. You’re building trust and reputation — and that takes time. I recommend hiring someone you trust to handle this. An experienced SEO agency or freelancer can make sure you’re getting real results and not wasting money.

When Should You Invest in Backlinks?

If you’re doing under $500K a year in revenue, focus on faster-return strategies like Google Ads or Local Service Ads first. Once you’ve scaled and have more capital, then it’s time to invest in long-term SEO strategies like backlink building.

By that point, you probably already have plenty of content, a team to help execute, and the cash flow to do it right. That’s when backlinks become essential.

If you're serious about growth and brand authority — backlinks need to be part of your strategy.