Malpass Pest Solutions

How a pest control business stopped burning money on ads for a website that wasn’t doing its job.

The problem

Pat Malpass runs a professional pest control business. He’d done the right thing and invested in an SEO agency, got a website built, and started running ads. On paper, it looked like a solid setup.

In practice, it was haemorrhaging money.

The site that the SEO agency had built was optimised for search engines, not for people. It was stuffed with keywords, ticked the technical boxes, and looked respectable enough on the surface. But visitors who clicked his ads landed on it and did nothing. No calls. No enquiries. Just bounce after bounce.

The agency had built something that got Pat found, but completely failed to convert the people who found him. Every click on his ads was money spent sending someone to a website that sent them straight back out again.

The challenge

This wasn’t a brand problem or a targeting problem. The underlying business was solid (Pat is professional, experienced, and exactly what a customer in a panic about a wasp nest or a rat problem wants). The website just wasn’t communicating any of that.

What was needed was a site that actually reflected Pat’s branding, professionalism and personality, made visitors feel confident they’d found the right person, and made it dead easy to get in touch. Simple in theory. But it also needed to work hard for SEO and not at the expense of real human beings reading it.

What we did

We moved the site from WordPress to Wix and rebuilt it properly around what Pat’s customers actually need when they land on a pest control website, which is usually urgency, reassurance, and a very obvious way to call someone.

DESIGN AND UX THAT CONVERTS

We made sure Pat’s branding, personality, and professionalism came through clearly. The new site looks like the business it represents. It’s structured so a panicked homeowner with a wasp problem can immediately see what services are available, where Pat operates, and how to get hold of him. No faff. No digging around.

SEO DONE PROPERLY

We retained the SEO foundations - the things that were actually working in the old site - and rebuilt the rest around content that reads like a human wrote it, because a human did. Ongoing monthly SEO management means the site stays fresh and relevant, which Google rewards and customers notice.

The result

Since the rescue and relaunch, Pat has seen more enquiries and phone calls coming in, better return on his ad spend (same budget, more results) and the site is now building organic ranking that’s reducing his reliance on paid ads altogether.

That last point matters. A site that only works when you’re paying for ads is a site that stops working the moment you stop paying. A site with solid ongoing SEO builds value over time. That’s what Pat has now.

Why it worked

The old agency wasn’t doing a bad job at what they were hired to do: they were optimising for search. They just weren’t thinking about what happens after someone clicks. SEO and UX are not the same thing, and treating them as if they are is an expensive mistake.

We rebuilt the site around the person arriving on it. That’s always the right order. Get the conversion right first, then make sure the right people can find it.