Active Pest Control was a regional heavyweight—a $21 million firm servicing Georgia and Texas with over 30 years of history. However, while their physical footprint was massive, their digital footprint was microscopic. Under the leadership of Tony Carder, they had the reputation, but they lacked the digital infrastructure to show for it.

The Challenge

Active was fighting a two-front war. First, they were suffering from “digital ghost” syndrome; a lack of proper site taxonomy made them virtually invisible to search engines. Second, they were competing for airtime against industry Goliaths like Orkin and Terminix. They needed to differentiate their business model and fix a user experience that was leaking leads.

The Approach

We didn’t just patch the holes; we fumigated the entire digital strategy. Utilizing our 5 D’s of Creation process, we moved from discovery to deployment to reshape their business model:

• Discover & Define (Hyper-Local Strategy): We dug for answers in the formless data and found a critical insight: organic growth required hyper-localization. We defined a strategy laser-focused on specific service areas in Georgia and Sugar Land, Texas. To support this, we built “Pestipedia,” a comprehensive pest library that fixed the site’s taxonomy and established Active as the local authority.
• Delight (Product Innovation – eCommerce): We chose to delight the user by disrupting the friction-heavy “Call for Quote” status quo. We engineered a zip-code-gated eCommerce solution, allowing users to validate their location and, for the first time in the market, purchase “a la carte” services or bundles directly online.
• Design (Brand Refinement): We overhauled the visual identity with a fully responsive WordPress theme, updated brand photography, and new marketing collateral to ensure their digital curb appeal matched their service quality.
• Deploy (Expert Collaboration): Recognizing that a vision needs fuel, we deployed these assets alongside a seasoned SEO Expert to implement complimentary digital marketing campaigns. This ensure our structural UX and content improvements were supercharged by targeted external strategies.

The Outcome

The results were exterminator-grade effective for a project timeline of 2014 – 2018. The new eCommerce platform created an entirely new revenue stream and significantly streamlined sales and scheduling operations.

By differentiating their business model, we helped position Active Pest Control for a successful acquisition by the global giant Rentokil Steritech. The value we helped build went beyond the customer list; Rentokil recognized the strength of the organization, retaining the executive leadership team to continue running operations. Furthermore, rather than dissolving the brand, Rentokil utilized Active’s established presence to strategically dominate the Central and South Atlanta markets, complementing their existing portfolio.