The Challenge: Why PTS Services Struggled to Get Consistent Leads
PTS Services, a waste collection business, came to us frustrated. They had been working hard to get more customers but weren’t seeing real results. Their main strategy? Posting content on Facebook, hoping it would generate enquiries. The problem was that waste collection is a service people search for when they need it – not something they engage with passively on social media.
Potential customers weren’t scrolling through their Facebook feed thinking, I might book a waste collection today. Instead, they were heading straight to Google and searching for phrases like “waste collection near me” or “same-day rubbish removal”. That’s where PTS Services needed to be visible.
Their website also wasn’t ranking well on Google. Despite offering a great service, they were being outranked by competitors, meaning potential customers weren’t even seeing them in search results.
The Strategy: Shifting Focus to SEO & Google My Business
We needed to get PTS Services in front of the right audience at the right time—when they were actively searching for waste collection. Our approach focused on two key areas:
- Improving their website’s organic ranking – Making sure their website showed up on Google when people searched for waste collection services.
- Optimising their Google My Business (GMB) listing – Ensuring they appeared in the map pack, where many local service businesses get the majority of their leads.
1. Ranking the Website Higher on Google
The first step was a full SEO audit to identify why PTS Services wasn’t ranking well. We found several issues:
- The website had weak content that didn’t match what people were searching for.
- Technical SEO problems, like slow page speed and missing meta descriptions.
- A lack of high-quality backlinks (links from other websites that signal trust to Google).
We tackled these by:
- Rewriting service pages with better keywords, such as “waste collection in Chelmsford” and “same-day waste removal”.
- Improving technical SEO, ensuring fast page speed, fixing broken links, and adding proper meta descriptions.
- Building backlinks from relevant websites to boost credibility and authority.
2. Getting PTS Services to Appear in Google’s Map Pack
Google My Business (now Google Business Profile) is a game-changer for local service businesses. When people search for waste collection, Google shows a map with three top businesses. Our goal was to get PTS Services in that top three.
We:
- Optimised their GMB profile with keyword-rich descriptions and correct business categories.
- Encouraged more reviews from happy customers to improve trust and ranking.
- Added high-quality images and regular posts to keep the profile active.
The Results: A Major Boost in Visibility and Enquiries
Within months, PTS Services saw huge improvements:
- Their website moved from page 3 of Google to the top of page 1 for multiple key search terms.
- Their Google My Business profile appeared in the top 3 local search results, leading to more calls and enquiries.
- Website traffic increased by over 150%, with a much higher percentage of visitors converting into customers.
This shift meant that instead of chasing leads through Facebook posts, PTS Services was receiving a steady flow of inbound enquiries from people actively searching for their service.
What This Means for Other Local Businesses
This case study proves that social media isn’t always the best sales channel for service-based businesses. When people need a service urgently, they go straight to Google. If your business isn’t visible there, you’re losing potential customers to competitors who are.
By focusing on SEO and optimising Google My Business, PTS Services went from struggling to get leads to consistently booking jobs. If you’re in a similar situation, the solution might not be more social media posts—it might be making sure your business actually shows up where customers are searching.
Want to see if we can do the same for your business? Get in touch with our SEO team today.
