Learning Google Ads for Dentists generates significant income in the form of new patients. In this step-by-step guide, we will teach you how to work in Google Ads from creating the campaign to looking at how to best optimize your ads for the future.
Campaign: This is the vessel that all the components of your advertisement fall into. It contains ad groups, keywords, and advertising copy.
Ad Groups: Ad groups are the general themes that your keywords will adhere to. You will likely have multiple ad groups within a single campaign.
Keywords: Keywords are the words that are entirely throughout your campaign. These are words that a user searches for that leads to your advertisement.
Leads: Leads are all of the potential customers that click on your advertisement. Leads, however, are not guaranteed to generate customers.
Conversions: A conversion is what could get you actual money through clients. This is when a potential patient performs an action like calling your dental clinic or scheduling an appointment.
PPC: This is the price-per-click of your advertisement. Every time someone clicks on your ad, you will pay a ppc to Google Ads.
Working Inside of Google Ads for Dentists
To begin working in Google Ads, you need to log into a Gmail account that you use frequently for your business.
You should select your main advertising goal for your first Google Ads for Dentists campaign.
You are going to ignore the options listed and instead select Switch to Expert Mode at the bottom of the site.
This is going to grant you complete control over your first campaign.
Now, you should select a campaign goal.
Once again, we want complete control over the campaign, so select Create a campaign without a goal’s guidance.
Next, you will need to select your campaign type.
You are going to select Search for the purposes of your Google Ads for dentists campaign.
Search campaigns are a form of advertising that shows when the audience searches specific keywords that relate to your business.
This is going to generate a significant amount of leads for your dental clinic in comparison to the rest of the options listed.
You now need to select your desired campaign results.
As a dental clinic, you are going to track the success of your campaign via Website visits and Phone calls.
Now, you should name your campaign and select the network your ads will appear on.
You are going to select Search Network so that your ads show up in people’s searches as initially planned.
Make sure to go into the additional settings under this section to make sure that the end date is Not set.
We recommend you manually end your Google Ads for dentists campaign when you no longer need it.
You might lose valuable leads should you end your campaign prematurely.
Now, you will go to the Targeting and audiences section.
Unless you are a franchised dental clinic, you want to select Enter another location for the area you wish to target.
While you do have the option to enter in multiple locations, enter in only one per campaign.
If you would like to use a different location for a separate dental clinic you manage, we recommend you make another campaign or account.
Click on the drop-down menu within the section to view more options.
Under the target category, you will select Presence.
This allows for your ads to only show to people who are within your location.
This means only those with the potential to actually visit your clinic get targeted.
For exclude, you are once again going to select Presence.
Don’t worry. This isn’t going to exclude people in your area, instead, anyone out of reasonable reach will not be targeted.
By selecting these settings, you will be able to see a higher conversion rate over the course of your Google Ads for dentists campaign.
Now, you will want to select the language the campaign will be conducted in.
If you speak multiple languages, we recommend you make multiple campaigns for each of them for better optimization in the future.
We heavily recommend that you inform your potential patients of the qualities of your dental clinic that place you into a unique niche.
Having staff that speaks multiple languages can be a selling point for patients looking to communicate comfortably with their dental professionals.
If you would like any help finding other qualities that separate your clinic from the rest, schedule a free consultation today.
Bidding Strategy
Now, you will get into the pricing of your Google Ads for dentists campaign.
We recommend that you allocate at least $40-$50 of funds a day to run a successful campaign.
Though it may seem pricey, the return on your investment is considerably large.
Next, you will get into the bidding process of Google Ads.
You want to focus on bidding for clicks.
You will want to set a maximum cost per bid click limit.
For the purposes of this campaign, we will set the CPC bid limit to $6.
Creating Ad Extensions in Your Google Ads for Dentists Campaign
You will now be asked to create sitelink extensions.
This is going to require you to get creative, as this part of a Google Ads for dentists campaign requires you to write the copy that will be viewed by the potential patients.
You are going to want to start brainstorming any potential keywords and niches your clinic falls under.
It would be beneficial to do some slight audience research to see what kind of buzzwords potential clients are using and reflect the same concepts in your copy.
Now you must write your callout extensions.
You have considerably less space to write for callout extensions, so make it punchy and simple.
Here is a good chance to highlight more of your niches through your advertisement.
Creating Ad Groups and Finding Keywords
Now, you will need to create the ad groups that will make up your campaign.
We recommend you start your first ad groups using phrases like “dentists near me” or “dentists in my area” so that you zero in on the potential patients around you.
We have also found that those are some of the most common phrases people use when searching for new dentists.
If you are having trouble coming up with keywords on your own, we recommend you use Google’s Keyword Planner.
To use this, enter into the Keyword Planner website and sign in to the same email used to create your campaign.
Now, you should see a new page that asks you to either Get search volume and forecasts or Discover new keywords.
Get search volume and forecasts is helpful if you are in the planning phase of making your Google Ads for dentists campaign.
However, you are going to select Discover new keywords to get straight to work.
Once inside Keyword Planner, you are going to enter a keyword phrase like below to see the other keywords that might fit well in your campaign.
Select the ones that best fit your campaign both price-wise and content-wise.
There is a risk factor that comes with bidding broadly for keywords that do not necessarily align with your dentistry.
On one hand, the number of impressions and clicks you may get on your ad increases.
On the other hand, when people see that your landing page has little to do with the keywords they were searching for, your conversion rate will suffer.
For this example, we used the United States as an example.
However, you can limit the location to your area.
Make sure you have used the same Gmail account used to make this campaign or the keywords you have chosen will not migrate to Google Ads.
You are also able to add negative keywords to your campaign.
These are words that you want to assure that Google does not bid on, as it will be money wasted on irrelevant keywords.
To find this section, go to the toolbar and select Negative keyword lists to start entering in all the keywords you want to avoid bidding on.
Now, you are going to start to create the ads that will be displayed to potential patients via Google search.
Return to Google Ads to continue your work in the campaign.
Creating Ads for Your Google Ads for Dentists Campaign
Your Final URL is your landing page, so make sure you are not linking to a different site.
Much like the ad extensions mentioned previously, you want to make sure your headlines and descriptions are rich in keywords and aspects of your dental clinic that make you unique.
Fill all 15 headline slots for maximum campaign real estate.
For your headlines, assure that you are using welcoming and understandable language.
Avoid using terminology that the average consumer will not understand.
Google Ads will show you previews on your advertisement to the right of the page.
Make sure you are satisfied with the results before publishing your Google Ads for dentists campaign.
Congratulations!
All you need to do is enter in your payment details and you are free to run your Google Ads for dentists campaign.
Here is an example of an advertisement currently live on Google.
Why it is Important to Regularly Check Your Campaign
Now that you have your campaign running, you can take some time to relax and let the impressions come in.
However, in about a day or two, we recommend you to look back at the campaign to measure its success through Google Analytics.
You want to check your performance regularly from all stages of the campaign.
Ask yourself some critical questions.
Am I bidding on useful keywords?
How high is my CTR for my ads?
These are just a few of the questions you will need to ask yourself in order to make sure your campaign runs smoothly in the future.
Dental Campaign Optimization Through Google Analytics
We recommend that you track your campaign using tags created by Google Analytics.
This will allow you to monitor your campaign up close to see which areas are performing well and which areas are not yet up to par.
To begin setting up your tags, go back to your Google Ads account and open up the campaign of your choice.
Open up Tools & Settings at the top right of your page.
A drop-down menu should appear.
You are going to want to select Conversions under the Measurements column.
You will be redirected to a new page.
Select the large plus button located near the top of the page.
You should be asked what kind of conversions you want to track.
Do not worry if you want to select multiple kinds of conversions.
You will be able to make as many conversion trackers as desired by following the same steps.
For the purposes of this guide, we will select Website.
Now, you should select the action you would like to track.
We are going to pick Book appointment.
Name the conversion based on the appointment they are going to book.
Use the “Book appointment for” format.
For the value, you are going to choose Use different values for each conversion.
Depending on the service you placed for the conversion name, enter in its respective price.
Because one patient is likely to book multiple appointments, you want to select Every.
Now, select your tag setup and install it to your website.
Congratulations! You can track conversions on your website.
Make sure you take advantage of all the monitoring features Google Analytics has to offer to run a successful campaign Google Ads for dentists campaign.
Google Algorithm Updates That Will Affect Your Dentistry’s Rank
The new Google Ad algorithm will not affect any part of your Google Ads for dentists campaign, so there is no need to worry.
However, you might see changes in how your website ranks within the search results.
To avoid your site lowering in rank, take the following information into consideration:
- Your mobile site matters: When visitors access your site via phone or tablet, they need to be able to see both your images and text clearly.
- Google can check for context: Keyword overloading will derank your site should they not be applicable to the content. Google can now scan the text for adherence to context.
- Website loading speed: Slow loading speed will derank your site. Try not to overload the page with images, videos, and effects that lead to a slower loading time.
Your site rank matters just as much as a campaign, so do not slack when it comes to website management and maintenance.
If you need any help with SEO strategy, schedule an appointment with us today.
How a Google Ads for Dentistry Campaign Doubles Your Revenue
In a field such as dentistry, there is a lot of money to be made from a successful Google Ads for dentists campaign.
However, it does take money to make money, so consider this campaign as an investment in the future.
To put this into perspective using numbers, we like to use our ad spend equation.
CPC x Conversion Rate = Price to obtain a single customer
To find the average cost per click, we take the average bid price for dental related keywords.
We will say the average cpc is $15 and the conversion rate is 10%.
We can plug it into the equation to get the following results:
$15 CPC x 10 (Conversion Rate) = $150 per customer
Lifetime Value of a Dental Patient
If that number still seems like too much we encourage you to take a look at the lifetime value of a single patient.
While the average yearly retention rate varies, for the purposes of this guide, we will say this patient has stayed with your dentistry for 3 years.
We just found that the price to get a single customer is $150, so let’s plug that into the equation to get results.
CLV = (Yearly Revenue x Retention Rate) – Ad Costs
This means a single customer can get you $1,392 from only $150.
And that is only an estimate, as patients may be going in for more expensive treatments such as braces or oral surgeries.
Why Remarketing is Not Possible in a Google Ads for Dentists Campaign
Sadly, not all functions of Google Ads will be possible due to HIPPA laws.
In order to protect themselves from a potential lawsuit, Google rid remarketing for medical services.
HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is something that all medical practices are familiar with. In short, it is to protect your right to privacy of medical information.
Remarketing relies on tracking your information to give you what they feel best suits your needs.
It results in a large medical privacy concern thus you are not able to perform remarketing for your campaign.
However, there are still effective ways to reach your audience without getting in trouble with the law.
If you want to find some ways to work around the losses from remarketing, schedule a free consultation with us.