The Pros and Cons of Google Ads for Medical Practices

There are over 87000 Google searches per second. This is estimated at around 7.2 billion searches per day. With numbers like these, it’s no wonder Google Ads is attractive to businesses today. By catching even a fraction of that search volume, you can significantly expand your business’s reach and give it access to a customer base it never had before.

Reaching a lot of people is great, but when it comes to advertising, reaching the right people is paramount. Easily and effectively targeting your audience of choice is one of Google Ads’ key selling points. But like any other, it has its limitations. 

We will discuss what Google ads entails in this article, including some of their pros and cons. 

What is Google Ads? 

Google Ads (formerly Google Adwords)is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising product developed by Google. They are also sponsored results that appear at the top of Google search results.

Results that have the word “Ad” next to them are websites that you pay to appear on.

If you’ve ever used Google, you would have seen this at least once. These are small ads that appear at the top of search results. 

Also, Ads are shown in relation to search terms entered into Google. For example, someone searches for “dentist near me.” Google searches our ad inventory to determine which ads are shown in relation to your search terms. 

Various factors are considered when choosing which ads to display, including:

• Keyword relevance to search
• The quality of the landing pages your ad links to
• The maximum amount a company is willing to spend on each of their clicks

When Google decides which ads to put up in the search, the “winners” are displayed above the search results. According to Ahrefs, the estimated CPC for a “Dentist near me” is around $7. This means that the displayed advertiser will be charged approximately $7 for each click on the site. This price is hourly and varies somewhat nationally.

For example, a local dentist will likely offer a much lower bid than an international one. These price movements are usually not random. 

In addition, Google Ads uses an auction system where multiple advertisers bid on keywords. The less local competition a keyword has, the cheaper it will be.

While CPC is a metric calculated by Google Ads, CPA is the most vital metric to consider when launching a Google Ads campaign. If you’re simply looking for traffic to your website, then the price per click is fine because each click equals another visit, but if you’re looking for people to stop by as a patient, then your choice should be pay per conversion. 

Your willingness to pay per conversion should indicate how much you are willing to spend on Google Ads. 

Using the dental office example, the average cost for an examination, cleaning, tartar, and fluoride treatment is $215. How much are you willing to pay to make $215?

Paying about $100 for Google Ads is like doubling your investment per appointment. This may sound reasonable for your practice, but that doesn’t mean you need to pay $100 per ad click.

A reasonable Google Ads conversion rate is around 4% or 5%, but the average is closer to 2%. If you calculate the average conversion rate, you get one new patient for every 50 clicks on your ad. That means you should budget around $2 per click.

Pros of Google Ads 

• Everyone wants their website to appear on Google’s first page. Regarding SEO, having a landing page is the holy grail. Most click traffic comes from the first page of search results, and it guarantees that your ads will appear above the first page. 

• One of the great features of Google Ads is the ability to target users in specific geographies. After all, if you’re in an emergency center in Chicago, you don’t want to pay for an ad impression in Texas!

• You can also use the Google Ads scheduling feature to schedule your ads when needed. It is usually advised that doctors  schedule ad openings so patients can call based on their schedule. After all, why would you pay for a patient to contact you when you’re closed? But if you’re offering online scheduling, ensure your ad is posted. 

• Statistics about how many clicks your ads generated and who clicked them are always available, even how much traffic your ads or campaigns brought to your website are usually added, or how many leads your ads or campaigns generated, the keywords you targeted and generated the most clicks Leads, average cost of each lead generated, average CPC (cost per click), and ad engagement rate.

• Unlike other forms of online advertising (like Facebook), you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. This is known as Pay Per Click (PPC). That means you don’t waste your advertising budget on ads people aren’t interested in. 

Cons of Google Ads 

•  Google Ads formats are rigid and don’t leave much room to move. The ad has three 30-character headlines, two 90-character description lines, and a customizable display URL. To gain maximum impact within this limited space, your ad should include headlines that speak to your target market and attract attention, relevant keywords, benefits of your service, and a call to action that encourages people to click. As you can imagine, it’s tough to fit all the information into such a small space. 

• Paying per click can quickly deplete your available budget and cause your ads to burn bright and disappear soon.

• The more competitive your industry is, the more expensive your keywords can be. Keywords with high volume and traffic are likelier to increase clicks and conversions. But finding the balance between cost and reward can be quite tricky.

Conclusion 

The number of new patients acquired depends on:

1. How well the campaign is structured

2. Size of the target group

3. Budget

The more optimized your campaigns are, the more relevant your ads will be. That means more conversions (more new patients, target group size also plays an important role. 

Geographically,  targeting a small town of just 3,000 people will result in far fewer conversions than a large city like New York or Chicago.

As for budget, the more money you spend, the more patients you attract. Of course, ROI(Return Of Investment)varies by specialty. For example, an orthopedic surgeon gets much more money per surgery than an emergency doctor who does a physical exam.

But the short answer is: when set up correctly, most campaigns generate far more revenue than they cost. After all, why is a doctor spending so much on Google ads? 

Your Medical Marketing specialises in Google Ads services for medical clinics & centers. PPC campaigns, medical seo services and medical marketing services that surely maximize your ROI. (07) 56410224.