The competition in dentistry is becoming fiercer every passing day. You might have amazing stories of helping patients, years of experience, and a well-equipped clinic. But what’s the point when you’re not getting new patients or gaining brand awareness? How can you fill up your empty clinic and draw more patients?
It’s possible with Google Ads.
By setting up your ad campaign correctly, you can reap maximum benefits. This guide will share everything you need to know about making your first PPC dental campaign successful. So, let’s get started.
What Is Pay-Per-Click?
Pay-per-click, or PPC, is a form of online advertising in which ads run on various websites, apps, and other platforms. But there’s one huge difference.
In PPC ads, you’ll pay only when a user clicks on the ad. According to statistics, more than 60% of small and medium-sized businesses run PPC campaigns. The aim is to appear in the sponsored section of Google search results and its partner sites.
It’s a great way to drive more traffic to your website, especially for local businesses like dental practices.
How Does Google Ads Work?
In Google Ads, there are three primary processes. Let’s break them down.
- Google Ads Platform → Platform to run ads
- Advertiser → Businesses who want to attract searchers
- Searcher → Gets services of products from Advertisers
The advertisers find keywords related to their industry and bid on them. These bids can be from a few hundred dollars per keyword to thousands. You can also set the campaign advertising budget manually.
Potential customers search for a relevant keyword on Google. If the advertiser has bid on the keyword, it’ll appear on the SERP along with the organic search results. Google performs a process known as Ad Rank.
What is this?
It’s a method through which Google ranks advertisements in different spaces, such as 1,2,3 on the SERP. The major determinant factors for this are:
- Quality Score of the keyword
- Amount of bids by advertiser
Now, when the customer clicks on an ad that matches their search intent. They may decide to purchase the product and act on the CTA.
10-Steps Guide On Creating Your First Dental Google Ads Campaign
Now that you know about PPC campaigns, let’s explore them further to help you create your first Google PPC campaign from scratch.
Make Your Google Ads Account
Before setting up a Google campaign, you should have a Google ads account.
Don’t have one?
Go to ads.google.com and add your business name. Enter the website URL and link this account to your other accounts, business YouTube channel, and GMB profile. Then, add billing and payment details. When you’re done, Sign In and tap New Campaign at the top of the Google Ads dashboard.
Select Campaign Settings
You might have a primary goal that you want to achieve with Google ads. So, it’s time to ask yourself what it is. Is it increasing new patient appointments, promoting specific services such as teeth whitening and dental implants, or boosting brand awareness?
But for now, you should opt for Create A Campaign Without A Goal’s Guidance. Why?
Because it allows complete control during the PPC campaign.
Now, click on the campaign type that you want to run. For dentists, it’s best to opt for Search Ad campaigns. These allow you to target users who are actively searching for dental services. Give your campaign a name. A good naming convention is Service | Keyword Match Type | Location.
Set Bidding Strategies
If you are creating a new account, you should optimize towards clicks before using another automated bidding strategy. Google will need your account to record Conversions before you can use a Conversion based optimized bidding strategy.
After you have run the campaign optimizing towards clicks and have seen an adequate number of Conversions reported, you can switch your bid strategy to optimizing towards Conversions.
Now let’s discuss the most important part: how much you should spend.
Generally, dentists opt for a low budget, such as $20 for 10 different keywords, which leads to campaign failure.
It’s recommended to have a starting budget of $3,000 per month to target 2 to 3 general dental keywords, but it may vary depending on the keyword’s competitiveness. It plays a pivotal role in making a successful campaign for dental companies.
Choose The Best Keywords
To create a high-converting dental Google Ad, you should find out what your potential patients want. Are they searching for procedures to whiten their teeth? Or a reliable dentist who provides invisible braces services in their area?
You can search for phrases using Google Ads Keyword Planner for absolutely free. Enter the term potential patient uses to find a local dentist. Now, check the keyword density and relevant details.
You should look for dental services, treatment, cosmetics, emergency, and local keywords. Here are some of the keyword types:
- Broad Match: Target multiple variations of the keyword.
- Phrase Match: Target exact phrases and close variations.
- Exact Match: Targets specific keywords exactly as they are typed.
- Negative Keywords: Exclude irrelevant search terms to improve targeting and reduce wasted spend.
Be Findable & Use the Right Language
Suppose you’re running a dental clinic in Miami. You run Google ads but ignore the location setting. What will happen?
People living farther away from you will click on your ad. They aren’t your potential patients and will never visit the clinic.
Wrong location = Wasting a huge amount of money
You don’t want that to happen. So, with the location feature, target the locals and add them to your audience demographics. For precise location targeting, follow this:
- Choose a 5 to 10 miles radius
- Add the clinic’s physical location
- Save all the settings
- Select Presence
- Exclude areas you don’t want to target
If your potential patients speak Spanish, adding that as a second language is best. But leave English as a first language.
Level Up Campaign Via Ad Assets
Previously, the term advertising extensions was used for ad assets. But what’s its purpose?
It allows you to add more relevant information and connection with the keyword. As the relevancy increases, the ad’s performance also shows significant improvement.
Here are some of the commonly used ad assets.
- Sitelink Extensions: Direct users to specific pages on your website, such as Contact Us or Visit Here.
- Call Extensions: Display your dental clinic’s phone number in ads to encourage direct calls.
- Location Extensions: Show your dental clinic’s address to help potential patients find you easily.
- Callout Extensions: Highlight additional benefits or special offers like Same-Day Appointments or New Patient Discounts.
Create Ad Groups
Now, it’s time to structure the ad groups. It improves ad relevance, enhances Quality Score, and makes the dental PPC campaign effective. You can make ad groups based on dental checkups, such as:
Cosmetic Dentistry Ad Group
Campaign Objective: Target patients interested in improving the aesthetic appearance of their teeth.
Target Keywords:
- Cosmetic dentistry
- Teeth whitening
- Smile makeover
But that’s not the only option. You can also form ad groups based on location and choices, such as parents looking for an expert dentist for their teenage daughter’s smile makeover or elderly people who want to maintain their teeth.
Set Up Conversion Tracking
Ensure before your campaigns are live, you have set up conversion tracking. The easiest way to do this if you are also using Google Analytics is to import your conversion from Google Analytics. If you are not using Google Analytics, you will have to add Google Ads code to your website in order to track conversions. Google provides a detailed step by step guide for conversion tracking.
If you do not set up conversion tracking, you will not be able to use automated bidding strategies optimized around Conversions.
Let’s Create Your First Dental Google Ad
Now, it’s time to create your first Google ad. Remember, the ad is all about capturing the target audience’s attention. You can do it with:
- Compelling copy
- Catchy design
Make sure that your copy tells potential patients about your services. If you’ve received any local awards, include them in the ad. Add the URL which will take the user to your landing page.
The headline must be 30 characters long. Use copywriting skills to create a compelling CTA. Add a USP and high-quality visuals in the ad to stand out from the crowd.
Now that everything’s in place click Review to see how your ad will appear to users. You can make any changes you want.
Click on Publish campaign.
Congratulations, you’ve created your first Google ads campaign.
Track Your Progress
You can track conversion rates within Google Ads and monitor the campaign. Check the number of calls you’re getting, online appointments, leads closed, etc, from your ads. Always set up proper conversion tracking and measure campaign performance.
Pro Tip: Don’t hastily wait for leads. Be patient and check three areas before making any changes to the campaign.
- Keyword Bids: You can adjust the bids by changing your budget. Increase bids on the keyword through which you’re making conversions.
- Click-Through Rate: This is relevant to your Quality Score. If the Quality Score is high, then the CPC potentially will be low.
- Experiment with A/B Testing: Test different ad sets and identify what resonates most with your target audience.
To Sum Up
Running a Google ads campaign is highly recommended to grow your dental business. However, ensure you’re properly optimizing and managing your campaign for success. We have provided a step-by-step framework for PPC campaign success.
You should look for an experienced Google Ads management company to get higher ROI instead of doing it yourself. We help dental clinics at XYZ company, so their clinic keeps drawing new patients.
If you also want to experience exponential growth, contact our team of experts today for a free consultation.
