Google Ads For Health Practitioners

Paid Advertisements for Health Practitioners by Google Ads

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whistling or rattling noise in flight

What is Google Ads?

Why should Health Practitioners and Medical Practices consider Google AdWords for Physicians? (5 Advantages) If your practice is serious about increasing its number of online patient referrals, then Google Ads is a must. Here are 5 reasons why:

Are you in a rush to get new patients and fast? Then Google Ads may be the right option for you. A new account can be set up without a matter of hours, so your website could be appearing on patients’ screens before the end of the day!

One of the best features about Google AdWords is its ability to target people within a certain geographic area. After all, if you are an urgent care center in Chicago, then you don’t want to be paying for ads for people in Texas!

You can also use the Google Adwords schedule feature to schedule ads for when you want. We usually advise doctors to schedule ads for when they are open – so that patients can call to schedule. After all, why pay for patients to call you when you’re closed?

There are many tracking options. Google refers to them as “Conversions”. Using code provided by Google, you can track the success of your ads. This includes tracking how many calls you received (and whether these calls were from the ad or from your website).

It also includes the ability to track if patients later scheduled an appointment on your website. By tracking results, your practice can calculate how much you are paying for each conversion.

Unlike other forms of online advertising (e.g. Facebook), you only pay when someone clicks on your ads. This is known as Pay Per Click (PPC). It means that you are not wasting your advertising budget on ads which are not of interest to people.

According to WordStream, the percentage of consumers clicking on Google Ads (instead of the organic search results below) is increasing. But what does this mean? It means that doctors can no longer just rely on appearing in the organic search results. For the best results, they should appear in both the Google Ads section AND the organic search results.

Conclusion: Are Google Ads worth it?

The answer is: “Yes, but…” If your practice is serious about increasing its number of new online patient referrals, then it needs to allocate some budget to Google Ads. It’s a growing source of patients, so it will be a big player in the future. If you want your practice to compete in 2019 and beyond, then it’s time to get on board the Google Ads Train!

However, Google Ads is NOT the be all and end all. You should NOT spend 100% of your budget on Google Ads. Instead, it should be part of a blended approach, ensuring that you have all your bases covered.

Google Ads Are Not Enough.

As mentioned above, Google Ads alone are not enough. They work best as part of a blended campaign. You should also consider:

Organic SEO

Facebook Ads

Increasing your number of 5 Star Reviews

A mobile-friendly Medical Website

Social Media Marketing

Email Marketing to Patients