Learn how to get more patients using Google Ads for dentists with these strategies and tactics to grow your practice.

In the past, dental practices mainly used referrals, Yellow Pages ads, direct mail, and billboards to attract new customers. However, times have changed, and these techniques are gradually becoming outdated. Presently, it’s not what dentists say about themselves, their practice, their team, or their technology that drives business growth. Rather, it’s what current and potential patients say about them and their digital marketing efforts.

A carefully planned digital marketing strategy is crucial for the success of any dental practice, whether it’s established or just starting out. Google Ads (Formally Google AdWords) is the solution you need to achieve this for your dental practice.

Why Use Google Ads for Dentists?

Google Ads can help your dental practice appear at the top of search results, making it easier for potential patients to find you. Google is the number one search engine in the world and customers often use it to locate services like a family dentist as well as many other dental services in your local area. Therefore, using Google Search Ads is a crucial part of any dental digital marketing plan that can help attract new patients but should be part of a bigger plan.

How Potential Clients Search for Dental Services

People don’t just look up “dental services”; they search based on their specific needs at the moment. For instance, they might enter “emergency dental care” or “teeth whitening services near me.” To reach these potential patients, your dental practice needs to be visible for these targeted searches. Google Ads enables you to connect with individuals who are actively looking for the exact services your practice offers.

Precision Targeting for Maximum Impact with Dental Google Ads

Google Ads is more than just spreading your message; it’s about precision targeting to ensure your dental services reach the right audience. Thanks to its advanced targeting options, Google Ads lets you position your ads strategically to enhance their effectiveness. Here’s how:

• Location-Based Targeting: Focus your ads on potential patients in specific cities, regions, or within a certain distance from your clinic. This is crucial for dental practices that serve particular areas.
• Demographic Targeting: If your dental services are tailored to specific demographics, such as families or seniors, Google Ads allows you to directly target these groups.
• Search Intent Targeting: Use Google Ads to target keywords that indicate a user’s intent to seek dental services. This ensures your ads are seen by people who are actively looking for dental care solutions.

This targeted approach means your advertising budget is spent on reaching individuals who are genuinely interested in or in need of your dental services.

Cost-Effective Marketing with Measurable ROI for Dentists

Google Ads operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, which is particularly cost-effective for dental practices. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, making it a more efficient investment compared to traditional advertising methods.

Additionally, the platform provides comprehensive analytics, allowing you to track essential metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and overall return on ad spend. This data-driven approach enables you to tailor your strategy and budget based on real performance, maximizing your investment.

Building a Trustworthy Dental Brand Over Time

Beyond immediate patient conversions, the long-term benefits of consistent brand exposure through Google Ads are invaluable. Regular visibility in search results boosts brand recognition. Over time, this can build trust among potential patients. When they need dental services, your practice is more likely to come to mind first, thanks to this ongoing exposure. Therefore, Google Ads serves not only as a tool for immediate lead generation but also as a strategy for long-term brand building.

Integrating Google Ads into Your Dental Digital Marketing Strategy

Google Ads can target relevant queries specifically, ensuring your dental practice appears prominently when potential patients are searching for services you offer. For dental practices, Google Ads is an essential tool for increasing visibility and attracting the right patients. When implemented effectively, it can be a cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy, driving targeted leads and fostering long-term brand loyalty.

If you are looking for other ideas to get new patients for your Dental practice, I’ve also created this article “Digital Marketing For Dental Clinics”

So, how can you leverage Google Search Ads for Dentists? Let’s dive in.

Upon setting up your Google Ads (Formally Google Adwords) account, you have access to several ad channels for your business. The most commonly used are:

• Search Ads
• Display Ads
• Local Services Ads
• YouTube Video Ads

Google Search Ads

Search Ads are the most common type of Google Ads and appear similar to organic search results. They are used to reach customers who are ready to engage your services.

You can create different campaigns to target customers from different locations and with different interests. Each ad or campaign requires specific keywords or search terms. Thorough keyword research helps you find the right keywords to use and identify keywords you don’t want your ads to appear for.

Search Ads also work on a pay-per-click model and lead prospective customers to your website’s landing page with a call-to-action (CTA) that prompts them to call, text, or email your business.

Google Ads is a type of internet marketing that allows people to display ads for their products or services to potential clients who search for relevant topics. The pay-per-click name suggests that dentists and other advertisers pay only when someone clicks on their ad. PPC is a great opportunity for dentists to get their practice out there and in front of potential clients who may not know about their practice

Google Display Ads

Google Display Ads are the banners that appear on webpages that allow Google to show ads on their website. They are used to help increase your dental clinic’s visibility and remind potential customers of it. Additionally, they can be used for re-marketing purposes, as they are typically shown to people who have previously interacted with your brand in some way on social media.

Example Google Display Ads

 

 

How does this work? This works by tracking the keywords that people use when searching for a certain product or service, and then ‘following’ them to display your ad on every webpage they visit to lead potential customers to your website’s landing page, prompting them to take action.

Google Local Services Ads

Google ads for dental practices offer numerous advantages, particularly through Local Services Ads, which differ significantly from traditional display and search ads. These ads act as virtual business cards, featuring your practice’s name, location, client reviews, and operating hours. They specifically target potential customers seeking your services in your immediate vicinity, resulting in higher conversion rates.

Promote your dental clinic on Google using Local Services Ads to maintain a connection with potential clients. Obtain leads in the form of phone calls and messages, which you can respond to, track appointments, and manage either online or via the app (Android, iOS). The messaging feature is currently available in the United States and Canada.
Google Local Services Ads operate on a cost-per-lead basis, charging you only for leads that contact your practice. This cost-effective approach ensures your ad budget yields tangible results. The ad display format allows customers to quickly gather information about your dental clinic and reach out with a single click, eliminating the need to navigate your website to schedule an appointment.

Creating Your Google Search Ads Campaign for Dentists

When setting up a Google Ads campaign, careful planning is essential. Here are some key steps:

Keyword Research

Use tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner to identify effective keywords. Remember, while some potential patients search for generic terms like “dental care,” others search for specific services, like “teeth cleaning services near me.” These specific, longer phrases are known as long-tail keywords. They often have lower search volumes, but higher conversion rates due to their specificity.

Google Search ads are ads that are shown at the top and bottom of the search engine results on platforms like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Your ads are shown to individuals when they search using keywords related to your ad.

When creating your keywords for your ads, it is important to know that, although potential clients search for generic keywords such as “dental care” or “dental services,” they also search for specific services, from “teeth cleaning services near me” or “cavity fillings in [my location].” These are known as long-tailed keywords, which are three and four keywords that make up a phrase that is related to your industry even if not directly mentioning it.

They often have a lower search volume but the individuals that are searching these terms have a better chance of converting to a customer because of the precise targeting.

Some questions to help you get the perfect long tail keywords are:

✅ Who is your target audience?
✅ What are their pain points?
✅ Where is their location?
✅ How popular is the keyword you are trying to target?
✅ What keywords are your competitors targeting?

You can also leverage tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner to conduct keyword research for your ads.

Keyword Match Types

Keyword Match Types in Google Ads are parameters that advertisers can set to control how closely the keyword needs to match a user’s search query in order for the ad to be displayed. Choosing the right match type for your keywords can help you reach the right audience with your ads.

Here’s a breakdown of the different keyword match types and how they can be used in your dental practice’s Google Ads campaign:

Broad Match: This is the default match type and the one with the widest reach. If you bid on the keyword “dentist,” your ad could show up for any search queries related to dentists, including “dentist near me,” “teeth cleaning,” or even “orthodontist.” While this can help you reach the maximum number of people, it might not target the most relevant audience, leading to lower conversion rates.

Modified Broad Match: This allows you to specify that certain words must be present in the search query for your ad to show. You indicate this by putting a plus sign (+) in front of the necessary words. For example, if you bid on “+dentist +Boston,” your ad will only show up for queries that include both “dentist” and “Boston.”

Phrase Match: This match type means that your ad can show when someone searches for your exact keyword phrase, or close variants of that phrase, in the exact order you enter them, but there might be other words before or after that phrase. For example, if you bid on the phrase match keyword “dental clinic,” your ad can show for the search query “best dental clinic in town,” but not for “clinic for dental services.”

Exact Match: This is the most specific match type. If you bid on the exact match keyword [pediatric dentist], your ad will only show up for that exact phrase or very close variants of that exact phrase. This can help ensure that your ad is being seen by the most relevant audience, but it might limit the number of impressions your ad receives.

Each of these match types has its strengths and weaknesses, and the best choice will depend on the specific goals of your Google Ads campaign. It’s often a good idea to use a mix of match types to strike a balance between reaching a wide audience and targeting the most relevant potential patients for your dental practice.

For instance, you could use broad match to ensure that you’re capturing all potential patients searching for dentists in your area, while also using exact match for specific services like “teeth whitening” or “dental implants” to attract patients looking for those particular services.

Personally, I rarely use the Broad Match or Modified Broad Match when I create Google Ads Campaigns.

Negative Keywords

Google Ads Tip to Save Money: when choosing your keywords, it’s also important to create a list of Negative Keywords.

Negative keywords are keywords you don’t want your ads to show up for. A great tip to ensure your ads reach your exact audience is to block your ads for these negative keywords. For example, you may want to avoid keywords like ‘cheap’ because someone looking for this is not planning to get treatment at your dental clinic.

Ad Copy

When writing your ad copy for your dental internet marketing ads, it is important to make your ad stand out and get people to click on your ads. To do so, your message within the ad should focus on the benefits that your dental office can provide for the customer. Your ad should create a strong, clear, and concise call-to-action (CTA) for the potential customer. Ultimately, your ad copy should mirror the potential customer’s end goal.

 

Google Ad Extensions

Google Ad Extensions are a type of ad format that shows extra information (“extending” your ads) about your business. They are designed to enhance your ad by making it more useful to users and can lead to better click-through rates (CTR). Ad extensions are free to add—you only pay for the clicks they receive.

Here are some of the most common types of Google ad extensions:

Sitelink Extensions: These allow additional links to be added to your standard ad, which can lead users to specific pages on your site. For example, you might include sitelinks to your hours, specific services, or contact page.

Call Extensions: These allow you to add a phone number or call button to your ads, making it easier for potential customers to get in touch with you directly from the ad.

Location Extensions: If you have a brick-and-mortar location, location extensions can help people find you by showing your address, a map to your location, or the distance to your business.

Callout Extensions: These allow you to include additional text in your ad to highlight specific information about your products or services. For example, you might highlight free shipping, 24/7 customer service, or special promotion.

Structured Snippet Extensions: These show beneath your ad text in the form of a header (e.g., “Services”) and list (e.g., teeth cleaning, root canal, teeth whitening). They provide an opportunity to showcase a particular aspect of your products or services.

Price Extensions: These showcase your services or product categories along with their prices, so people can browse your products right from your ad.

App Extensions: If your business has a mobile app, app extensions can provide a link to the app download page in your ad.

Promotion Extensions: These allow you to show special sales or offers with your ad, giving users more incentive to click.

Remember, Google Ads chooses which extensions to show in response to each individual search on Google, so you won’t always see the same ad extensions for every search. It’s a good idea to use all the extensions that make sense for your business to give Google Ads a range of options to optimize your ad visibility and performance.

Dentists should also take advantage of using extensions in their ads. Extensions are additional snippets of relevant information that extend your ad and provide greater visibility and prominence on the search results page which can increase your click-through rate and improve your quality score.

 

For example, as seen in the image above, the text within the red blocks are extensions. The first red block is outlining site link extensions. These are links listed directly below your ad copy that will link individuals to additional pages of your website. These links can increase conversion rates by providing users with several relevant links to additional landing pages that can increase their chances of converting; Contact Us, About Us, Our Services, schedule an appointment, etc. 

The highlighted text beneath these is known as structured snippet extensions. They highlight specific services or products that dentists may offer. For example, root canal treatments, teeth whitening, dental implants, or invisible braces.

Tracking Performance with Google Ads

Google Ads provides a wealth of data that can help you track your campaign’s performance. Key metrics to pay attention to include click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and cost per conversion. These metrics will help you understand how well your ads are performing and where there’s room for improvement.

Want to learn more about important metrics to track, read my article on “Digital Marketing Metrics Every Business Owner Should Know”

Having a proper dental clinic marketing strategy in place can increase the number of patients and overall bookings at your dental practice. Instead of spending money on traditional methods, get ahead of your competitors, start a digital media strategy, and get your dental clinic content marketing running today.

Read more about Digital Marketing for Dental Clinics here ⬇️

Digital Marketing Strategies for Dental Clinics

Marketing is one of the departments in your dental clinic that can function either in-house or be outsourced to an independent marketing agency. Marketing, though time-consuming and complex, actively maintains patient relationships and attracts new ones; you shouldn’t leave it to chance.

You have a couple of options when it comes to moving forward with your dental digital marketing strategy. One option (which is also the more common approach) is having a team member handle certain marketing activities. The other option is to hire a dental marketing agency or consultant with expertise in healthcare marketing. This can be a good choice if your practice has a limited budget or lacks experience in this area.

Would you like to explore these options before investing in a digital marketing plan for your dental clinic? As a Google Ads Consultant, I would be delighted to help. You or a team member can Schedule a “Digital Marketing For Dental Clinics” Discovery Call with me.

During our call, we will:

– Discuss your current strategy
– Discuss some potential ‘quick wins’ to start getting new patients
– Review your Google ads account to make sure you are not overspending
– Discuss a potential road map for your business.

Our call will be 30 mins and it will be over Zoom.