With more and more dental practices shifting online, it’s undeniable that the dental industry is becoming increasingly competitive by the day. In this digital world, having a strong online presence is the key to staying on top of the game. If prospects can’t find you first, chances are, your competitors are getting all the leads. This is why you can no longer rely on organic reach alone.
If you want to get an influx of new patients, you need to develop a holistic digital marketing strategy for your dental practice - and that includes dental pay-per-click, or PPC. In this article, we will discuss what PPC is, why it’s important, and the different tips you can use to acquire more patients through the advertising tactic.
Dental pay-per-click is an online advertising model wherein dental advertisers pay each time a user clicks on one of their ads.
You only need to pay for prospects who click on your ads and will likely convert. Otherwise, you don’t need to pay a single cent, which makes it a cost-effective option.
Dental PPC is important for your dental practice because it allows you to advertise your products and services to your target audience effectively.
It puts your dental practice on the first page of search results, just above the organic results, every time a user searches for the products or services you offer.
This is crucial given that 75% of people never scroll past the first page of search engine results pages.
So, by ranking on top, you have a greater chance of driving more visitors to your site and generating more qualified leads who will likely convert into patients.
The most popularly known form of PPC advertising is Google Ads. That said, you can also use the platform to promote your business across millions of websites within the Google Display Network.
This can help build brand familiarity and put your brand on top of your target audience’s minds, so when they need to avail of dental services, you’ll be the first practice they can think of.
Pay-per-click is a powerful marketing tool you can use to help your dental practice achieve success.
However, running these campaigns requires having a strategic approach. Below are tips you can use to further refine your PPC strategy and get the most out of your pay-per-click ads:
People use certain keywords when searching on Google or any search engine. It determines the intent behind their query, whether they’re looking for information or wanting to buy something. When choosing a keyword you want to rank for, you must do your research first to avoid any mismatch. For your ads to be effective, they need to be highly relevant to the person they appear to.
For example, someone types in the keyword “affordable dentures near me.” Obviously, they won’t be buying a pair of dentures that’s beyond their budget. If your dental clinic only offers high-end dentures, then you don’t want your ads to get triggered using the keyword because they would be irrelevant to what the person is looking for.
So, what do you need to do to make sure that you use the right keywords?
Get to know your target audience and think about the keywords they will likely use as they travel along the buyer’s journey. Continuing with the example above, let’s list down keywords your target audience will likely use at each stage of the buyer’s journey.
Additional tips to consider:
Google Ads offers keyword matching options that let you decide whether you want your ads to appear whenever a user’s search query includes any of your keywords, or if you prefer they show up only if the query is an exact match of your keyword or phrase.This gives you the freedom to broaden or narrow your targeting.
There are four types of keyword matching options:
Create a list of words you don’t want to rank for, and make sure to indicate it in your campaigns. Let’s use the example again above. Since you only offer high-quality dentures, you can include “affordable dentures” in your list.
If you’re running several ads, it’s best to organize your keywords into different ad groups. Keywords like “teeth whitening” and “dental veneers” are great for cosmetic dentistry ads, whereas keywords such as “dental implants” and “dentures” can gain more patients for those specializing in restorative dentistry.
Now that you have a list of keywords for every stage of the buyer’s journey, it’s time to create intent-driven ad copies. You can also use these keywords to give you an idea of what the content of your ad copies should be or what they should look like.
Additionally, you can create different versions of your ad copy and test them to see what works best with your target audience. Experiment with the calls-to-action, the graphics you use, and your messaging and tone.
You can use a landing page to further strengthen your PPC strategy. If you’re unaware, a landing page’s role is to redirect users who click on your ads to a specific dental service or product that you offer and inspire them to take action - whether it’s to buy, make an appointment, give you their email, and more. For example, if your PPC ad aims to attract prospects who are interested in restorative dentistry, then your landing page should focus on the different restorative dental services you offer and convince them to make an appointment or give their email.
Here are several landing page best practices you can apply:
For dental practices, it just makes sense to optimize your ads for phone calls. Adding this feature allows you to answer a potential patient’s query directly, make an appointment, and provide details, allowing you to quickly convert a prospect. Make sure that you pick up calls right away, or if you can’t, set a reminder to call back. You should also set your ads to only show your contact number if you’re in the office. That way, a real person receives the call, and not an answering machine.
Organizing your ad account is another dental PPC tip to keep in mind. It is important due to the following reasons:
Here are the four key areas of your ad account you need to maintain:
Google Ads offers nine different types of campaigns. If you plan to use more than one type, see to it that you separate them so you can manage them better.
Users switch to different devices each day, from computers to mobile, to tablet, and even smart TVs. For this reason, you should set your ads to target specific devices, choose an ad space, and test your campaigns if they work well with those devices. You should also organize your ads according to your chosen devices.
You can expand your ads to Google Search Partners to see if your campaigns work well on this network. Compare data between Google Search and the Search Partners Network. You might also want to organize between the two networks so you can track results better.
Google Ads provides you the option to choose from different bid strategies that are suitable for different types of campaigns. We suggest you use the Enhanced Bidding (eCPC) strategy, as it aims to maximize conversions or conversion value.
6. Analyze Results
Tracking and analyzing results is imperative because it allows you to further improve your PPC campaigns for better results. Once you figure out what works for your dental practice, that’s the time you may start adapting to these changes.
Here are the seven key performance indicators you should monitor:
.jpg)
Whether you’re trying to drive more traffic to your website, generate more patients for your practice, or get more people to know about your dental office or clinic, dental pay-per-click advertising can be a very powerful tool you can use to achieve these goals. Stop wasting your advertising money on ineffective ads and use these tips to help you make the most out of your dental PPC campaigns and start getting more patients.
At Digital Resource, we can help you run effective dental PPC ads. Contact us today to know how we’ve helped other dental practices achieve success through dental PPC advertising.