Get Found on Google with Paid Search Ads

It has been said that if you want to hide a dead body, put it on the second page of Google search results. I’m not here today to talk about covering up a crime, but I can give you some advice for using paid search ads to get your office found on page one.

Hi, I’m Alison Micheletti, Senior Dental Marketing Strategist at Golden Proportions Marketing, the most experienced dental marketing company in the country. And just like you, when I need to research something, I turn to Google. While I love scrolling through organic results (even on page two), I’ll be the first to tell you that I click on the paid results that are at the top and bottom of each page.

Does every dentist need Google search ads? Well, it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish and promote with your dental digital marketing, and where you live.

When to Pay to Rank

So let’s pretend that you practice general dentistry in Choccolocco, Alabama (that’s a fun name to say), and there are only two other dentists in your town. You’re going to rank well organically by default. So, save your money for a nice dinner, bowling, or whatever they do for fun in Choccolocco.

But what if you’re a dentist in a big city or very competitive market? What if you want to reach implant patients from a 20 mile radius? Until you get to the top of page one on Google with dental SEO, dental PPC can drive the new patient calls that you need.

The average click through rate for an ad in the first position is about 25 percent. If there are 3000 searches a month for a dentist in your city (and there’s usually a lot more), that means 750 clicks, and that means a lot of calls to your office.

Best Practices

What are some best practices you should follow if you do decide to use dental PPC?

Use a Landing Page

First, make sure that your ads are going to a landing page. A landing page is a single web page, not on your dental website, that makes sure your audience doesn’t get distracted and start clicking all over the place. This landing page is about one subject and one subject only. Family dentistry, dental implants, sedation dentistry. This isn’t your website, so don’t try and shove every topic into one landing page.

Be Accessible

Second, if you run your ads outside of office hours, be sure your landing page has a contact form that requests the user’s phone number, uses a virtual appointment scheduling service like LocalMed, or make sure you’re prepared to answer the phone at any time the ad is running. People who click on a Google ad looking for a dentist are ready to make a decision now. Our research shows that 70 percent of people who reach your voicemail will just hang up. So either restrict the time of your ads to when you’re in the office, or customize how a patient can contact you from the landing page.

If you have questions about dental ppc, give us a call. Or find us on Google. At the top of the list.

Thanks for watching.