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by Mike Vestil 

Using Google Ads For Dentists To Get More Long-Term Business

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More dental practices use Google Ads to reach new patients through online advertising. By targeting people searching for dental services in your area, you can also attract new patients looking for the exact services that your practice offers.

While the great news is that you don't have to be an experienced online marketer to get started with Google Ads, you do need to know how to set up and manage your campaign to be successful.

In this guide, I'll show you how to create a step-by-step campaign specifically for dental practices, so that you can start generating new patients from your Google Ads campaigns as quickly as possible.

If you're ready to start driving more traffic and patients to your dental practice, let's get started.

Before I dive deep into how to create a successful dental Google Ads campaign, let's take a quick look at the structure of Google Ads.

Formerly known as Google Adwords, Google Ads is a platform you use to create and run your online advertising campaigns. Google Search Ads consists of two main parts: ads and keywords.

Ads are the actual text or videos you show to people when they search for something on Google. Keywords are the words or phrases you target your ads to, and they determine whether someone sees your ad (or a competitors') when they're searching online.

Google Ads Structure

Image Credit: http://invisibleppc.com

When you set up a Google Ads campaign, you'll need to create both an ad group and a collection of keywords. An ad group is simply a collection of one or more ads with various target keywords.

For example, if you're a dentist in New York City, you might create an ad group with "dentist NYC" and target your ad to people searching for those terms. Then, you can target various offered services for each ad in the group.

Creating multiple ad groups with different target keywords is a great way to segment your campaign and ensure that your ads are relevant to the people who see them.

Another crucial factor in running a successful Google Ads campaign is the quality score.

This measures how relevant and useful your ad, keyword, and landing page are to the person who sees it. The higher your quality score, the better the chance of your ad appearing in search results - possibly even at a cheaper cost.

So what goes into (a higher) quality score? There are three main factors to it:

  • Relevance of your keyword to your ad group
  • Relevance of your ad to your keyword
  • Landing page experience

Each of these factors is important in its own right but taken together, they determine whether or not your ad will be successful. Let's take a closer look at each one.

Relevance Of Your Keyword To Your Ad Group

The first factor in the quality score is relevance. Google wants to know that your keyword is relevant to the ads in your ad group. If it isn't, your score will suffer.

To ensure that your keywords are relevant to your ad group, start by creating a list of all your services. Then, create a separate ad group for each service.

For example, if you're a dentist who offers teeth whitening, dental implants, and Invisalign, you would create three separate ad groups: one for each service.

Within each ad group, target keywords relevant to that particular service. So, in your teeth whitening ad group, target keywords like "teeth whitening" and "teeth whitening NYC." This will show Google that your keyword is relevant to your ad group. Do the same for the other ad groups.

Relevance Of Your Ad To Your Keyword

The second factor in the quality score is your keyword relevance compared to the ads it belongs to. Google wants to know that your ads are relevant to the keywords that you're targeting. If they aren't, your quality score will suffer.

To ensure that your ads are relevant to your keywords, start by writing ad copy specifically targeted to each keyword.

For example, if you're targeting the keyword "teeth whitening," write an ad specifically about teeth whitening. Mention the benefits of teeth whitening and why someone should choose you for their teeth whitening needs. You'll need to do the same for every other ad you run.

This may seem like a lot of work, but it's worth it. Google wants to see that your ads are relevant to the keywords you're targeting, which is the best way to show them.

Landing Page Experience

The third and final factor in Quality Score is landing page experience. This factor looks at how well your website performs when someone clicks on your ad.

A landing page is the page your potential customer sees after clicking on your ad. It's essential to have a well-designed, user-friendly landing page because this is often the first impression someone has of your business.

Landing Page Experience

Image Credit: http://99designs.com

Here are the factors to consider when setting up your landing page.

A Title

Your title should be clear and to the point. It should tell people what you do and what they can expect from your business.

Your Dentistry's Name

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Your landing page should include your dentistry's name so that people know they're in the right place.

Testimonials/Reviews From Nextdoor, Yelp, Etc

Include them on your landing page if you have any positive reviews or testimonials from sites like Nextdoor or Yelp. This will help build trust with potential customers.

Business Location

It's essential to include your business location on your landing page so that people know where you are and how to find you.

Phone Number

Your phone number should be prominently displayed on your landing page so that people can quickly get in touch with you.

CTA

Your CTA (call to action) should be clear and concise. It should tell people what you want them to do, and it should be easy for them to follow.

Some examples of CTAs include "Sign up now," "Download our white paper," or "Buy now."

Relevant Image

Choose an image that is relevant to your business, and that will help capture the attention of potential customers. The image should be high-quality and visually appealing. I would also go as far to say that you should avoid royalty-free images as these are typically very cheesy and do not reflect your actual business.

Making a successful website with the right landing pages can be daunting. If you feel like this is too complicated or time-consuming, or you don't have the design skill set required to make an effective website on your own, consider using a professional web design service to take care of it for you.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

One of the most critical metrics in Google Ads is CTR. CTR measures how often people who see your ad click on it. The higher your CTR, the better chance your ad has of being successful.

To improve your CTR, start by writing compelling ad copy relevant to your keywords. In addition, make sure that your ads are targeted to the right audience. Use negative keywords to exclude people who aren't interested in what you're selling.

Google searches impact your CTR, too. Make sure that your target keywords are included in your ad copy and the headline of your ad. This will help to ensure that your ad is relevant to what people are searching for.

Finally, don't forget to use a call to action in your ads. Ask the reader to take action, like signing up for a free consultation or downloading a white paper. This will help to increase your CTR.

Now that's all out of the way, I'll give you all the necessary details to create your first ads.

Creating Your First Dentistry Search Campaign

Let's say that you're targeting the cosmetic dentistry market in the United States. While this is a broad market, it will help to demonstrate what I'm about to share with you.

To start, you'll need to create a new campaign. In your campaign settings, select "Search Network only." This will ensure that your ads appear solely on Google Search - since this is where our best target audience will be.

You can either target a single keyword or a group of related keywords for your ad group. If you're just starting, I recommend targeting a set of related keywords but don't be afraid of adding more keywords later on as appropriate.

Audience Demographics

Understanding your audience is key to a successful campaign. You need to know who you're targeting and what their needs are.

In your ad group settings, you'll have the ability to target people based on their age, gender, and location. You can also target people who are interested in specific topics.

For example, if you're targeting the cosmetic dentistry market, you might want to target people interested in beauty and fashion. This will help to ensure that the right people see your ads.

You can also target people based on their purchase intent. For example, you can target" [Dentistry Product] Review ", which is a great keyword for finding people closer to making a product purchase.

Understanding your audience and where they are at in the customer journey is one of the most important things you can do to improve your campaign.

Budget And Bidding Strategies

Your budget is the amount of money you're willing to spend on your campaign each day and can be adjusted to fit your needs.

You'll also need to choose a bidding strategy in your ad group settings. Various bidding strategies exist, which can be placed into two broad categories: manual and automatic.

With manual bidding, you'll need to set a bid amount for each keyword. This can be time-consuming, but it gives you more control over how much you spend on each keyword. This is a bit of an advanced tactic, which I don't suggest for those just starting with Google Ads.

With automatic bidding, Google will set the bids for you. This is a good option if you're unsure how much to bid for each keyword.

Let's dive deeper into the various types of bidding strategies.

Target Cost-Per-Acquisition (Cpa)

The CPA bidding strategy is best for campaigns focused on acquiring new customers. You'll set a target CPA (cost-per-acquisition). Google will then adjust your bids to try and meet this target.

This is a good option if you're unsure how much you should be spending on each click and conversion.

Target Return On Ad Spend (Roas)

The ROAS bidding strategy is best for campaigns focused on generating revenue. With this bidding strategy, you'll set a target ROAS (return-on-ad-spend). Google will then adjust your bids to try and meet this target.

This is a good option if you have a good idea of how much you want to make from each ad click. For example, if you know that for every $100 you spend on advertising, you want to make at least $200 in revenue, Target ROAS can be a good bidding strategy.

Google will then adjust your bids so that your ads are shown more frequently when people are likely to make a purchase. This can help you get more value from your advertising budget.

Maximize Clicks

The maximize clicks bidding strategy is best for campaigns focused on getting as many clicks as possible. With this bidding strategy, Google will adjust your bids to try and show your ads as often as possible.

This is a good option if you want your ads to be seen often. However, it may not be the best option if you're concerned about the cost of each click.

Maximize Conversion Value

The maximize conversion value bidding strategy is best for campaigns focused on generating the most revenue possible. With this bidding strategy, Google will adjust your bids to try and show your ads to people who are likely to convert into customers.

Target Impression Share

The target impression share bidding strategy is best for campaigns focused on reaching a certain number of ad impressions. With this bidding strategy, Google will adjust your bids to try and show your ads as often as possible.

This is a good option for those running brand awareness campaigns.

Manual Cost-Per-Click (CPC)

The manual CPC bidding strategy is best for campaigns focused on clicks while controlling the cost for each of these clicks. With this bidding strategy, you'll set a bid for each keyword. Google will then show your ads based on your bids.

Manual Cost-Per-Click (CPC)

Image Credit: http://adespresso.com

This is a good option if you want to have more control over how much you spend on each click. Be aware that, as mentioned, this is quite a time-consuming process.

Ad Extensions

When it comes to online advertising of your dental services, using ad extensions will help search engines better understand your services and place your ads accordingly. Ad extensions will also give your potential patients more information about your services and increase the visibility of your ad.

There are many different types of ad extensions, including the following:

  • Sitelinks
  • Callout
  • Structured snippets
  • Lead form
  • Location
  • Call
  • Price
  • Affiliate location
  • Promotion
  • App

The top three are considered universal extensions, which means that Google suggests using them for all types of businesses. The other extensions are specific to certain business types.

Let's look at what these extensions are and how you can use them to create better Google Ads.

Sitelinks Extensions

Sitelinks are a type of ad extension that allow you to show additional links to your website below your main ad. These links can lead to specific pages on your website, such as your homepage, services page, or contact page. Sitelinks can help improve your ad's click-through rate (CTR) and give potential patients more information about your services.

Callout Extensions

Callout extensions are a type of ad extension that allow you to highlight specific features or services of your business and your main ad. This is a good option if you want to highlight a particular action you want potential site visitors to take. In addition, callouts can help improve the CTR of your ad.

Structured Snippets Extensions

Structured snippets are a type of ad extension that allow you to add additional information about your business. This can include the type of services you offer, pricing, or customer ratings. Structured snippets can help improve the CTR of your ad and provide potential patients with more information about your products or services.

Location Extensions

Location extensions are a type of ad extension that allow you to show your business' address and phone number below your main ad. This is a good option if you want to make it easy for potential patients to find and contact you.

Affiliate Location Extensions

Affiliate location extensions are a type of location extension that allow you to show the addresses of other businesses affiliated with yours. This is a good option if you want to show potential patients a list of partners that offer the same services as you.

Price Extensions 

Price extensions show the prices of your services in your main ad. If you want to highlight your prices, this is definitely a great ads extension to use.

Price Extensions

Image Credit: http://strodin.com

Benefits To Using Ad Extensions

You might be thinking that using ad extensions is simply too much work. However, ad extensions can save you time and money in the long run. The following are some of the significant benefits of using these extensions.

Maximized Ad Text

Ad extensions allow you to add more information to your ad without worrying about exceeding the character limit. This means that you can include all of the relevant information about your services and then some.

Increased SERP Real-Estate

Ad extensions also increase the amount of space your ad takes up on the SERP, which means that your ad is more likely to be seen by potential patients.

More Qualified Leads

Ad extensions help qualify leads by providing potential patients with more information about your services. This means that you are more likely to receive leads interested in what you have to offer.

Better Ad Quality

Ad extensions also help to improve the overall quality of your ad. This is because they make your ad more visually appealing and help it stand out from the competition.

Could Save You Money

Ad extensions can also save you money in the long run by helping you to get better leads at a lower cost. 

In a nutshell, if you're looking for a way to improve your dental marketing, using ad extensions is a great way to do it. They will help you stand out from the competition, but they will also help you generate more qualified leads.

Thinking About Your Ad Copy When Creating Your Ads

Your ad copy is one of the essential elements of your Google Ads campaign. It is the primary way that you can communicate with potential patients and convince them to click on your ad.

Here are some tips for writing compelling ad copy for dentists:

Use Keyword-Rich Headlines

Your headline should be attention-grabbing and relevant to the keywords you are targeting. In addition, including the keywords that users would have used to see your ads, can help to improve your CTR.

Write Compelling Descriptions

Your description should be clear and concise. In addition, it should highlight the benefits of your services to help convince potential dental patients to click on your ad.

Use Call-To-Actions

Using a call-to-action in your ad can help to increase your conversion rate. Some typical call-to-actions include "call now" and "schedule an appointment."

Test, Test, Test

The best way to find out what works best for your dental practice is to test different versions of your ad. This will allow you to see which elements are most effective and make necessary changes accordingly.

The Importance Of Keyword Research

Keyword research plays a vital role in any successful Google Ads campaign. This allows you to target suitable patients with your ads.

While search volumes are essential, they are not the only factor you should consider when choosing keywords. You also need to consider the competition level and how relevant the keywords are to your services.

Here are some tips for conducting effective keyword research for dentists:

Use Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are more specific and less common than general keywords. They are a great way to target patients who are already interested in what you have to offer since the longer a search query is, the more invested a person usually is.

Use Keyword Modifiers

Keyword modifiers are words and phrases that can help to improve the relevancy of your keywords. Some common modifier keywords include "affordable," "local," and "near me."

Use Competitor Keywords

If you're struggling to develop keywords on your own, you can always 'steal' ideas from your competitors - simply by seeing what are the main keywords for the ads that show up for specific search queries. You can also use competitor analysis to see the landing pages your competitors are using and use these ideas to make yours even better. This can all give you insight into ways to improve your own campaigns. 

With that in mind, the search volume for dental keywords has increased significantly over the last few years. This is because more and more people are searching for dental services online.

The following are some of the most popular dental keywords:

  • 1. Dental implants
  • 2. Teeth whitening
  • 3. Invisalign
  • 4. Dental veneers
  • 5. Dentures
  • 6. Dental bridges
  • 7. Dental crowns
  • 8. Root canal therapy
  • 9. Oral surgery
  • 10. Orthodontics

These are just a few popular dental keywords that potential patients are searching for online and that you can target in your ads. If you want to get your dental practice in front of these patients and offer these services in your dental business, running some ads and measuring the results you get might be worth a try.

Tools That Can Help You With Keyword Research

The following are some popular keyword research tools that can help you with your Google Ads campaign:

The Google Keyword Planner

The Google Keyword Planner is a free tool that allows you to research keywords and determine how much traffic they generate. It also provides information on the competition level and suggested bid prices.

The Google Keyword Planner

Image Credit: http://searchengineland.com

You can use the Google Keyword Planner to start your keyword research by entering a keyword or phrase into the tool. The tool will then show you a list of related keywords and the monthly search volume for each keyword.

Moz Keyword Explorer

The Moz Keyword Explorer is a paid tool that allows you to research keywords and determine their competitiveness and traffic potential. It also provides information on the SERP features associated with each keyword.

Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

The Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer is a powerful keyword research tool that allows you to find the most popular keywords in your niche. You can use it to see much more than just keywords, including:

  • competitor analysis
  • backlink opportunities
  • content ideas
  • and more SEO-related material
Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

SEMrush

SEMrush is a direct competition of Ahrefs and is another powerful keyword research tool. It offers you another perspective when doing keyword research and can be another great tool in your digital marketing arsenal.

SEMrush

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a free keyword research tool that doesn't require you to sign up for an account. It offers you the ability to get keyword suggestions from Google's auto suggest feature.

Ubersuggest

Answer The Public

Answer the Public is a free tool that offers you data on people's questions about specific keywords. This can help you understand the intent behind a particular keyword and brainstorm ideas for your next Google Ad campaign.

Answer The Public

Google And Its Autosuggestions

Google also offers an excellent auto suggestion feature to help with your keyword research. This feature provides you with a list of related keywords as you type in your initial query in the search engine. You can then use these associated keywords to generate more ideas for your campaign.

Google Search Console

The Search Console is a free tool offered by Google that allows you to see the keywords people use to find your website. It also provides information on the click-through rate and position for each keyword.

It's highly recommended to set up your search console account as soon as possible because it's one of the few ways you can see the keywords people are using to find your website.

While all the keyword tools mentioned before predict what keywords people are using based on their specific algorithms, Search Console gives you actual data based on your website's performance in Google. This data can help you better understand your target audience and improve your campaign strategy.

Keyword Types Targeting

Another choice you need to make when setting up Google ads is choosing your keyword targeting. This will determine when your ads are displayed based on the keywords typed into Google. The four types of keyword targeting are:

Broad Targeting

This refers to targeting a keyword or group of keywords without any additional targeting modifiers. Google will show your ad to anyone who searches for your targeted keywords.

This type of targeting is best used when you're looking to quickly generate a large amount of traffic. However, it's also the most competitive and typically has the lowest click-through rate.

Broad Match Modified Targeting

Broad match modified targeting is similar to broad targeting but adds in a modifier that ensures your ad isn't shown to everyone who searches for your target keyword. This modifier can be:

  • "plus signs" (+), which require all of the words in your target keyword to be present in the search query
  • "quotation marks" ("") which require the exact phrase to be present in the search query
  • a minus sign (-) which prevents your ad from being shown when any of the words in your target keyword are present in the search query

This type of targeting is best used when you target a specific group of people but still want some flexibility with your keywords. It typically also has a higher click-through rate than broad targeting.

Phrase Targeting

Phrase targeting requires that all of the words in your target keyword be present in the search query, but it doesn't need them to be in order. This type of targeting is best used when you want to reach people who are specifically looking for your product or service.

Exact Targeting

Exact targeting requires that the precise phrase be present in the search query. This is the most restrictive type of targeting, but it also has the highest click-through rate. This type of targeting is best used when you're looking to generate leads or sales from your campaign.

Negative Keyword Targeting

In addition to positive keyword targeting, you can also use negative keyword targeting to exclude certain words from your ad campaign. This can help ensure that your ad isn't shown to people who are not interested in your product or service.

Negative Keyword Targeting

Image Credit: http://surfsideppc.com

For example, if you're a plumber specializing in fixing filling leaks, you might want to add "free" as a negative keyword. You don't want your ad to be shown to people looking for free dental services.

Other Factors To Consider For Long-Term Business Success

Here are a few final factors to consider when it comes to having a successful dental practice in terms of its digital marketing presence:

  • Google maps listings - make sure your business is claimed and verified on Google My Business. This will make it easier for potential customers to find you when they search on Google Maps.
  • Local SEO - in addition to using Google Ads, you can also use local SEO to help your dental practice rank higher in search engine results pages. You can optimize your website for local keywords and add your business to local directories.
  • Yelp - create a business profile on Yelp and encourage your patients to leave reviews. This can help improve your visibility online and attract new patients.
  • Social Media - make sure your business is listed and has complete profiles, with optimized cover photos and profile pics. Use relevant hashtags on Twitter and Instagram to make it easier for people to find you.

These are just a few of the many factors you should consider when promoting your dental practice online. By taking the time to understand how each of these elements works, you'll be able to create an effective marketing strategy that will lead to long-term results.

Conclusion

Creating a Google Ads campaign for dentists can be a daunting task, but using these tips will make it easier. It is always essential to test different ad versions to find what works best.

While you can also use Facebook ads to promote your dentistry business, it may be a good idea to focus on one channel at a time and optimize your campaigns as you go.

Either way, you decide to go about it, keep your landing pages up-to-date with relevant content and images, and always use a clear and concise CTA. And lastly, make sure to track your results so that you can continually improve your

If you want to learn more about these marketing channels, check out this direct comparison article that reviews Facebook Ads versus Google Ads to understand better what's suitable for your business, objectives, and budget.

In addition, here are a few other Google ads articles showing you how to use Google Ads in various industries:

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About the author 

Mike Vestil

Mike Vestil is the author of the Lazy Man's Guide To Living The Good Life. He also has a YouTube channel with over 700,000 subscribers where he talks about personal development and personal finance.

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