Running ads on Google is one of the most effective ways for medical practices to reach potential patients online. Because of the costs incurred from successful Google Ads campaigns, proactive planning relies on keen judgment and consistent efforts. In this blog post, you will gain an understanding of Google Ads basics, including how to set up campaigns, keyword selection, best practices for effective ads, and continuously optimizing for performance.
Understanding How Google Ads Works
Google Ads is an online advertising platform that allows advertisers to create and display ads to customers who are actively searching for specific products, services, or information. Advertisers receive priority placement on Google’s search engine results page (SERP). Medical practices can use Google Ads to promote their services, attract new patients, and stay competitive in their local market.
One of the main advantages of Google Ads is that it allows you to target potential patients based on their search queries, location, demographics, and interests. This means that you can create ads that reach your target patients with precision, with the aim of better click-through rates, conversions, and ROI.
Types of Digital Ad Campaigns
Part of Google Ads basics and the planning process is knowing your options. Google Ads offers several types of campaigns, each designed to fulfill different advertising objectives. The most common campaign types for medical practices are:
- Search campaigns – Google allows advertisers a highly visible space that is shown in Google search results. This is ideal for targeting patients who are searching for specific services or treatments, keywords, or phrases related to your medical practice.
- Display campaigns – Ads appear on various internet properties such as YouTube and websites. This helps promote your medical practice brand beyond search results and retarget those who have shown interest in your services before.
- Video campaigns – Ads in video format that show on various social media and video content platforms, usually before, in the middle, or after user-generated video content. This also drives brand awareness and better acquaints patients with what your medical practice offers.
- Shopping campaigns – Paid ads are formatted to support the buying process. Patients who are actively looking for medical supplies or equipment online will find a selection of these products based on terms with buying search intent.
- App campaigns – Using app stores like Google Play to promote medically-related apps to potential patients who are searching for helpful health and wellness tools.
- Smart campaigns – Optimizing digital ads campaigns through machine learning to automate ad creation and targeting for lead generation, website traffic, calls, or app installs.
- Performance max campaigns – advanced algorithms to optimize for a variety of performance objectives. This allows you to manage ads across multiple advertising channels, targeting different types of customers for maximum impact.
The Google Ads Auction System
The Google Ads auction system determines the cost and placement of your ads based on two factors: your maximum bid (how much you are able to pay per click depending on your budget) and the quality of your ad. The auction system operates on a real-time basis, which means that the highest bidder isn’t always guaranteed the top spot. Google takes into account ad quality, relevance, click-through rate, and other factors when determining ad placement (i.e., who “wins” the bid).
Note that high-quality ads are rewarded with lower costs per click, so you don’t necessarily need to outbid your competitors to get ahead. By creating relevant and engaging ads, you can improve your ad quality score and lower your costs, which can lead to a higher ad ranking, and better ROI.
5 Simple Steps to Set Up Your Google Ads PPC Campaign
Running a successful PPC marketing Google Ads campaign can be a complex endeavor, so it helps to break down the process. These five steps make up a Google Ads basics template to structure your campaign planning.
- Step 1 – Defining campaign goals – Before creating your campaign, you must determine the primary objective of your campaign. Are you trying to generate leads, increase website traffic, boost brand awareness, or generate phone calls? Based on your goal, you can select the most suitable campaign type.
- Step 2 – Identify the right campaign type for your goals – Once you have defined your goals, you can select the most appropriate campaign type, budget, bidding strategy, ad format, and targeting options based on your ideal patient demographics.
- Step 3 – Create your campaign – After selecting the campaign type, you can create your campaign by setting up your ad groups, ad copy, keywords, bids, and targeting settings. Keyword selection is a crucial element of your Google Ads campaign, as it ensures your ads are shown to relevant audiences, namely potential patients. Carefully researched and selected keywords that match the search terms that your target patients might use can help you attract more qualified leads, ensuring your medical services reach those who need them the most.
- Step 4 – Create your ads – The next step is to create engaging and relevant ads that will grab the attention of potential patients and encourage them to click through to your landing page.
- Step 5 – Optimize your landing page and monitor your campaign – Finally, you must optimize your landing pages to improve the user experience, increase conversions, and track your campaign’s performance. You can monitor your campaign’s performance using Google Ads Analytics and make adjustments based on the results.
Understanding how to set up a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign, especially for medical practices, can significantly elevate your online presence. By mastering Google Ads basics, identifying various campaign types, and leveraging the Google Ads auction system, you can create engaging, high-quality ads that garner attention.
Summary: How to Use Google Pay-Per-Click
There is much to learn when it comes to running a successful Google Ads campaign, but by learning the basics, you establish a foundation based on best practices. Ads can be expensive, so it becomes necessary to carefully execute your campaigns based on a methodical strategy.
By understanding basics of Google Ads, you are better equipped to plan a successful campaign that reaches target patients in your market and delivers a strong return on your investment. This includes defining your campaign goals, choosing the right campaign type, creating engaging ads, optimizing your landing page, and monitoring your campaign’s performance to ensure its success.
Google Ads Set Up Done for You by Digital Marketing Experts at iHealthSpot
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is an intricate practice, demanding a significant amount of time, expertise, and continuous optimization to yield the desired results. At iHealthSpot, we are committed to ensuring you get the maximum return on your investment for your Google Ads endeavors. Leveraging our extensive healthcare marketing experience in how to set up a paid search campaign for medical ads, we can help you navigate the complexities, saving you valuable time and resources. Contact us today so we can discuss further how to make your Google Ads perform well for you.
