So, you’ve sunk a chunk of dough into a suite of medical Google Ads—and they’re not converting. This can be incredibly frustrating, especially when money is on the line. Before we discuss the reasons behind this lack of performance, though, let us ask a question: how long have you been running the campaign? If it’s been a shorter period than two or three months, you can relax.
As a general rule of thumb, you need to give your Google Ads up to 90 days to fly. In an ideal situation, you should see results a fortnight from setting the campaign, but there is still 75 days’ worth of leeway if this hasn’t been the case for you. There are all sorts of extraneous variables that can influence your Google Ads performance. Waiting out the 90 days can sometimes be all the resolution you need.
If you’ve exceeded the 90-day ‘probationary period’, however, the issue likely rests on your strategy. Don’t pull the plug just yet—this is easily rectifiable! See below for seven reasons why your Google Ads for healthcare may not be converting. Does any of this sound familiar?
1. You’re wasting your budget on irrelevant keywords
If you’re unsure what we mean by ‘keywords’, this could well be the issue. For those unaware, keywords are Google search terms that brands weave into their web or ad copy. They do this to boost their search or ad ranking—after all, the more people there are searching for a particular keyword, the more likely your website or ad will be to appear on a results page. In spite of this, however, there is strategy behind keyword selection. It’s not necessarily a numbers game.
When selecting keywords for your healthcare Google Ads, you need to keep them relevant. For instance, you wouldn’t use the keyword ‘dentist’ if you run a psychiatric clinic. By all means, you could implement related keywords, such as ‘psychologist’ or ‘psychological assessment near me’, but you shouldn’t implement keywords that have zero thematic link. Moreover, you shouldn’t include keywords just because they’re trending. Rather than encouraging fast clicks, it’s important that your keywords speak to the reason behind why someone is seeking your services in the first place.
2. Your ads are not optimized
In terms of ad copy, optimization refers to keyword implementation. So, if you haven’t already added keywords into your ad copy, you should get on that—using relevant, high-volume keywords, of course. How can you know what’s trending and what’s not? There are a number of free tools available, such as Google Keyword Planner, which you can use to test keyword volume. There are also some paid ones available that provide further insights (for example, SEMrush, Moz, and Ahrefs).
Whilst high-volume keywords are great, it doesn’t hurt to target lower-trending ones, as well. This is because keywords with a lower search volume indicate more of a niche. When prospective patients are searching for your healthcare niche, your Google Ads may be the first recommendation. Why? Because it’s the closest keyword match, of course!
3. You’re not geotargeting
Presumably, your healthcare practice is rooted to the ground in a certain city, suburb, or town. Therefore, it follows that you’ll want your ads to target ‘Googlers’ in that particular location or in locations nearby. This is called geotargeting, and it can make all the difference in medical advertising.
Geotargeting is particularly important in the healthcare industry. In a similar vein to choosing a shopping center, people tend to choose healthcare clinics based on location. Take dental practices, for example. Take one drive through a suburban region and you’ll likely notice that there’s at least one dental practice per suburb. People tend not to go out of their way to attend a healthcare clinic. Ergo, it’s important to direct your medical Google Ads to people in your local area and in areas nearby—in a word, geotarget!
If you don’t geotarget, your audience won’t see your ads—ergo, your ads will not convert. Even if your ads drum up a lot of clicks, these clicks likely won’t convert. Why is this? It’s because the clicks are likely from users outside your location. If the people viewing your ads are too far away, they’re not going to book an appointment.
4. You’re not using negative keywords
Just as you should use relevant keywords, both trending and niche, you should also use negative keywords. What are negative keywords? They’re phrases you can use to filter your ads out of particular searches. Say, for example, that you own an optometry clinic but don’t offer free retinal X-rays. You may wish to use the negative keyword ‘free eye x-rays’ or similar to ensure that patients will not approach you expecting free X-rays. Whilst using negative keywords can filter out dead-end leads, don’t go overboard. Use too many and you may not show up in many searches at all.
5. You’re not addressing the audience’s intentions
This is more of a philosophy than a concrete strategy. When creating your Google Ads for healthcare, you should always lead with your audience in mind. Your audience’s needs and reasons for searching should inform every last detail of your medical Google Ads. Your audience is searching for your services for a reason, so it’s your job to make choices that speak to that.
Take a break from the marketing world for a moment and place yourself in your audience’s shoes. What are they looking for in a healthcare service? It’s all well and good to claim you’re the ‘best osteopath in Melbourne’, but you audience wants you to prove this to them. If you were browsing Google Ads, which one would have stopping power for you?
Once you remember who you’re speaking to and how you can address their needs, this should bleed into your ad strategy.
6. Your budget isn’t high enough
When you launch a business, you’re competing against all others—from small businesses to multinational corporations. It’s certainly not an even playing field. Although you can’t match the thousands of dollars that big-wigs pour into their daily ad campaigns, you can learn to be budget-savvy. Here’s your first hint: you need to spend money to make money, so don’t set your budget too low.
With your—let’s say—respectable budget, set yourself realistic goals. Pay-per-click ads aren’t cheap, so ensure to make each one count. The best way to do this is to hone in on the correct keywords. This is the most effective way to get noticed and direct your ads to the people who need to see them. Without rushing the process, you should implement various strategies early in the piece. This will give you an idea of what works and what doesn’t. Think of the first month as the ‘formative phase’ that will inform how to spend your budget further down the track.
7. You don’t have a conversion-friendly landing page
So, a prospective patient has clicked one of your healthcare Google Ads. Hurrah! You’ve succeeded in generating a lead. All you need to do now is turn that lead into a conversion. Once your prospective patient has clicked your ad, they’ll wind up on a landing page. Think of your ad as your bait and your landing page as the opportunity to reel someone in.
If you’ve poured all your effort into your ad strategy but neglected your landing page, that’s a problem. If prospective patients don’t like what they see, they’ll only contribute to your bounce rate. The makings of a conversion-friendly landing page are as follows:
- Keep your messaging concise, using keywords where possible and focusing on how your healthcare service meets your audience’s needs. Also, use images or footage of your service—if you think it will help your cause.
- Include at least one strong call to action. The call-to-action button is the most streamlined and effective way to encourage conversions.
- Make your landing page compatible with all modern browsers and smartphones.
- Don’t make any spelling or grammatical errors!
There are other things you could do to further optimize your landing page, but that is a separate blog post in itself.
By now, you’ve likely got a better insight into how you can generate more conversions. There are many strategies you can take to get the most out of your Google Ads campaign. If your ads aren’t converting, there’s usually something you can do to rectify that. Remember, you need to spend money to make money, and persistence is a virtue. Don’t pull the plug until you’ve exhausted all avenues!
If you’ve enjoyed this blog post, you may like to hear some of our other handy hints. For an obligation-free consultation, call VIS Health on 1300 777 847—or contact us online. At VIS Health, Google Ads is just one piece of the puzzle. Let’s explore more to get the whole picture.
