How To Scale Your Dental Practice’s With PPC for Dentists

Pay per click advertising is nothing new, but more and more dentists are starting to realize the potential of paid ads for growing a dental practice. It’s true, PPC for Dentists was often ignored early on, but now it’s known as a rich and powerful source for attracting new patients.

But how exactly can PPC ads expand a dental practice?

In this article, we take a closer look at ways to expand a dental practice with PPC.

5 Ways to Use PPC Ads to Expand a Dental Practice

Dentists are always in need of new patients, and the nature of PPC ads make them especially relevant and suitable for this particular industry.

For instance, it would seem most people fear the dentist and only make a dental appointment when they have a problem that demands immediate attention. Dentists can take advantage of this common behavior by having PPC ads ready for the moment these people begin their search for a dentist that can see them right away!

Now, here are five ways in which a dental practice can use PPC to expand.

     1. Identify Cost Effective Keywords that Drive Traffic

Choosing the wrong keywords is a certain way to blow a marketing budget and this is why agencies put a lot of time into the research stage. This is also a reason why a mix of keywords and phrases need to be tested and applied as part of a PPC ad campaign.

It’s important to get specific, thinking long and hard about what exact phrases prospective patients might be typing into Google. As a rule, it’s not a good strategy to focus on broad keywords or phrases as too many dental practices are competing for these same words. In case you’re wondering, “toothache extraction San Diego” or “24 hours dentist San Diego” are examples of keywords a dentist might want to test and explore as part of a PPC ad campaign.

Marketing agencies also recommend the use of negative keywords, which will help advertisers avoid reaching the wrong kind of audience. Negative keywords are those which enable advertisers to focus only on keywords that matter to their specific audience.

     2. Displaying a Phone Number in PPC Ads

It makes sense that most online users are ready to make a phone call when they need something quickly, and this is often the case with dental appointments. When you consider most search inquiries are made via mobile, it makes even more sense!

And this is why using a call-only ad can work so well for dentists as the person looking at a PPC dental ad is just one click away from having a conversation with the practice.

You can still explore other options that use email contact or form entry, but a call-only ad can cut to the chase with patients and help drive more inquiries and appointments.

     3. Drive Traffic to an Attractive Landing Page

Landing pages are great for a dental practice that wants to provide more assurance to prospective patients. They offer a greater scope of information and an opportunity for dentists to give these qualified leads a stronger impression of the dental practice.

However, it’s important to stick to the point with landing pages and not get carried away with unnecessary detail that might lead someone to click away. Instead, an attractive landing page should contain basic information on the location, services, FAQ, and a secure booking facility through which they can make an appointment with the practice.

The next task is to create a concise PPC ad to drive traffic to this landing page.

     4. Ensure High Quality Copy and a Strong Call to Action

Whether it’s a landing page or the actual pay-per-click ad, you absolutely need a strong call to action (CTA). In fact, dentists should also consider more than one CTA in a landing page and use consistent offers or invitations to make an appointment.

Writing a call to action is part of the copywriting process, and this is not an area in which most people are very experienced or proficient. In other words, there’s a difference between a copywriter and a content writer—and they know how it’s done! Writing copy is a skill that requires a writer to not only capture the attention of online users but to compel these prospective patients into taking a desired action.

The quality of this copy (and CTA) will show in the form of conversions, and marketing agencies will often have a lineup of talented writers to help with PPC for dentists.

     5. Target Based on Location and Use Ad Extensions

Let’s be honest, no matter how good a dentist might be, the vast majority of people don’t want to travel far to see one. It’s most often a game of convenience, and people tend to search for dentists based on their location and the closest possible options.

With this in mind, you can use geo-targeting to focus on prospects in the local area or neighboring jurisdictions. It’s also a good idea to use negative keywords (as explained above) to ensure a dentist is not advertising to people who live too far away.

Location extensions can help with this matter, and extensions in general enable a dental practice to communicate even more valuable information to prospects. For instance, ad extensions for reviews allow dentists to showcase testimonials, while call-out extensions can help highlight promotions or special offers to new patients.

Final Thoughts

PPC for dentists is the perfect way to reach new patients and grow the business. There is no lead time and results can be instant. PPC advertising is also suitable for dentists who wish to create a steady flow of new patients for their dental practice.

Pay-per-click advertising is also a safe way to experiment with ads. And, when working with a proven marketing agency, dentists will really see the benefits of paid ads.