Physical Therapy Google Ads Management – 4 Ways to Improve

David Straight May 13, 2021 Google Ads Google AdWords Marketing

We’re well into 2021 and the pandemic is waning. If you’re still struggling to fill your clinic, so it may be time to think about advertising…in particular, Google

The first component (and usually the most expensive) of a marketing strategy is lead generation. John Jantsch calls this step getting people to “know” you.

Alan Dibb calls this the “before” stage of a marketing campaign. In other words, this is the process of making people aware that you exist and of what you do.

In terms of marketing funnels, this is called a “top-of-the-funnel” (TOF) strategy.

Advertising is a Necessary Component of PT Marketing in a Crowded Physical Therapy Market

Advertising is indeed a way to make your community aware of who you are and, specifically, one method of advertising online is Google Ads, formerly called Google AdWords.

Google Ads are the search results that usually show up first when you type in a search like “physical therapy in your town.”

You will be able to differentiate an ad from organic and local maps listings because ad results have a small box (with a border around it) right below the headline that says “Ad” along with the “display path,” URL, or web address in green next to it.

A good ad is going to capture the attention of the person searching for physical therapy and speak to what they may be looking for in a PT practice.

Headlines like “Physical Therapy Nearby,” “Same-Day Appointments,” and “Voted Best in the Community” often get a viewer’s attention. Adding the following extensions like a: SiteLink, Location, and Call extensions can also help.

In my 14 years of experience running Google Ads, I’ve found that most practices are missing huge opportunities to improve their Google Ads’ return on investment.

Many are just throwing money away using Google’s Smart Campaigns.

If you’re guilty of one or more of the following common flaws, change your strategy if possible. Here are five of the most common ad campaign mistakes I see with Google Ads.

1. Running the ad for people that show “interest” in your ad. Don’t do this. Change this in your campaign settings so that you are running your ad only for people inside your geo-targeted area. For example, look at the image of the Google Ads above. I’m in San Diego. Why are ads for Brampton, Ontario showing up in San Diego?
2. Running your ad at night or on the weekends. Doing this is only going to get more clicks from either competitors or people who would like to connect with you right now but can’t call you because you aren’t in your office. Run your adduring your hours of operation.
3. Practice owners under-budgeting for their ad campaign. If you don’t invest enough in your ad campaign,your ad will show less often and you will end up paying more than your competition.
4. Not managing your ads on a regular basis. Too many often he practice owners I talk with just set it and forget it. This is a great way to waste money.

Here’s an example of the metrics you should be measuring that we gathered from working with a client of ours.

Metrics You Should Be Measuring

Ad Impressions 8.16K;
Clicks 320;
CPC $5.54;
Leads 79;
Conversions/New Patients 63;
Conversion Rate 80%;
Money spent on ads $1.77K;
Cost per lead $22.40;
Cost per conversion $28.10;
Revenue generated from ads this month $31,500;
ROI 17.79x.

Part of a good marketing strategy involves lead generation or getting people to “know” that you exist and are a solution for their problems.

Google Ads for physical therapy clinics is one way to drive leads.

Try to avoid some of the mistakes as outlined above, and also make sure you are looking at the key metrics to confirm your advertising campaign is generating a positive return on investment.