Google Ads for dentists. One campaign for each treatment you want more of.

Every build is read by Sean Cooney before it is sent.
Running Google Ads since 2001.

Urgent

The patient who needs you today

emergency dentist · broken tooth · toothache

Searching now, usually on a phone, often outside business hours. They choose on who can see them and how close you are, and they call the first practice that looks open.

In the campaign: a tight service area, a schedule that matches when someone can answer the phone, and ads that say when you can see them.

Considered

The patient weighing a big treatment

dental implants · clear aligners · veneers

Researching for weeks. They search for cost, for payment plans and for one option against another long before they book a consultation.

In the campaign: separate ad groups for people pricing it, people comparing options and people ready to book, each with ad copy that answers that question.

Routine

The patient choosing a regular dentist

dentist near me · dentist in a suburb · check-up and clean

Choosing on convenience. These terms are the most contested, because every practice nearby wants them, and the loosest, because they catch everything from jobs to the public clinic.

In the campaign: suburb terms you can serve, a long negative keyword list, and a budget forecast that says what the area will cost before you commit.

An example for one treatment. In Performance Max the groups are asset groups and audiences, and they still lead to the one page.

Three treatments to advertise is three builds.

Count the pages you want to send paid traffic to. That is the number of campaigns your practice needs.

See the Search build →

See the Performance Max build →

Or open a complete sample build, made for a fictional retailer: Search sample · Performance Max sample. Free, no email.

Australia · the National Law

What your ads and landing page can say

• No testimonials. A review that mentions a symptom, a treatment, an outcome or the skill of the dentist cannot be used to advertise. Comments about service or communication alone are not testimonials.
• Offers need their terms. A discount, gift or other inducement must state its terms and conditions.
• No promised results. Advertising must not create an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment, or be false or misleading.
• No encouraging unnecessary treatment. Urgency and pressure wording that a retailer can use is a risk in dental ad copy.
• Careful with “specialist”. Words such as specialist or specialises in imply specialist registration, and are likely to mislead if you do not hold it.

Administered by Ahpra and the Dental Board of Australia. Sources: Ahpra advertising hub · testimonials · titles.

Everywhere · Google’s own policy

Who your ads can be shown to

• Health is a sensitive category. Google limits how advertisers can target people based on health, and its list includes invasive procedures such as surgery and injections.
• Your own lists may not be usable. For ads in those categories, Customer Match and lists built from your website visitors are not supported. Do not plan a dental campaign that depends on remarketing.
• Search is the least affected. A Search campaign targets what someone types, not who they are. That is one reason it is the usual place for a practice to start.

Source: Google Ads policy, health in personalised advertising. Check it against the treatments you advertise.

A build fits if

• You know which treatments you want more of
• Your website has a page for each of them
• You, your practice manager or your marketing person will run the account
• You want to know whether the numbers work before you spend on clicks
• You already have an agency or freelancer and want the campaigns they manage built properly

Hire an agency instead if

• You want someone to manage the account every week and report every month
• You want an audit of an account that is already running. We do not review accounts
• You want to talk it through on a call. We work by email and do not take calls
• You have no treatment pages yet. A campaign needs a page to send people to
• You run a group of practices large enough that one person should be watching the account full time

Does Google Ads work for dentists?

It can, and it depends on three numbers: what a click costs in your area, how many enquiries become patients, and what a new patient is worth to the practice. Every build includes a budget forecast that works this through before you spend. If the numbers do not hold for a treatment, the build says so.

How much should a dental practice spend on Google Ads?

There is no single figure, because click costs change with the treatment and the area. The build forecasts what your budget can buy, using live search data for your own market, so you can set the spend with the numbers in front of you.

How many campaigns does a dental practice need?

One for each page you want to send paid traffic to. A practice advertising implants, clear aligners and emergency appointments needs three campaigns, because the searches, the ad copy and the budgets are different for each.

Should a dentist use Search or Performance Max?

Search shows your ad to someone who has just typed what they need, which suits a practice. Performance Max also runs across YouTube, Maps, Gmail and Display, and works best once conversion tracking is in place. You can order either, or both for the same page.

Can I use patient reviews in my Google Ads?

In Australia the National Law does not allow testimonials in health advertising. A review that mentions a symptom, a treatment, an outcome or the skill of the dentist counts as one. Comments about service alone do not. Ahpra explains the test here.

Can I remarket to people who visited my practice website?

Possibly not. Google restricts advertiser-built audiences, such as website visitor lists and Customer Match, for sensitive health categories, and its list includes invasive procedures. Check the policy against your treatments before you rely on remarketing.

Do you manage the campaign after it is built?

No, deliberately. You own the campaign and run it yourself. If you later hire a freelancer or an agency to manage it, they start from a properly structured account.

We already have a marketing agency. Can they use the build?

Yes. The build is an editable spreadsheet that you own. Hand it to whoever manages your account.

Do I need to give you access to my Google Ads account?

No. You receive a spreadsheet. Access is only needed if you add the optional $79 upload, where we load the finished campaign into your account, paused.

Which countries do you work with?

Any. Builds use live search data for your own market and currency. Prices are in US dollars.