Google Ads

Google recently rebranded its AdWords platform to its new name, Google Ads. It is a SEM (Search Engine Marketing) tool which creates the paid advertisements shown in Google search results – distinguishable by a green ‘Ad’ symbol to the left of the listing. Search Engine Marketing shows ads via a pay-per-click bid system to people who are searching for relevant services. Every time someone searches on Google, there is an auction that takes place in the back end which allows Google to determine which ads it will show, based on both relevancy to the user’s search and how much the advertiser is prepared to pay.

What we do on our end is optimise the Google Ads campaigns towards positive ROI (return on investment) and conversions (bookings and phone calls) to ensure our clients’ businesses are growing. Some areas require higher investment in order to compete for the quality conversions, while other areas of the campaign might benefit from less allocated budget to ensure that the spend is in balance with the amount of revenue it is delivering. We focus on ensuring that the ROI remains positive and that the budget is being invested in what is driving the most bookings and phone calls for the lowest costs.

We can confirm that you will only have been charged for new patient bookings that came directly through your HealthEngine listing. This means that you will not be charged for any bookings made through your website or from your Google Ads campaign. If you log into your practice admin then navigate to Patient Match -> Booking, you will be able to see the online booking details for patients that booked via your SEM campaign. Any SEM online bookings will be clearly marked with a purple SEM symbol.

If you have any examples that you would like us to double check or any further queries about this, you can email info@healthengine.com.au, and our support team will be able to help you with your query.

We charge the lowest industry standard 30% management fee, and the rest of your budget goes straight into your Google Ads campaign. Google Ads is pay-per-click so your campaign’s budget will only be spent on the clicks that you receive. The average cost-per-click can fluctuate depending on the keyword, as well as traffic and competition at the time. For these reasons, there may be fluctuation in Google Ads spend, and if all of your budget is not spent in one month then any unspent amount will be rolled over into the next month’s spend.

Our directory and app receive over 1.5 million unique users each month. Furthermore, HealthEngine is the only Google Premier Partner in the Australian healthcare industry. Having these two healthcare traffic giants in your marketing strategy increases your chances of being discovered by patients in their time of need.

There are many factors that impact how much ROI you might make from a Google Ads campaign.

• Where we will be directing the Google Ads traffic – whether this is to the client’s own website or HealthEngine listing
• How well known the brand is in the area
• Emphasis on services to promote, how price competitive the services are and if there are any promotions running
• Ensuring that all available appointments are published
• How much competition & search traffic there is in your area

It is also important to note that a good, strong Google Ads campaign will optimise towards ROI and will drive traffic that is more likely to result in a phone call or a booking. However, it is up to the practice to ensure that you are converting the traffic we are sending to your website. This could be through a great phone manner for phone bookings, persuasive promotions/points of difference to distinguish your business from the competition, and great customer service so that patients want to book with you and keep coming back!

1. 11% of people are swayed by the competition when looking for their normal practice. It is important that existing patients are able to easily find your practice via a strong Google Ads campaign. If your existing patient can easily find your ad, then they are less likely to be lost to your competitors and you are much more likely to retain these patients.

2. Google Ads is great for patient retention, marketing your brand online and also generating new business. All three of these aspects work hand in hand in generating great ROI for your business.

It is important to note that your SEM budget also drives phone calls via the phone number in your ads and on your website. We can only report on the new patients that you receive via your online bookings, but these other channels (phone calls) also bring in new patients. The actual number of new patient bookings is likely to be a lot higher when we take into consideration the new patients that you are likely to have received via phone call bookings.