Google Ads for Dentists: Campaign Setup, Keywords, Budgets and Tracking

Question 1

Should my dental practice run Search, Performance Max, or Local Services Ads?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends Search campaigns as the backbone for capturing patients actively searching for specific services, with every practice running Search for core services. According to groas, Performance Max can supplement but should not replace Search, and if run should use brand exclusions with close monitoring of where impressions are served. The article states Local Services Ads operate separately from standard Google Ads, charge per lead rather than per click, and are worth running in parallel if available.

Question 2

How should I segment dental Google Ads campaigns by service?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends giving each major service line its own campaign or tightly themed ad groups to allow specific ad copy, dedicated landing pages, and budget allocation by profitability. The recommended segmentation is general dentistry, emergency dental, cosmetic dentistry, dental implants, orthodontics, and pediatric dentistry. The article states that mixing terms like teeth whitening and emergency toothache in the same ad group means one searcher sees irrelevant ad copy, so segmentation is non-negotiable.

Question 3

What location targeting should a dentist use for Google Ads?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends a single-location practice target a radius of 10 to 20 miles around the office, with urban practices able to tighten to 5 to 10 miles. According to groas, the location setting must be changed to Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations, because the default includes people merely interested in the location. The article recommends multi-location practices run separate campaigns per location with dedicated budgets so the highest-traffic location does not consume the entire budget.

Question 4

What negative keywords should dentists add to Google Ads?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends building the negative keyword list before launch and expanding it weekly, including jobs, salary, school, degree, assistant, DIY, home remedy, free, how to become, and dental board. According to groas, insurance research queries should also be excluded unless captured in a dedicated insurance-qualified campaign. The article states that without aggressive negative keyword management, a practice can easily lose 20% to 40% of its budget to irrelevant clicks.

Question 5

What makes a dental landing page turn clicks into appointments?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends never sending dental ad traffic to the homepage and instead using a dedicated landing page for each service-specific campaign. According to groas, above the fold must include a headline matching the ad, prominently displayed phone number, short booking form, and a trust indicator such as 4.9 stars from 500+ reviews. The article states the booking form should require as few fields as possible, often only name and phone number, because every additional field reduces conversion rates.

Question 6

What bidding strategy should a dental practice use?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends Target CPA or Maximize Conversions with a target CPA cap for campaigns with at least 15 to 30 conversions per month per campaign. According to groas, lower-volume practices should start with Maximize Clicks with a CPC bid cap to gather data before transitioning. The article states that making frequent campaign changes resets the Smart Bidding learning period and destroys performance.