Google Ads for Dentists: How to Get More Patient Bookings

Question 1

How should dentists structure Google Ads campaigns for implants, Invisalign and other high-value procedures?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends building individual campaigns for highest-revenue procedures: implants, Invisalign, veneers, cosmetic dentistry, and emergency dental care at minimum. Each campaign gets its own budget, its own ad copy reflecting the specific procedure, and its own landing page. This structure gives Smart Bidding clean data to optimize correctly instead of letting budget drift toward the highest volume rather than the most revenue.

Question 2

How should multi-location dental practices set radius targeting without bidding against themselves?

Accepted Answer

According to groas, a solo practice should set a tight radius, typically 5 to 15 miles depending on population density, while each location in a group practice or DSO gets its own campaign with its own radius. DSOs with offices 10 miles apart regularly bid against themselves, so the article recommends defining geographic exclusion zones where 10-mile radiuses overlap and assigning priority. This prevents two campaigns from the same advertiser competing in the same auction.

Question 3

Should dental Google Ads bidding be based on patient lifetime value or cost per appointment?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends working backward from actual patient data: what percentage of new patients rebook, what average revenue per patient per year is, and how long patients stay. Once there is a defensible LTV number, the target CPA should be set as a fraction of it, not as a fraction of a single visit’s revenue. Optimizing for single-visit CPA underbids keywords that bring loyal, high-LTV patients and overbids one-time searches that never return.

Question 4

What should a dental Google Ads landing page include instead of sending traffic to the homepage?

Accepted Answer

According to groas, each procedure campaign should point to its own landing page, not the homepage, because homepage visitors must work to find procedure information and will often bounce. The article states the page should include a procedure-specific headline that mirrors the query, procedure description with outcomes and timeline, reviews, credentials and before-and-after photos where applicable, prominent phone number and short booking form above the fold, and insurance and financing information, with no navigation menu.

Question 5

What negative keywords should dentists add to filter out non-patient searches?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends starting with universal negatives including salary, jobs, hiring, school, DIY, at home, free, Reddit, and YouTube, then layering in procedure-specific negatives. Queries like how to whiten teeth at home, dental hygienist salary, dental school requirements, and how to pull a tooth yourself trigger broad and phrase match keywords but convert at zero percent. Search term reports should be reviewed weekly for the first 90 days, then with monthly audits after that.

Question 6

How should dentists track phone calls as Google Ads conversions?

Accepted Answer

According to groas, phone calls represent the majority of actual appointments booked in many dental accounts, so tracking only form submissions gives Smart Bidding incomplete data. The article recommends using dynamic number insertion so each click source gets a unique tracking number, setting a minimum call duration threshold typically 60 seconds or more, and importing call conversions into Google Ads alongside form submissions.