As with any business, your healthcare practice needs to run an effective marketing campaign if you want to increase your revenue. Most companies turn to Google Ads (formerly Adwords) to achieve quick results, but before your throw money behind a bunch of campaigns you need to make sure someone can devote the appropriate amount of time and effort towards managing, evaluating, and adapting these campaigns for maximum ROI. Google Ads is a huge beast, and it can be overwhelming trying to figure out what you need to do to make your campaigns successful.
Here are 5 key things you should be doing to best optimize your Google Ads:
Tip #1: Refine Your Keywords
When you set up a Google Ads campaign, you get to select what specific keywords and search terms your ad should display under. This is your opportunity to dig your heels in, do some research, and discover new trends. If this seems like too much work for one ad, you can always reach out to us to help you manage your Google Ads campaigns. Much like using the right hashtags to propel your social media presence forward, the keywords you pick for your Google Ads campaign will make or break your ad effectiveness.
It should go without saying, then, that you will want your Google Ads keywords to be as refined and topic-specific as possible. The goal here is to target your audience perfectly for each landing page (or product) you’re trying to promote.
Tip #2: Add Negative Keywords
Similar to refining your keywords, you can also blacklist related, but irrelevant keywords. Google Ads has a great example of this on their help page: “For example, let's say you're an optometrist who sells eyeglasses. In this case, you may want to add negative keywords for search terms like “wine glasses” and "drinking glasses".” Once you’ve added your negative keywords, you’re well on your way to becoming a Google Ads specialist!
Tip #3: Run Split-Testing Campaigns
One of the greatest features in Google Ads is the ability to run “A vs B” campaigns. This is a great way to test keyword groups against each other; additionally, you could use this feature to try out new positive and negative keywords whose efficiency has yet to be proven in the healthcare industry. At the end of the campaign testing period, you can choose to convert your entire campaign to either group A or group B - or pit another contestant against the winning campaign.
Tip #4: If it Isn’t Working, Don’t Keep it
When it comes to Google Ads campaign optimization, the most important thing is to keep it up. Don’t make the mistake of paying for an ad that isn’t performing well; revisit the campaign and ask what could be done to improve it. This is the perfect opportunity to run a split-testing campaign - one that will test new rules against the under-performing ones. If you don’t have the time to maintain and keep up with your Google Ads, as we’ve discussed in a previous post, you may consider taking the guesswork out of marketing by working with us.
Tip #5: Optimize Your Landing Page
Perhaps the end-all for ad campaigns is the site that your targeted audience clicks through to. You’ll want to make sure that your landing page is eye-catching and engaging so that you can drive the conversions you’re paying for! You can format your page however you like, but make sure to build it with your end goal in mind - funnels are a great option to consider if you want to drive high volumes of sales for a single product.
At the end of the day, an ad won’t perform well if it isn’t molded to the viewers it is in front of. You’ll want to build your Google Ads campaigns so that they’re shown to the proper audiences, then make sure that the content is ultimately engaging and hooks potential clients. Don’t let your campaigns collect dust; keep an eye on which ones are performing well, and trash the ones that are underperforming. Experiment with a watchful eye, and you’ll already be better than half of the campaign developers out there!