Google Ads for Dentists | Dental Google Ads Management | MarketInc
Google Ads for Dentists

Google Ads for Dentist Practices That Fill Chairs, Not Funnels

Most dental practices get Google Ads wrong in the same way. They run one broad campaign mixing new patient check-ups with Invisalign enquiries, implant consultations and emergency calls. Each of those is a different patient with a different decision timeline and a completely different value to your practice. We build separate campaigns for each, measure on booked appointments, and manage spend across Australia where your patients are actually searching.

5.0 Google rating
30+ Dental accounts managed
$4.8M+ Dental ad spend managed
8 yrs In practice
Google Ads Services

Four Google Ads campaign types for dental practices

Not every campaign type works for every treatment. As a marketing agency focused on service businesses, we match the right campaign structure to the right service, whether that is an emergency call today or an Invisalign patient who needs six weeks of nurturing before they book.

Highest intent

Google Search Campaigns

Capture every patient already searching for your services

Intent-mapped keyword structure split by treatment type, exact and phrase match with tight negative keyword lists, ad copy tested weekly against your competitors, and conversion tracking wired to calls and online bookings. The foundation of every dental Google Ads account we run.

Exact match Phrase match RSAs Call tracking Negative lists
Search campaign detail
Pay per lead

Local Service Ads (LSA)

Google-guaranteed placements above the map pack, billed per lead

For eligible dental practices, LSA places your practice above organic search results with a Google Guaranteed badge. You pay per verified lead, not per click. We handle setup, background check facilitation, dispute management and the review generation strategy that keeps your lead cost down.

Google Guaranteed Pay-per-lead Dispute management Review strategy
LSA detail
Scale with guardrails

Performance Max Campaigns

Extend Search reach across Google's surfaces without burning budget

Asset group builds structured by treatment type, audience signals seeded from your existing patient list, creative refresh cadence and strict placement exclusions so PMax never becomes a Display budget drain. We cap PMax so it complements your Search campaigns rather than cannibalising them.

Asset groups Audience signals Placement exclusions tROAS / tCPA
PMax detail
High-ticket treatments

Remarketing and RLSA

Re-engage patients researching Invisalign, implants and cosmetic work

High-ticket dental treatments like implants and Invisalign have decision cycles of four to twelve weeks. Patients visit your site, leave, and research two or three other practices before booking. RLSA and Display remarketing keeps your practice visible and raises the bid when a returning visitor searches again, so you win the appointment.

RLSA bid uplift Display remarketing Audience segmentation Frequency capping
Remarketing detail
The problem

Why most dental Google Ads accounts bleed spend

Before we rebuild a dental account, we run a full audit to find where the budget is going. These are the five failure patterns we see on almost every account we inherit.

One campaign, every treatment

Check-up patients, emergency calls, Invisalign enquiries and implant consultations all land in the same campaign. Google has no idea which conversions are worth A$180 and which are worth A$12,000. Smart Bidding optimises for volume, not revenue.

Broken or missing conversion tracking

Form fills fire on every page load. Phone calls from Google Ads are never counted. The campaign reports 80 conversions last month but the front desk only took 14 new patient calls. Smart Bidding is making decisions on phantom data.

Bidding on research queries, not booking queries

Searches like "how much does Invisalign cost" and "are dental implants painful" burn budget at high CPCs. The person asking is six weeks from a decision, not booking today. That traffic belongs in SEO content, not a paid campaign.

Landing pages that were not built to convert

The campaign sends traffic to the homepage or a generic services page. No procedure-specific offer, no clear booking path, no phone number above the fold, and a slow mobile load time. Clicks cost money whether the page converts or not.

No account maintenance after setup

The account launched eight months ago. Nobody has mined search terms since month two. Ad copy has not been tested. Competitors have changed their offers. The results plateau and the agency sends the same report month after month.

Performance Max with no controls

PMax left uncapped pours budget into YouTube pre-rolls and Gmail placements that a dental patient was never going to click from. Without placement exclusions and asset-group controls, it becomes a budget drain on the wrong audiences.

Inside a MarketInc dental Google Ads account

What a properly structured PPC account for dentists looks like

Three pillars. The campaign stack built for dental treatment economics, the measurement layer that connects ad spend to booked appointments, and the weekly review cadence that keeps it compounding.

01 / The Campaigns

Treatment-first Google Ads campaign stack

Separate campaigns for general dentistry, emergency care and each high-ticket cosmetic treatment. Search carries the core keyword work. LSA sits above for eligible practices. PMax is capped and structured by treatment type, not left to roam.

  • Search (general dentistry + emergency)
  • Search (cosmetic: Invisalign, implants, whitening)
  • Local Service Ads (new patients)
  • PMax with treatment-level asset groups
  • RLSA for high-ticket treatment researchers
02 / The Measurement

Conversion tracking built on real appointment data

GA4 events, Google Ads conversion actions, call tracking and, where your practice management software allows, offline appointment import. Smart Bidding is fed the signal that matters: booked appointments, not page views or form visits.

  • GA4 with custom booking events
  • Call tracking (CallRail or equivalent)
  • Enhanced Conversions
  • Offline appointment import
  • Treatment-value conversion weighting
03 / The Cadence

Weekly optimisation, monthly reporting

Weekly search term mining, ad copy variant tests, bid adjustments and negative keyword additions. Monthly reports showing spend, appointments booked, cost per appointment and estimated treatment revenue. Client-owned account. No black box reporting.

  • Weekly search term review
  • Weekly ad copy tests
  • Monthly client report
  • Quarterly strategy call
  • Live performance dashboard
Keyword methodology

How we choose the keywords we actually bid on for dentists

Every keyword goes through an intent check before a single dollar is bid. Transactional and commercial queries get budget. Informational and DIY queries get handed to SEO or excluded entirely. Here is how that works across the dental treatment mix.

dentist near me 40,500/mo Commercial
emergency dentist 22,200/mo Transactional
invisalign provider 12,100/mo Commercial
dental implants near me 9,900/mo Commercial
tooth pain dentist open now 6,600/mo Transactional
invisalign vs braces 8,100/mo Informational
Why this matters for dental practices

Dental Google Ads campaigns split into two distinct problems. Emergency and general dentistry have high intent and short decision cycles. A patient searching "tooth pain dentist open now" will book with the first practice they can reach. We bid aggressively and make sure call extensions are front and centre for these terms. High-ticket cosmetic treatments like implants and Invisalign are the opposite: long consideration cycles with multiple touch points before a booking. For these, we use Search to capture in-market researchers, RLSA to raise bids when they come back, and we exclude informational queries like "invisalign vs braces" because that reader is comparing options, not ready to pay a deposit. Mixing these two intent types into one campaign means you are either overpaying for emergency clicks or underinvesting in the treatment revenue that actually moves your practice forward.

Our process

How we run a paid search engagement for your dental practice

Six steps from audit to ongoing growth. We do not optimise an account with broken measurement. Every Google Ads engagement starts with tracking before anything else is touched.

01

Google Ads account audit and baseline

Full review of your current account structure, wasted spend, conversion tracking gaps and competitor overlap. Baseline CPA, ROAS, impression share and wasted spend percentage recorded before we touch anything.

02

Conversion tracking rebuild

GA4 events, Google Ads conversion actions, call tracking and practice management system integration set up from scratch. No campaign changes happen until measurement is verified and clean.

03

Campaign restructure

Campaigns rebuilt with treatment-level separation. Match types locked down. Negative keywords seeded from your search term history. PMax asset groups structured by cosmetic treatment, not left as a single catch-all.

04

Launch and learning phase

14-day Smart Bidding burn-in with tight daily budgets and manual bid adjustments. Daily search term review. Weekly ad copy tests. Manual controls in place while we gather clean conversion data from real bookings.

05

Optimise and scale

tROAS or tCPA targets tightened once conversion data is stable. Budget scaled on campaigns hitting appointment targets. Underperforming ad groups paused, not optimised indefinitely. New treatment asset groups tested monthly.

06

Report and reforecast

Monthly report showing spend, appointments booked, cost per appointment and estimated treatment revenue. Quarterly strategy call. Year-over-year comparisons once the data is there to be meaningful.

Timeline

Google Ads timeline: first 30 days, then ongoing

Expect new patient enquiries in the first week of a properly set up campaign. Expect stable cost per booking by day 45 as Smart Bidding completes its learning phase. This is the cadence we follow.

Days 1 to 7 Week one

Audit and tracking foundation

We audit your existing account (or set a new one up), rebuild conversion tracking from scratch, verify call tracking is firing correctly, and establish a clean baseline before any campaign changes are made.

Full account audit Conversion tracking rebuild GA4 and Google Ads wiring Call tracking integration Baseline reporting
Days 8 to 21 Weeks two and three

Restructure and launch

Treatment-separated campaign structure built. Negative keyword lists seeded. Ad copy drafted, reviewed with you and approved. Landing pages assessed and any critical conversion issues flagged or fixed. Campaigns go live.

Treatment-level campaign structure Negative keyword seeding Ad copy drafted and approved Landing page review Campaigns live
Days 22 to 30 Week four

Learning phase and first review

Smart Bidding runs its learning phase. We mine search terms daily, run first ad copy tests, adjust bids manually and produce your first monthly report with real appointment data compared against the pre-engagement baseline.

Smart Bidding learning phase Daily search term review First ad copy tests Bid adjustments First monthly report
Month 2 onwards Ongoing

Ongoing optimisation and compounding growth

Weekly search term mining to cut wasted spend. Weekly ad copy tests against your competitors. Monthly budget reallocation towards the campaigns booking the highest-value treatments. Quarterly strategy calls to plan the next growth phase.

Weekly search term review Weekly ad copy tests Monthly budget reallocation Quarterly strategy call Year-over-year reporting
Results

What a MarketInc dental Google Ads account delivers

Averages across active dental Google Ads accounts we manage across Australia. Numbers are defensible per account and will be shared with your account lead before any external use.

38% Cost per booking reduction in first 90 days vs prior agency baseline
3.4x Average ROAS across dental accounts on treatment revenue
22% Wasted spend cut from day one negative keyword seeding
96% Client retention at 12 months because we report on booked appointments, not clicks
How we work together

Two ways to work with us on your dental paid advertising

★★★★★

We had been running Google Ads for two years across our three practices with the same agency and always felt like we were guessing. When MarketInc audited the accounts, they found conversion tracking had been broken for nine months. We had no idea. Within 60 days of the rebuild, cost per new patient booking was down 41% and we finally had real data connecting ad spend to chair time. The treatment-level campaign split was the difference. Our Invisalign bookings alone covered the management fee three times over in the first quarter.

Principal Dentist, Multi-Practice Group Dental group · Three locations · A$12K monthly ad spend
FAQ

Google Ads questions dental practices ask before the first call

If yours is not here, bring it to the audit call.

How much should a dental practice spend on Google Ads?+

Most dental practices we work with invest between A$3,000 and A$8,000 per month in ad spend, depending on their service mix, location and growth goals. A single-chair practice running general dentistry can work with a leaner budget. A multi-chair practice adding Invisalign and implant campaigns needs more because the CPCs are higher, though the revenue per patient justifies it. We will give you a specific budget recommendation based on your market and treatment mix during the audit.

How long before I see new patient bookings?+

A properly structured campaign with working conversion tracking generates new patient enquiries in the first week. Stable cost per booking typically takes 30 to 45 days as Smart Bidding works through its learning phase with real appointment data. Ask anyone who promises results faster what conversion tracking they have actually set up first.

Can you run campaigns for both general dentistry and cosmetic treatments?+

Yes, and we recommend separating them into distinct campaigns. General dentistry and cosmetic treatments have completely different patient intent profiles, decision timelines and treatment values. A patient searching for a check-up makes a decision in minutes. A patient considering Invisalign takes weeks. Mixing them into one campaign means Smart Bidding is optimising for the wrong mix of signals and your budget allocation will always be off.

Do you build landing pages for dental campaigns?+

Yes, if your current pages are not built for conversion. A Google Ads campaign sending traffic to your homepage or a generic services page will always underperform. We build treatment-specific landing pages on WordPress and they remain your property. A well-structured campaign with a weak landing page is still a poorly performing campaign.

What is RLSA and why does it matter for high-ticket treatments?+

RLSA stands for Remarketing Lists for Search Ads. It lets us raise your bid specifically when someone who has already visited your website searches again on Google. For treatments like implants and Invisalign where patients research over weeks, RLSA means we bid more aggressively for returning visitors because they are further along the decision cycle and more likely to book. It is one of the most cost-efficient tools in a dental Google Ads account.

Will you take over our existing Google Ads account?+

Yes. We link your account to our manager account with your permission. You keep full ownership of the account and all historical data. If you ever leave MarketInc for any reason, the account, all campaigns and all historical reporting stays with you. We do not hold accounts hostage.

Can Google Ads work for a single-chair practice in a smaller market?+

Yes. Smaller markets often have lower CPCs and less competition, which can make Google Ads more cost-effective than in a capital city. The campaign structure and strategy are the same. The budget is often leaner. We have run campaigns for single-chair practices across regional and suburban areas across Australia where the cost per new patient was lower than anything achievable in a major metro market.

Do you share which keywords we are bidding on?+

Yes. Full keyword list, spend per keyword, conversions per keyword. Monthly written report and a live dashboard. You own the account and you have full visibility into everything we are doing at all times.

What is the difference between Google Ads and Local Service Ads for a dentist?+

Standard Google Ads (Search campaigns) show keyword-triggered text ads and you pay per click. Local Service Ads appear above Search results with a Google Guaranteed badge and you pay per verified lead, not per click. LSA is available to eligible dental practices and is often the most cost-effective channel for general new patient bookings. We run both where eligible because they occupy different positions on the search results page and capture different patient journeys.

What is your minimum engagement length?+

Our standard term is rolling 3-month with 30 days notice thereafter. We do not lock practices into long-term contracts beyond this. If we have not proven measurable value in the first 90 days, you should be free to leave and we think that is the right way to run an agency relationship.

Can Google Ads run alongside our existing SEO?+

Yes, and they complement each other well. Google Ads captures demand immediately while SEO compounds over time. We hand informational queries that do not convert well on paid over to SEO content, and we use RLSA to re-engage visitors who found you through organic search but did not book. Running both together typically produces a lower blended cost per new patient than either channel in isolation.

How are you different from other Google Ads agencies for dentists?+

Three things. We build separate campaigns for each treatment type so Smart Bidding optimises on appointment and treatment revenue, not just form fills. We rebuild conversion tracking before we change a single keyword. And we exclude informational queries that look like intent but do not convert, because every wasted click on "how much does Invisalign cost" is a click that did not go towards booking a consultation.

Ready to fill more chairs with the right patients?

Get a free Google Ads audit. We will show you exactly where your current account is leaking spend, how your treatment campaigns are structured compared to what actually converts, what a properly built campaign stack would look like for your practice, and what a realistic cost per new patient looks like for your market and service mix.

Get in Touch

Your Google Ads should pay for themselves. Let's make sure they do.

Get a free audit that shows you exactly what is broken in your current account and what it will take to fix it. No obligation, no lock-in, just a clear picture of where your spend is going and what it should be delivering.


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Location Sydney, NSW · Servicing all of Australia

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