Is PPC Worth It in the Healthcare Industry?

Updated on November 9, 2020

If you have a nice website, a good social media presence, and strong SEO, it’s possible that you’re still not getting the kind of traffic that you want to these pages. It might feel as if you’ve tried everything, but there is still a way you can ensure that your practice or clinic is noticed. You can try investing in pay-per-click (PPC) ads, so you have a higher chance of reaching your target demographic and getting new patients. But is it worth doing in such a conservative and heavily regulated industry?

All About PPC

PPC advertising is another way to make your practice or business more visible online. You can strategically have ads placed in high-traffic websites and only pay for the ad every time someone visits (clicks) your website. It is a good alternative to attracting potential patients organically, especially when that method is not working for you. If you are considering this method, make sure to hire marketing professionals who specialize in PPC services for home care companies and others in the healthcare industry.

PPC ads are extremely nuanced and can go wrong if they are not properly implemented and updated on a regular basis. It also needs to be able to fit into an effective digital marketing strategy for your business as well. For PPC to work for any business, it’s best to consult experts and let them take care of it.

The Benefits of PPC

Perhaps the biggest benefit that PPC ads provide is that it is an extremely targeted approach to reaching your target market. As the business owner, you can decide who gets to see your ad based on their location, interests, smartphone usage, age, gender, and more. You can even retarget your ads so that people who previously visited your pages will be persuaded to return to it. The fact that you can customize and hyper-focus your ads to a specific group of people allows you to specifically reach people who are most interested and in need of your services in the first place. 

Additionally, PPC ads are a more pragmatic approach compared to many marketing methods as they are cost-effective, trackable, and fast. If you happen to be running a promotion or are having a slow period, it is an easy way to increase your visibility without spending too much. This is because you only pay for the ad whenever someone clicks on it but you still get to enjoy being at the top of search results. You will likely see results in a matter of hours or days, and you can track the performance of your ads with ease. Based on how the ads are performing, you can decide your next set of PPC ads based on which ones are working and which ones aren’t.

Things to Keep in Mind While Doing PPC Ads

While PPC has a plethora of benefits, it can also become difficult to break into it as there are bigger companies who have more money to spend on certain keywords. You can easily find yourself going over budget for certain ads, even if you’re only paying for clicks. To combat this, you can focus on longer-tailed keywords that are specific to your healthcare services. Bidding for generic keywords will only drive empty traffic to your website as it may have little to do with what you’re offering. Going for niche keywords is both cheaper and will help generate quality traffic to your pages as well.

Another way to keep costs down while increasing your patient acquisition is to focus on geo-targeting as well. Bidding on local keywords will help alert people in your vicinity about your practice and what you have to offer. Most people are not willing to travel far for healthcare services, especially in an emergency situation. Positioning your clinic or company as the dependable neighborhood healthcare provider will help your ads focus on people nearby who are more likely to become patients over those that are too far away.

Lastly, make sure your ads are still compliant with search engine terms of use and with the laws as well. Search engines have specific rules that need to be followed when it comes to using medical terms and keywords related to prescription drugs, clinical trials, and certain procedures in PPC advertising. Moreover, many state and federal laws are strict about what you can monetize and talk about in your ads. That being said, you need to make sure that your ads do not violate any guidelines when doing any form of digital marketing.

It can be confusing and overwhelming to go about PPC as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. Make sure your business or practice is on the right track by hiring advertising experts who can take care of your marketing on your behalf. If done correctly, PPC can be an invaluable marketing approach that can successfully help you expand your business and boost your online visibility. 

The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.