When it comes to growing your clinic or healthcare practice through digital advertising, few elements are more important than selecting the right keywords. Effective targeting of keywords for patient acquisition ads can dramatically improve the performance of your PPC campaigns—helping you reach the right patients, reduce ad spend waste, and increase appointment bookings.
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In this post, we’ll walk through the process of choosing and refining keywords specifically designed to attract new patients through platforms like Google Ads and Bing Ads.
Understand Search Intent Behind Healthcare Queries
Not all keywords are created equal. For patient acquisition, the goal is to target users who are actively searching for care, not just information. Focus on transactional and commercial intent—search terms that signal a readiness to book or contact a clinic.
Examples of high-intent keywords include:
- “GP near me taking new patients”
- “private dermatologist London appointment”
- “emergency dental clinic open today Bristol”
Avoid putting most of your budget into purely informational keywords like “what causes back pain” unless you’re running a long-term content marketing funnel. Ads should serve patients ready to take action.
Tip: Use Google’s keyword match types—broad match modifier, phrase match, and exact match—to control intent more precisely.
Use Location-Specific Keywords to Reach Nearby Patients
Patients generally seek healthcare services close to home. Including location modifiers in your keywords can help improve relevance and increase click-through rates from nearby users.
Good examples of location-targeted keywords for patient acquisition include:
- “women’s health clinic Birmingham”
- “child immunisations Edinburgh same day”
- “NHS dentist accepting new patients Glasgow”
If you have multiple locations, create separate ad groups for each area and adjust your keywords and ad copy to reflect the local region. This not only improves relevance but also builds trust with local audiences.
Include Service-Based and Condition-Based Keywords
To align your ads with what patients are actively searching for, you should create keyword lists around both services offered and the conditions you treat.
Examples:
Service-based:
- “ultrasound scans in Manchester”
- “book blood test online Leeds”
- “private GP appointment Cardiff”
Condition-based:
- “treatment for anxiety in Nottingham”
- “eczema specialist London”
- “help with insomnia Bristol”
By covering both categories, you can cast a wider yet relevant net to attract prospective patients who either know what they need or are still researching options.
Tip: Align these keywords with the exact content and call to action on your landing page to improve your Quality Score and reduce cost per click.
Leverage Long-Tail Keywords for Cost-Efficient Conversions
Long-tail keywords are more specific and typically less competitive, which makes them cheaper to bid on and more likely to attract users with clear intent. These keywords are particularly useful for smaller clinics with limited advertising budgets.
Examples of long-tail keywords for patient acquisition:
- “same day physiotherapy appointment in Sheffield”
- “how to book allergy testing in Oxford”
- “best clinic for menopause support in Liverpool”
These queries may have lower search volume individually, but they add up and often convert better due to their specificity.
Tip: Use keyword suggestion tools like Ubersuggest, SEMrush, or Google’s Keyword Planner to uncover long-tail opportunities related to your services.
Add Negative Keywords to Refine Your Audience
Negative keywords help ensure your ads don’t show for irrelevant or low-intent searches. This protects your budget and improves the quality of your traffic.
Common negative keywords for healthcare ads might include:
- “free”
- “jobs”
- “courses”
- “medical school”
- “clinic near [city] reviews”
By excluding these terms, you prevent clicks from users who are not looking for treatment or appointments, saving money and improving campaign performance.
Organise Keywords by Intent and Funnel Stage
Group your keywords into tightly themed ad groups based on where a patient is in their decision-making process:
Top of funnel (awareness):
- “how to find a good GP in Leeds”
- “what does a urologist do”
Middle of funnel (consideration):
- “compare private clinics near Manchester”
- “who offers mole checks in Glasgow”
Bottom of funnel (conversion):
- “book GP appointment online Sheffield”
- “same day STI testing in Bristol”
Tailor your ad copy and landing pages accordingly to reflect the stage of the patient journey. For acquisition-focused campaigns, prioritise bottom-of-funnel keywords for the best ROI.
Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion with Caution
Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) can be used to automatically insert search phrases into your ad copy, making it more relevant and increasing CTR. However, in healthcare advertising, it’s essential to use this feature carefully to maintain professionalism and regulatory compliance.
Make sure your ad headlines and descriptions make sense with any inserted keywords and avoid terms that could appear misleading, such as “cures” or “guaranteed results.”
Track Conversions and Optimise Based on Performance
Keyword targeting is not a “set and forget” process. You must monitor which keywords are generating conversions and which are draining your budget.
Use conversion tracking tools to assess:
- Phone calls from ads
- Appointment bookings
- Contact form submissions
Pause or reduce bids on underperforming keywords, and reallocate budget toward high-converting terms.
Also review Quality Scores—Google’s internal rating of your keyword relevance and landing page experience. Higher scores lead to lower costs per click and better ad placements.
Final Thoughts
Targeting the right keywords for patient acquisition ads is critical for healthcare providers that want to grow through paid search. By focusing on high-intent, location-specific, and service-relevant terms—while filtering out irrelevant traffic—you can stretch your budget further and bring more patients into your clinic.
Regular monitoring and optimisation will ensure your campaigns stay effective, relevant, and compliant with advertising guidelines in the healthcare space.
