Most wasted Google Ads money in a clinic account goes to a few predictable places: searches that were never going to book, people outside your area, and settings left on their defaults. The fix is not a bigger budget. It is a careful look at what you are paying for, then switching off what does not lead to a booking.
Below are the six leaks I check first in any clinic account, and what to do about each.
1. You are paying for searches you never chose
Your keywords are not the same as the searches you pay for. Google matches your keywords to what people actually type, and broader match types can stretch that a long way. A keyword about a treatment can end up showing your ad to people looking for jobs, free information, courses or a different service.
The place to see this is the search terms report. It lists the real searches that triggered your ads. Open it, set the date range to the last 30 to 90 days, and sort by cost.
What to do:
- Read the top 50 search terms by cost, one by one.
- Mark any that a patient ready to book would never type.
- Add those words as negative keywords, so your ads stop showing for them.
- Repeat every week for the first month, then every two weeks.
Common words clinics end up blocking are things like "jobs", "salary", "course", "free", "definition" and the names of other providers. Your list will depend on your services. Build it from your own search terms, not from a list you found online.
2. Your ads show outside the area you serve
When you set a location in Google Ads, the default option usually reaches people in or interested in that place. That can include people who live elsewhere but have searched about your town. For a travel business that is useful. For a clinic that needs patients to walk through the door, it often is not.
What to do:
- In your campaign's location settings, check which option is selected.
- If you only want people physically in or regularly in your area, choose that option instead.
- Look at the location report after a few weeks. If clicks come from places you cannot serve, tighten the radius or exclude those areas.
3. Search ads are running on other networks too
When you create a Search campaign, Google may offer to include its Display Network and search partner sites. These can bring cheap clicks. They can also bring clicks from people who were reading something else and never meant to look for a clinic.
What to do:
- Open the campaign settings and look under Networks.
- If the Display Network is ticked on a Search campaign, consider turning it off and running display as its own campaign later, if at all.
- Check search partner results separately. Keep them only if they bring enquiries, not just clicks.
4. Ads run at hours nobody can answer the phone
If most of your bookings come by phone, an ad that shows at 1am and gets a call that rings out is money spent for nothing. If people can book online at any hour, late-night ads may be fine. It depends on how you take bookings.
What to do:
- Look at your results by hour of day and day of week.
- If calls are your main route, set an ad schedule that matches your phone hours, or add a call asset that only shows when someone can answer.
- If you take online bookings or forms, keep the hours that bring them.
5. The ad sends people to the wrong page
Many clinics point every ad at the home page. A person who searched for one service lands on a page about everything, has to hunt, and leaves. You paid for the click either way.
What to do:
- Send each ad group to the page that matches the search. A search about a specific service should land on that service's page.
- Make sure the page has one clear next step near the top: call, WhatsApp, or book.
- Test the page on a phone. Most clinic searches happen on one.
6. Google is learning from the wrong signal
This leak is often the hardest to see. If your account counts the wrong thing as a "conversion", such as someone viewing a page or spending time on the site, Google's automated bidding will chase more of that. It gets better at finding people who look around, not people who book.
What to do:
- Open the conversions section and list every action that is counted.
- Ask of each one: does this mean a real person tried to book or get in touch?
- Keep calls, form submissions, booking confirmations and messaging taps as your main goals. Move page views and similar actions to secondary, or remove them.
A follow-up article on tracking bookings rather than clicks is coming this week.
A short checklist
- ☐ Read the search terms report, sorted by cost
- ☐ Add negative keywords for searches that would never book
- ☐ Check the location option, not just the location
- ☐ Check which networks your Search campaigns run on
- ☐ Match ad hours to how you take bookings
- ☐ Send each ad to the page that matches the search
- ☐ Make sure only real enquiries count as conversions
A word on health ads
Clinic ads sit under extra rules. Google has its own healthcare and medicines policy, and many countries have their own rules for health advertising as well. Before changing ad wording, check both. Avoid promising outcomes, and be careful with before-and-after claims and testimonials, which are restricted in many places. Fixing wasted spend does not need any new claims, which makes it a safe place to start.
Frequently asked questions
How much of my budget is likely being wasted?
There is no honest general number. It depends on your keywords, settings and how long the account has gone without a review. The only way to know is to read your own search terms and conversion settings.
Should I just lower my budget?
Not as a first step. A lower budget spent on the same loose settings wastes money more slowly. Fix where the money goes first, then decide on the budget.
How often should a clinic account be checked?
Weekly is a good rhythm for search terms in a new or recently changed account. Once it is stable, every two weeks is usually enough, with a fuller review each month.
Want a second pair of eyes?
If you would like someone to look at your setup, SeenSilver offers a free first look: a one-page review of your website and how you show up on Google, with the problems listed in plain words. There is no obligation. You can ask for your free first look here.
Want a second pair of eyes on your own setup?