Starter
Solo / single-location practice
From
$1,200/mo
90Day
Accountable delivery90 Day Delivery Commitment
Google Ads management
Google Ads for Allied Health Practices
You're paying for clicks. You should be paying for bookings.
Google Ads for allied health is paid search advertising that shows your practice to people searching for your services in your area, measured by enquiries and bookings rather than clicks. The Practice Engine builds and manages these campaigns for allied health practices across Australia, with ad copy written to advertising requirements for regulated health services.
This service is part of our allied health marketing support for Australian practices.
Google Ads management
Your ads are spending money. Is anyone actually booking in?
You switched on Google Ads because someone told you it works. The clicks came. The invoice from Google definitely came.
But when you look at the diary, you can't tell which new patients came from the ads. The report says "conversions" and nobody can explain what one is. great, 400 clicks... how many of them are booked in for Tuesday?
Then there's the stuff you never see. Ads showing for "physio jobs" and "free back exercises". Ads running in suburbs an hour away. Every click dumped on your homepage.
It keeps happening because most accounts get built once and left on autopilot. Nobody connects the ad to the phone call to the booking. So nobody can tell you what a new patient costs.
Google Ads management
What is Google Ads for allied health practices?
It's paid advertising on Google search that puts your practice in front of nearby people searching for a service you offer, such as "sports physio Bondi" or "psychologist Parramatta".
You pay when someone clicks. The skill is choosing which searches to pay for and measuring what happens next. Healthcare PPC (pay-per-click) works differently from retail. Patients search with a problem, not a product. And the goal is a booked appointment, not an item in a shopping cart.
Done well, Google Ads for allied health gives you control over demand. Done badly, it's a tap left running.
Google Ads management
Who it's for
Google Ads suits practices with appointments to fill. It works well for:
- Physiotherapy clinics chasing a specific caseload, like sports injuries or post-surgical rehab. Google Ads for physiotherapists works far better by service. See physiotherapy marketing.
- Psychology and counselling practices with open appointments. Google Ads for psychologists needs careful wording. See psychology marketing.
- Dental practices that want to focus paid search on their dental services. See Google Ads for dentists.
- GP clinics and medical centres. Medical centre Google Ads often focus on new patient intake. See GP and medical centre marketing.
- Multi-location groups and franchise networks that need campaigns per site, with consistent rules and reporting.
- Practices already running ads that don't trust the numbers they're getting.
- New clinics or new locations that need patients before organic search catches up.
Google Ads management
What's included
| Deliverable | What it means for your practice |
|---|---|
| Search campaigns by service and suburb | Separate campaigns for each service and area, so budget goes where you want patients. |
| Keyword research | We find the searches patients actually type, and the ones that waste money. |
| Negative keywords | We block searches like "jobs", "course" and "free" so you stop paying for the wrong people. |
| Conversion and call tracking | Calls, forms and online booking clicks are tracked, with booking pathways set up to work with Cliniko, Nookal, Halaxy, Splose or Coreplus. |
| Service landing pages | A page per service that matches the ad and makes booking the obvious next step. |
| AHPRA-aware ad copy | Ads written to advertising requirements for regulated health services and Google's healthcare policies, sent to you for approval. |
| Bid and budget management | Regular adjustments based on cost per enquiry, not cost per click. |
| Monthly plain-English report | Spend, enquiries, cost per enquiry, what we changed and what's next. No jargon. |
Google Ads management
How it works: your first 90 days
Days 1-30: Audit, tracking and build. We review your current account (or start fresh), set up conversion and call tracking, and map your services and suburbs. Ad copy and landing pages go to you for sign-off before launch.
Days 31-60: Clean up and sharpen. We read the search terms report every week and add negative keywords. We test ad copy against each other and fix any landing page that leaks enquiries.
Days 61-90: Move money to what books. We shift budget toward services and suburbs bringing enquiries at a sensible cost, and pull back from the rest.
Ongoing: Monthly report and review call, search term clean-ups, seasonal changes and new campaigns when you add a service or location.
Google Ads management
AHPRA-aware Google Ads: what it means in practice
"AHPRA-aware Google Ads" means ads written to the rules in section 133 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and AHPRA's advertising guidelines.
For Google Ads, three rules come up constantly. No testimonials, so no quoting Google reviews or patient stories in ads or sitelinks. No unreasonable expectation of benefit, so no "fix your back pain in three sessions". And any offer, such as a discounted first consult, must state its terms and conditions clearly. Ads also can't mislead or push unnecessary treatment.
Google has its own rules on top. Its healthcare and medicines policy restricts some health content and terms. Its personalised advertising policy limits targeting people based on health conditions, so we build campaigns around searches and locations instead. We draft and flag. Your practice remains responsible for final approval.
Google Ads management
Why a focused practice approach matters
| Generalist agency | The Practice Engine |
|---|---|
| Reports clicks and impressions | Reports cost per enquiry and what changed |
| One campaign for every service | Campaigns by service and suburb |
| Learns relevant advertising requirements on your account | Writes to relevant advertising requirements from the first draft |
| Tracking stops at the website | Tracking set up for calls, forms and booking pathways |
| You're one of hundreds of accounts | scope-led, with an agreed scope and review plan |
| Lock-in contracts | No lock-in contracts |
The work is scope-led, by a team with years of experience marketing a multi-location allied health settings. Read more about how we work.
Pricing and scope
Pricing
Management fees, by practice size:
| Plan | Suits | Monthly management | First month (half price) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | Solo or single-location practice | $1,200/mo | $600 |
| Growth | Growing multi-service practice | $2,500/mo | $1,250 |
| Scale | Multi-location or group practice | $4,500/mo | $2,250 |
Ad spend is separate and paid directly to Google, so you see exactly what Google charges.
One-off entry options:
- New Account Setup: $1,497, currently $748. Account structure, keyword research, proposed ad copy, bid strategy, conversion tracking and call tracking.
- Account Audit: $697, currently $348. For practices already running Google Ads.
Offer prices are subject to the terms in your written proposal. No lock-in contract. Just 30 days' notice.
First step
Practice Growth Audit · $3,300one-off
Every engagement starts here. A complete diagnostic of your practice's online presence — where patients are (and aren't) finding you, what's leaking enquiries, competitor positioning, and a prioritised 90-day action plan. This is the foundation every plan is built on.
New to Google Ads
Account setup · $748 one-off
Account structure, keyword research, proposed ad copy, bidding approach and conversion tracking are documented before launch.
Already using Google Ads
Account audit · $348 one-off
The account structure, available tracking, landing pathway and practical advertising considerations are reviewed before ongoing work is scoped.
Choose your ongoing plan
Monthly retainer plans
Growth
Growing multi-service practice
Tailored quote
Scale
Multi-location / group practices
Tailored quote
Written scope, first
90 Day Delivery Commitment
Before work starts, we document the agreed work, milestones and review points for the first 90 days. If an agreed item within our control is incomplete at day 90, we continue that agreed work at no management charge until it is complete. The commitment covers work we control. It does not guarantee patient volume, appointments, rankings, revenue or advertising platform outcomes.
Read the commitment termsFrequently asked
Straight answers before any scope.
How much does Google Ads cost for a physio clinic?+
Management starts at $1,200 a month for a single-location practice, with the first month at half price. Ad spend is separate and paid directly to Google. Your ad budget depends on your suburbs, services and spare capacity. We'll recommend a starting budget in your free Growth Brief.
How long does Google Ads take to work for a healthcare practice?+
Ads can start bringing enquiries within days of launch, but the account takes around 60 to 90 days to settle. Month one is tracking and data. Month two is cutting waste. By month three, we can usually see which services and suburbs bring enquiries at a sensible cost.
Can I use patient reviews or testimonials in my Google Ads?+
No. Under advertising requirements for regulated health services, ads for a regulated health service can't use testimonials, and that includes quoting your Google reviews in ad text or extensions. You can still talk about your services, qualifications, location and availability. We write ads that sell the practice without breaking the rules.
Should I send Google Ads traffic to my homepage?+
Usually not. A homepage talks to everyone, so people searching for one service have to hunt. A landing page that matches the search and shows a clear booking button tends to turn more clicks into enquiries. We set these up in the build.
Can you track Google Ads bookings in Cliniko or Nookal?+
We set up tracking for calls, forms and online booking clicks, with booking pathways that work with Cliniko, Nookal, Halaxy, Splose and Coreplus. Detail depends on how your booking system sits on your site, and we'll explain what's possible first.
What's a good cost per enquiry for allied health Google Ads?+
It depends on your service, suburb and competition, so a generic number isn't much use. A sports physio enquiry in the inner city costs differently from a paediatric OT enquiry in a regional town. We set a realistic target with you after the first month of data.
Should I start with Google Ads or SEO?+
If you need enquiries soon, Google Ads gives you faster control. SEO builds organic visibility that keeps working, but it takes longer. Many practices run both, using ads to fill gaps while SEO for allied health grows. We'll recommend an order based on your budget and capacity.
Google Ads management
Related services
A useful next step starts with clarity.
Stop paying for clicks that never book in
Book a free Growth Brief and we'll look at your ads, tracking and where the budget is going. Prefer a report first? Grab your free AI Practice Growth Report.