PPC stands for pay per click. You do not pay for the impression alone on standard search ads. You pay when someone clicks, and then the result that matters is whether that person books a consult and starts care. Clicks are the cost of entry, not the win.

Why practices hear "PPC" and "Google Ads" used as if they were different products

In this market, PPC Louisville almost always means Google search ads, sometimes with Microsoft ads beside them. I do that work because most high intent procedure searches still happen on Google.

Other paid formats exist, including display ads, YouTube ads, Performance Max, and Local Services Ads where a specialty qualifies. Those are still paid media, but they are not always pay per click in the same way, and they are not where I start most practices. Search is where the intent is clearest.

If you want a wider view of campaign types, I collected them in six types of Google Ads healthcare practices can use and in pay per click advertising strategies for clinics.

What PPC can do that organic search cannot do quickly

Someone typing a procedure name plus Louisville is closer to booking than almost anyone you can reach on a billboard. A well built search ad can place you in front of that person the same day the campaign is approved and running.

SEO cannot move that fast, and it should not be asked to. SEO is how you earn a place in the organic results and on the map over time. PPC is how you rent a place at the top of the results while that work compounds, or while you cover procedures that organic search has not yet won.

I compared those roles in PPC versus SEO in Louisville. The short version is that most practices need both, but they should not fund them as if they were the same job.

What has to sit around the click

A click is expensive in healthcare because the visitor may be considering a high ticket procedure. That is also why sending that click to a generic homepage is such a common leak.

PPC for a practice needs:

  • Campaigns split by service line, so full arch is not mixed with a lower intent service
  • Keywords that match how patients search, and negative keywords that keep out jobs, students, and free care queries
  • Ads that name the procedure and the next step
  • A landing page built to turn that click into a booked consult
  • Call and form tracking so you can see which search produced the inquiry
  • A way to tell the ad system about started cases, not only form fills
  • Fast follow up, because a person who just clicked an ad often contacts more than one practice

Healthcare ads also have extra review rules. Google looks more closely at health related ads and limits some audience and remarketing options. I have had health keywords rejected in my own campaigns. The account has to be built to pass review and still reach the right people.

What PPC does not mean

It does not mean you pay me and I pay Google out of the same unmarked pile. The ad budget should be paid by you to Google. Management is a separate fee. Mixing those together makes it hard to see what the media costs and what the work costs.

It does not mean every click should turn into a patient. Some searches are research. Some are price shopping with no intent to book. The job is to cut wasted queries, send the rest to a page that can convert, and measure started cases over enough time to learn.

It also does not mean the ads failed if the phone goes unanswered. If inquiries arrive and sit, the leak is in follow up. I wrote about that in your ads are not the problem.

How I run this for a practice

I provide PPC and Google Ads management for independent practices in Louisville KY and southern Indiana. I build the campaigns, the landing pages, and the tracking, and I report on booked consults and started cases. Clicks and impressions stay in the report so we can see what happened, but they are not the result.

You own the Google Ads account from the first day. If we stop working together, the account and the data stay with you.

You can hire this as a single service. If you want the website, search, ads, and follow up connected as one system, that is the New Patient Engine. The Empty Chair Offer is a separate offer.

What drives cost, without fake ranges

Two costs sit side by side: what you pay Google for clicks, and what you pay someone to manage the account. Click cost moves with the procedure, the competition in the market, the quality of the landing page, and how tightly the keywords are built. Management cost moves with the number of service lines and the complexity of tracking.

I will tell you the media amount I would recommend before anything else, and I quote management after I understand your procedures and your market. I will not invent a typical click price here, because a number that is not based on your account would mislead you. If you want a worksheet for thinking through clicks and spend, use the Google Ads cost calculator.

Questions practices ask

Should a practice run Google Ads, SEO, or both first?

If you need consults sooner than organic search can provide them, start with search ads and make sure the landing page and follow up are ready. Start with SEO when the site itself cannot support ads yet, or when you can give search enough time to compound. Many practices fund a focused ad campaign and SEO together, with different jobs assigned to each.

How much does Google Ads cost for dentists?

There is no single number. You pay Google for clicks and you pay separately for management. Dental procedure searches vary widely in competition, and a practice that sends clicks to a strong implant page will spend differently from a practice that sends every click to the homepage. I estimate both pieces on the call after I see your market.

When does paid search beat local SEO for high value procedures?

Paid search can reach a person who is searching today, including people who never scroll to the map or the organic results. Local SEO can keep producing visits without paying for each click, but it takes longer and depends on distance, relevance, and how well known the practice is. For a high value procedure, paid search often carries the near term demand while local SEO is built. I would not pick a winner in the abstract without seeing your pages and your map presence.

Can you run PPC if we already have an agency on SEO?

Yes. The accounts should be coordinated so ads and organic pages do not fight each other, and so both sides share the same definition of a booked consult. You should own both the ad account and the site either way.

What I would do next

If you want to know what PPC would look like for your procedures in this market, start on my Google Ads page. Bring the service lines you want to grow and how you handle new inquiries today. I will tell you whether search ads are a fit or whether another leak should be fixed first.