Knowing how to choose a dental Google Ads agency can save a practice tens of thousands of dollars a year. Google Ads is one of the fastest ways to fill a dental schedule, and also one of the fastest ways to waste money when the account is set up badly. The difference usually comes down to the PPC agency for dentists you hire.
This guide covers what a good dental Google Ads agency does, the questions to ask, the pricing models you will see, the red flags that should end the conversation, and how to judge results in the first 90 days.
What a Good Dental Google Ads Agency Does
- Builds campaigns around treatments, not one big “dentist” campaign. Emergency, implants, Invisalign, cosmetic and new patient searches each get their own budget, ads and landing page.
- Manages negative keywords weekly to block job seekers, students, free clinics and out-of-area searches.
- Tracks calls and bookings, not just clicks, with call tracking and conversions imported into Google Ads.
- Builds or improves landing pages so every click lands on a page built for that search.
- Reports cost per booked patient by campaign, every month, in plain English.
- Understands dental advertising rules, including Florida Board of Dentistry requirements on fees, free offers and specialty claims.
Questions to Ask a Google AdWords Agency for Dentists
- How many dental accounts do you manage today, and can I speak to two of them?
- Will the Google Ads account be in my name, and will I have full admin access?
- How will you track phone calls, form fills and online bookings?
- What cost per lead and cost per booked patient do you expect in my city, and why?
- How do you structure campaigns for implants, Invisalign and emergencies?
- How often do you review search terms and add negative keywords?
- Who will actually manage my account day to day?
- What is your contract length and notice period?
- What happens to my landing pages and data if I leave?
Pricing Models You Will See
- Percentage of ad spend: typically 10% to 20%. Simple, but rewards spending more rather than spending well.
- Flat monthly fee: often $500 to $2,000 depending on account size. Predictable and aligned with efficiency.
- Setup fee: $500 to $2,500 for account rebuilds, tracking and landing pages.
- Performance-based: part of the fee tied to booked patients, usually after clean tracking is in place.
- Bundled: Google Ads included in a broader dental marketing package with SEO and a website.
Ad spend itself should always be paid directly to Google from your own account. Be cautious of any agency that buys media on your behalf and does not show you the account.
Red Flags That Should End the Conversation
- The agency owns the Google Ads account and will not give you admin access.
- Reports show clicks, impressions and CTR but never booked patients.
- One campaign for every service, sending all traffic to the homepage.
- No call tracking.
- Guaranteed results or “page one in 24 hours” promises.
- Long lock-in contracts with no performance review points.
- No knowledge of dental treatment value or advertising rules.
What the First 90 Days Should Look Like
Days 1 to 14: audit, tracking set-up, account restructure, negative keyword list and landing pages. Days 15 to 45: campaigns live, first booked patients, weekly search-term clean-up. Days 46 to 90: budget shifted toward the best-performing treatments and locations, bids optimised on real conversion data. By day 90 you should know your cost per booked patient by campaign.
How Much Should You Spend with a Dental PPC Agency?
Most single-location Florida practices start with $1,500 to $3,000 a month in ad spend plus management. Implant and full-arch campaigns in competitive cities often need $3,000 to $6,000. Judge the spend against patient lifetime value: a general patient worth several thousand dollars over a few years justifies a cost per new patient of $150 to $350.
How a Good Dental Google Ads Account Is Structured
When you audit a prospective agency’s work, look at how they structure accounts. A strong dental account usually looks like this:
- Emergency campaign: “emergency dentist”, “tooth pain” and “same day dentist” searches, often with higher bids in the evening and on weekends, and only when calls are answered.
- Implants and full-arch campaign: “dental implants cost”, “All-on-4” and “implant dentist near me”, with financing messages and a dedicated landing page.
- Invisalign and orthodontic campaign: adult clear aligner searches separated from parent-focused braces searches.
- Cosmetic campaign: veneers, whitening and smile makeovers.
- New patient and general campaign: “dentist near me”, “family dentist” and insurance-specific searches.
- Brand campaign: protects your practice name from competitors bidding on it, at very low cost.
- Remarketing: reminds visitors who did not book, within Google’s healthcare advertising policies.
Each campaign has its own budget, ad copy that matches the search, location targeting around your office, and a landing page with the phone number and booking button in the first screen.
Metrics You Should See Every Month
| Metric | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Spend by campaign | Shows where the money goes |
| Calls, forms and bookings | Real conversions, not clicks |
| Cost per lead | Efficiency of the campaigns |
| Lead-to-booking rate | How well leads become appointments |
| Cost per booked patient | The number that decides whether ads pay |
| Search impression share | How much demand you are missing |
| Top search terms and negatives added | Proof the account is being managed |
In-House vs Agency for Dental Google Ads
Some practices run Google Ads themselves. It can work if someone has several hours a week, understands bidding, conversion tracking and negative keywords, and keeps up with constant platform changes. Most practices find a specialist dental PPC agency cheaper than the wasted spend that comes from learning on the job. A middle ground is having an agency rebuild the account and set up tracking, then reviewing performance with them monthly.
A Simple Scorecard for Comparing Agencies
- Dental experience and references (0 to 5)
- Account ownership and transparency (0 to 5)
- Tracking to booked patients (0 to 5)
- Campaign structure by treatment (0 to 5)
- Landing page capability (0 to 5)
- Fair contract terms (0 to 5)
- Clear, plain-English reporting (0 to 5)
Score every agency you speak to. The highest score, not the lowest fee, usually delivers the lowest cost per new patient. If you would like us to be one of the agencies you compare, see our Google Ads management for dentists.
Common Mistakes Practices Make When Hiring
- Choosing on price alone. A $300 management fee that wastes $1,500 of ad spend is the most expensive option.
- Judging too early. Campaigns need 60 to 90 days of conversion data to optimise. Switching agencies every two months resets learning.
- Ignoring the phones. The best ads fail if calls go to voicemail. Fix call handling, ideally with an AI receptionist, before scaling spend.
- No landing pages. Sending ads to the homepage is the single most common reason dental Google Ads underperform.
- Not sharing case values. An agency cannot set sensible bids without knowing what an implant or Invisalign case is worth to you.
What to Prepare Before the First Call
To get useful proposals, share your current Google Ads access (or screenshots), the treatments you want more of, your average case values, your monthly budget range, your office hours and how calls are handled, and any past agency reports. Agencies that ask for these details are thinking about booked patients; agencies that skip them are thinking about clicks.
How Medihike Can Help
Want this done for your practice? These services put the ideas in this article into practice:
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much should a dentist spend on Google Ads?
Most single-location practices spend $1,500 to $3,000 a month on ads, more for implant campaigns in competitive cities.
Are Google Ads worth it for dentists?
Yes, when campaigns are structured by treatment, tracked to booked patients and every call is answered.
What is a good cost per lead for dentists?
For general dentistry, $40 to $120 per lead is typical; the number that matters most is cost per booked patient, usually $150 to $350.
Should my dental Google Ads account be in my name?
Yes. You should own the account and data, with the agency given manager access.
