ARC Service · Dental practices
Google Ads for dentists, measured in real phone calls.
Most practices we audit are running Smart campaigns that count a tap on the phone number as a conversion. We rebuild the account around calls that actually connect, and show what each new-patient call costs.
The usual problem
The account says leads are cheap. The front desk says the phone is quiet.
Google’s Smart campaigns are easy to switch on, and they report generously. A click on the call button or on the map counts as a conversion, whether or not anyone actually spoke to the practice.
When we audit dental accounts, the reported cost per conversion is often a fraction of the real cost per completed call. One pediatric dentist had spent $8,000 before coming to us. By our estimate from the audit, completed calls were costing around $200 each.
The fix is not a bigger budget. It is counting the right thing, separating people searching for your practice by name from people who have never heard of you, and sending each to a page built for them.
What we change
How we run Google Ads for dental practices
Replace Smart campaigns
New search campaigns with keywords, ads and budgets you can see and control, instead of a black box.
Count only real conversions
Phone calls over 30 seconds and submitted forms. Taps on a phone number are not reported as patients.
Split branded from new-patient searches
People searching for your practice by name are tracked separately from cold searches like “pediatric dentist near me”, so you can see what new patients really cost.
Landing pages per service
A page for the treatment that was searched, with the phone number and booking up front.
Optimize on cost per call
Search terms, bids, schedules and locations adjusted month by month against the cost of a real call.
The evidence
What this looked like for a dentist and a doctor
A pediatric dentist. Estimated at around $200 per completed call on a Smart campaign. After new campaigns, new landing pages and tracking that only counts calls over 30 seconds, the overall cost per call came to $14, on about $400 a month in ad spend. Calls from people who had never heard of the practice started at $22 and settled around $15 after optimization.
An orthopedic doctor. Roughly $100 per completed call before. On the same ad spend, about $800 a month, the account averaged $8 per call, with new-patient calls at $13.
Read the doctors and dentists case study, with the account screenshots. Figures are reported by ARC from specific engagements. Results vary by market, budget and offer, and are not a prediction.
The engagement
What the engagement may include
- Audit of your current Google Ads account
- Call and form conversion tracking
- Branded and new-patient search campaigns
- Service landing pages
- Negative keywords and search-term cleanup
- Google Business Profile alignment
- Monthly cost-per-call reporting
Before changing anything, we show you what your current campaigns are really paying per completed call.
Common questions
Questions we are asked before starting
How much does Google Ads management for a dental practice cost?
ARC’s managed programs run from $500 to $2,000 a month, depending on what the business needs. Ad spend is separate from that fee and is paid to Google or Meta directly.
How much should a dentist spend on Google Ads?
It depends on your market and the treatments you want to grow. For reference, the pediatric dentist in our case study spent about $400 a month in ad spend. We recommend a budget after the audit, not before.
What is wrong with Google Smart campaigns?
Nothing, if you only need simple ads. The problem is reporting: Smart campaigns count clicks on your phone number or map listing as conversions, so a campaign can look cheap while very few calls actually connect.
Do you work with dentists outside the Bay Area?
Yes. ARC works remotely, and targeting is set to the area your practice serves.
Do you also work with doctors and other medical practices?
Yes. The same approach is in our case study for an orthopedic doctor. See doctors, dentists and medical practices.
Find out what a new-patient call really costs you.
Share your Google Ads account and we’ll show you your real cost per completed call before you commit to anything.