Industry Guide · 16 of 16 chapters published
Google Ads for Orthopedic Surgeons, Built Around the Surgeon Patients Choose.
Most orthopedic patients arrive by referral. The rest pick a surgeon by name, insurance and credentials, on a search page shared with hospital systems, large groups and clinics selling injections Google won't let them advertise. These sixteen chapters build a Google Ads account in the order that works, using real searches, websites and patient reviews from one example market, Nashville. The method works for orthopedic practices anywhere in the US.
Google Ads for Orthopedic Surgeons Is Priced on the Second Knee, Not the First Visit
Five steps in the order we build an orthopedic account. Local numbers come from our example market, Nashville; yours will differ, but the method holds.
A Follow-Up Call About Last Spring's Knee Looks Like a New Patient to Google
So new patients get a number of their own on the pages ads point to, and the account counts only what a new patient does:
- A call of 30 seconds or more to the new-patient number
- A confirmed online booking or appointment request
- A seen patient, uploaded later by click ID with no health details attached
Then price the click on the whole patient: about four in ten knee replacement patients are back for the other knee within eight years, which lifts a knee click's ceiling from about $6.95 to $9.74 in our illustration.
Thirty-Seven of the Top Forty Keyword Ideas Were Somebody Else's Name
Those names go on the negative list, and the rest sorts by body part, in what we call the Isolation campaign: exact match, one ad group and one page per procedure, so a knee replacement search gets the knee ad and the knee page.
Bids are set by hand from what each surgery pays. Nationally, “orthopedic near me” runs up to about $11.70 a click and “knee replacement surgery” about $3.03, so the vague search gets a lower bid on purpose. The ads use patients' words: being explained to came up in 223 of 882 reviews, and no practice's ad among 566 said “explain.”
Surgery Patients Drive Hours, So the Map Grows by County, Not by Interest
The campaign launches on Presence, the setting Google points health care toward, and adds the counties last year's surgical patients drove from. Search partners and AI Max go off at build, because AI Max widens exact match, writes its own headlines and can swap the knee page for another. Auto-tagging and call reporting stay on.
Performance Max Can Land Your Knee Ad on a Page That Mentions PRP
An Exploration campaign (also our name) adds broad match at about 30 quality consults a month, usually in months two or three and sooner for bigger accounts. Performance Max follows around months six or seven, with every PRP page kept out of its reach, because Google reviews the page as well as the ad. Demand Gen introduces surgeons on YouTube in summer, ahead of the fourth-quarter surgery rush. AI Max comes last and is optional, since one generated headline that mentions opioids can get the account suspended without warning.
Patients Type the Surgeon's Name. The Brand Campaign Makes Sure It Leads Back.
Every surgeon gets an ad group in a brand campaign from month one, landing on a page that can book that surgeon; only 12 of the 24 surgeon pages we checked could. PRP draws about 90,500 US searches a month and Google bans promoting it, so knee pain ads land on a condition page and PRP goes on the negative list. Walk-in injury care gets its own campaign, budget and hours, because its clicks ran about twice a knee replacement click's.
Sixteen Chapters, From the First Call to the Operating Room
New account? Start with Chapter 1. Every chapter builds on the ones before it.
Measure
Count new patients, not every call, and price a click on the whole patient
An Orthopedic Practice's Phone Rings for Follow-Ups, PT and New Knees. Only the New Patient Call Should Count.
"Knee Pain" Is Months From Surgery. "Orthopedic Surgeon Near Me" Is Ready to Book. Pay for That One First.
Up to 45% of Knee Replacement Patients Get the Other Knee Done Within 20 Years. Price the Click on Both.
Build
Ad groups by body part, surgery searches first, then the injury searches
Orthopedic Patients Search by Body Part. Build Ad Groups and Pages the Same Way, and Google Charges Less.
37 of the Top 40 Orthopedic Keyword Ideas Were Brand Names. The Patients You Can Win Are Further Down the List.
Knee Replacement Searches Are Few and Predictable. Injury Searches Come in Thousands of Odd Phrasings. Buy Them in That Order.
Knee Replacement Clicks Cost Less Than "Orthopedic Near Me." Set Each Ad Group's Bid on What Its Patients Are Worth.
Orthopedic Patients Praise the Surgeon Who Explained the X-Ray. Put That in Your Headlines.
Launch
Settings that keep a new account local and in your control
Scale
More reach once the account knows what a new patient looks like
Performance Max Can Send Your Ad to Any Page on Your Site, Including the PRP Page Google Bans.
Knee Replacements Pile Up in the Fourth Quarter. Demand Gen Has to Introduce Your Surgeons Before Fall.
Most Orthopedic Listings on Google Maps Belong to a Surgeon, Not a Practice. Your Local Ads Have to Work With Both.
AI Max Writes From Your Whole Website. Google Suspends Accounts Whose Ads Mention Opioid Painkillers.
Orthopedics
Injection ad rules, surgeon brands and walk-in injury care
Google Bans Ads for PRP and Stem Cell Injections. Knee Pain Searches Are Still Fair Game.
Patients Search Orthopedic Surgeons by Name. Give Every Surgeon a Brand Campaign and a Page of Their Own.
An Ankle Sprain Can't Wait Three Weeks for a Consult. Orthopedic Walk-In Care Needs Its Own Campaign.
The Rollout, Month by Month
The order matters as much as the campaigns. Each step waits until the one before it has taught Google something.
Isolation and brand
Exact match on procedure and "orthopedic near me" searches, plus your practice name and every surgeon's name.
Walk-in injury care
A separate campaign for sprains, fractures and sports injuries, if you run walk-in clinics.
Exploration
Broad match and a target CPA after the account logs about 30 new patients a month. Bigger accounts get there sooner.
Performance Max
The usual pace. The real gate is about 30 new patients a month, held steady, so bigger accounts get there sooner. PRP and injection pages kept out.
Demand Gen, Local Services Ads and AI Max
Video before the fourth-quarter surgery rush, an optional pay-per-lead test, and Google's newest automation last.
How to Use This Guide
No account yet?
Go in order. New-patient tracking and the budget math come before any keyword.
Chapter 01 →Ads already running?
Check what your conversions count and which pages Google can send clicks to. Follow-up calls counted as new patients and ads landing on a PRP page are two common leaks.
Chapter 10 →One example market
Examples come from Nashville-area orthopedic practices, described as we found them. Run the same steps where you are.
Chapter 05 →Running more than one specialty under one roof? Google Ads for Healthcare shows how to run them as one account without one service line starving the rest.
Google Ads for Orthopedic Surgeons
Patients Pick a Surgeon by Name. Your Ads Should Be Selling Yours.
We've run paid ads for 25+ years and seen just about every way a budget goes sideways. Get on the phone with someone who does this every day. Bring your questions, your numbers and your skepticism. You'll hang up knowing what we'd do, whether you hire us or not.
Or see how our Google Ads management works.