With the right strategy, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising through Google’s AdWords can direct relevant traffic to your treatment program’s website. But what is PPC? If you’ve searched for something on Google, you may have noticed the advertisements that appear at the top or bottom of your search results. They generally look just like other search results and links, except they have a green “Ad” icon beside them. 
Those are PPC advertisements.
The specific ads that you see are showing up for a reason—the advertisers have bid for the keywords used in your online search, as well as the ad’s position in the search rankings. But, those advertisers are only charged when a user actually clicks on their ad. That’s why it’s known as “pay-per-click” advertising.
What PPC Has to Offer You
The world of addiction treatment is becoming increasingly digital, so it’s crucial for your treatment program to have a presence online. Most people today are searching for help and resources through online search engines. By far, Google is the most-used search engine, with nearly 4.5 billion searches every day. Over the last 5 years, the Google search terms “addiction treatment near me” and “rehab near me” have skyrocketed in popularity in the United States. In the last few months, more people than ever have used those keywords in Google’s search engine.
When I search for “addiction treatment” or “rehab near me” on Google, the first results I see—above the organic search results—are PPC advertisements.
Ideally, you want your treatment program to appear in those search results and drive relevant traffic to your landing page. The most-clicked links in a list of search results are those with the highest positions (the first 3 to 5 results listed), so you want your program to be among those top positions. PPC opens up these opportunities.
But, PPC Can Be Pricey
Google’s PPC advertising can reach a huge online audience and is tailored to the relevant keywords of your choosing—but it can come with a high cost. Non-competitive keywords generally have a lower price-per-click, some as low as $0.25 to $0.30. Highly competitive keywords can cost up to $25 per click or more. (Keep in mind, that value is charged every time someone clicks on your ad, regardless of whether or not they take further action.) You’ll need to form a marketing strategy based on a budget that works for you.
It’s important to know this going into PPC, because it’s an investment. You need to be willing to spend some money initially if you’re going to see any return down the line. PPC will require some trial and error. Run multiple ads for your treatment program at once and use A/B testing to figure out which ads perform well and why. Because you pay-per-click, you can gauge the metrics of those ads by seeing which actually are clicked on, and which convert into new clients. Use that information to fine tune your PPC campaign and create more effective ads.
A Good Landing Page is Your Biggest Asset
It’s crucial that your ads are being seen, and seen by a relevant audience—but those ads must direct that audience to a quality landing page. The page that online traffic lands on when they click your ad is the most important piece of the PPC puzzle. That traffic means nothing if you can’t convert on those clicks. A potential client who clicks on your ad should arrive at a page with a clear message, an effective call to action, and contact information.
The landing pages associated with your ads are the key to yielding the highest possible return from those ads. (And, clearly, they aren’t cheap.) If you’re investing in PPC advertising, it’s a smart move to invest in quality landing pages—and it’s no simple task. You’ve got to consider the keywords used in your PPC ads, writing effective copy for the page, the layout and design.
Luckily, you can make use of the fully customizable landing page platform known as the Treatment Leads Platform. Our Treatment Leads experts will build a micro-site for you, where landing pages can be duplicated and modified depending on the unique search terms in your PPC campaign. You retain complete control of which pages your paid traffic goes to, but the Treatment Leads Platform ensures that traffic will be the most relevant and have higher conversion rates.
PPC Can Be Worth the Investment
If you have the capital to invest in a PPC advertising campaign, it can seriously pay off for your treatment program.
- Troubleshooting and investing in a quality PPC campaign can result in new, relevant traffic for your program. The top 3 paid advertising spots receive almost half of the clicks on the page.
- More and more people are using their mobile phones for online searches, and mobile devices account for 53% of paid-search clicks. Consider optimizing your PPC campaign for mobile ads.
- And, 69% of searchers on mobile actually call a business straight from Google search.
- On average (across all industries), businesses make $3 in revenue for every $1.60 spent on AdWords.
PPC ads will bring in relevant traffic, meaning people who are actually looking for addiction treatment and resources. Your ads won’t show up on just any old page, and you won’t be paying for random clicks—you’ll only be paying for search traffic from people typing in relevant keywords that you’ve chosen in relation to addiction treatment. Just keep in mind that these benefits are why PPC is one of the most expensive advertising platforms.
We suggest incorporating PPC advertising into your overall strategy, but we don’t like to see facilities completely dependent on it. Ultimately, your brand should be at the center of your marketing efforts. You don’t want to be completely dependent on any single advertising platform or approach. If it fits into your budget, PPC can expand your marketing efforts and drive quality traffic to your treatment program.
