Question 1

Can we bid on Botox as a keyword if we don't say it in the ad?

Accepted Answer

This is the question every UK aesthetics clinic asks, and the honest answer is that it is a poor place to take risk. UK law prohibits advertising prescription-only medicines to the public, and the ASA applies that to the whole advertisement — the copy, the extensions, the destination page and the overall impression created. Bidding on the term as a keyword is a distinct question from publishing it as copy, and it is not settled ground that clinics should be improvising on. What we see in practice is that the keyword rarely stays isolated: the account gets a dynamic headline, or a landing page that repeats the term, or a search-term report that tempts somebody into writing the obvious ad, and the exposure arrives through the back door. The bigger issue is that it is the wrong target anyway. Somebody searching a product brand name is often price-shopping a specific injectable. Somebody searching for a wrinkle-treatment consultation, a facial-lines clinic or a named prescriber is a better patient with less competition. We build accounts around consultation intent, use organic content and your Google Business Profile to catch the branded demand you cannot lawfully buy, and run a written pre-publication check over every asset. Rulings are published with your clinic's name on them and they do not expire.

Question 2

What should we expect to pay per click in the UK?

Accepted Answer

Broadly three to fifteen pounds across most private healthcare categories, with the top of that range concentrated in London aesthetics, private dentistry, cosmetic surgery and high-value orthopaedics, and the bottom in regional general practice and diagnostics. That is materially cheaper than the equivalent US or Gulf keyword, which regularly misleads UK clinics into thinking paid search will be easy here. It is not, for two reasons. First, the compliance ceiling is far lower, so the aggressive offer-led copy that wins auctions in other markets simply cannot run — you are competing on the narrow band of things you are permitted to say, which compresses differentiation and pushes everyone toward similar ads. Second, the hospital groups and national chains bid consistently and are not cost-sensitive in the way an independent practice is. Where independents win is on specificity and destination quality: a procedure-and-city page carrying a real price range and a realistic appointment date converts far better than a homepage, and conversion rate moves cost per enquiry more than bidding ever will. A page converting at six per cent rather than two changes your economics threefold regardless of what you pay per click.

Question 3

Which UK campaigns actually produce booked patients rather than enquiries?

Accepted Answer

The ones aimed at people who have already decided to pay, which in Britain right now means waiting-list intent above almost everything else. Three query families consistently outperform. Cost queries — private hip replacement cost, how much is a private MRI — where the searcher is budgeting rather than browsing. Timing and access queries — see a dermatologist privately, private GP appointment today, self-refer for a scan — where the entire motivation is speed. And named-consultant queries, which convert extremely well in London and are cheap because competitors do not think to bid them. The campaigns that reliably disappoint are broad specialty terms, symptom terms, which mostly attract NHS-route research traffic, and anything competing with NHS.uk for information intent. Two operational points matter more than structure. Call tracking is essential because a large share of UK private healthcare enquiries arrive by phone, and accounts without it systematically under-report and get optimised toward the wrong thing. And ad copy should lead on the two facts the self-pay patient is actually searching for — indicative price and time to first appointment — rather than on credentials, which matter later in the decision but not in the auction.

Question 4

What does google ads for doctors cost in the UK?

Accepted Answer

We quote clients in the UK in GBP. As a guide, Google Business Profile management starts around GBP 50 per month, SEO publishing around GBP 70 per month, and full-service retainers from about GBP 210 per month depending on scope. Those figures are converted from our India list at an indicative rate and include the uplift for servicing an account across timezones, currencies and a different regulatory regime; your quote is confirmed in writing after the free audit. Where this service involves paid media, that budget sits outside our fee — in the UK treatment-intent clicks typically run £3–15. Cheaper per click than the US or the Gulf, but the compliance ceiling is far lower — the ads that win elsewhere simply cannot run here, so differentiation comes from what you are permitted to publish.

Question 5

How long until we see results in the UK?

Accepted Answer

The first movement — profile views, calls, direction requests — usually shows inside 30 days, because the earliest wins come from fixing what is already indexed rather than waiting for Google to re-evaluate new pages. Meaningful ranking and pipeline change typically lands between 60 and 90 days. Competition in the UK is high, so we sequence the work to produce early traction on winnable, specific searches while the harder head terms build over two to three quarters. We report monthly against patient actions — calls, enquiries, booked consultations — not against impressions.

Google Ads for Doctors in the UK

The same service, run for this market.

The plays that work in the UK.

Compliant aesthetics account structure

Self-pay cost and timing campaigns

Landing page parity

Substantiation before launch

What the rules mean for google ads for doctors.