Marketing healthcare services on Google Ads presents two major barriers: policy restrictions and data opacity. Google’s internal keyword tools often hide or underreport medical search volume, while the Healthcare & Medicines policy limits ad phrasing and targeting flexibility. Add London’s competitive landscape - with Harley Street clinics dominating visibility - and it’s easy to waste thousands on irrelevant clicks.

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The clinic’s objectives were simple but demanding:

• Generate a steady flow of qualified patient inquiries.

• Maintain full HIPAA/GDPR compliance in data handling.

• Keep cost per acquisition low while scaling.

Our Strategy

We started by dissecting the London dermatology market using SEMrush, Ahrefs, and SpyFu, mapping every competitor’s offers, keywords, and ad angles. This analysis revealed clear positioning gaps we could exploit — mainly around localized treatments and transparent service messaging.

From there, we built the account from the ground up:

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1. Precision Targeting

Instead of broad campaigns, we structured 20 tightly segmented campaigns by treatment type and funnel stage, each containing over 19 ad groups focused on narrow search intent clusters. Geo-targeting was optimized at the postal code level, ensuring ads appeared only to users within relevant catchment zones.

To preserve budget efficiency, we curated an extensive negative keyword list of 17,374 terms - one of the largest in our agency’s portfolio - continuously refined through weekly search term reviews.

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2. Conversion Tracking and Data Integrity

Healthcare marketing lives or dies by attribution quality. We implemented end-to-end tracking for calls, forms, direction clicks, and appointment confirmations. Each touchpoint was mapped into a privacy-compliant analytics pipeline, feeding real outcomes into Google Ads through offline conversion imports. This allowed bidding to optimize for confirmed bookings, not just inquiries.

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3. Creative and Compliance Management

Every ad underwent strict vetting for Google Healthcare & Medicines policy compliance. We avoided restricted claims, before-and-after language, and ambiguous medical phrasing. The account has since achieved a rare milestone: zero suspensions or ad disapprovals across more than two years of active operation.

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4. Optimization Framework

Our team managed weekly dynamic ad tests, rotating headlines and descriptions to identify top performers. We layered audiences using in-market and custom intent signals, refined ad schedules to align with clinic call hours, and monitored query performance daily. Live dashboards in Looker Studio gave the clinic instant visibility into performance metrics.

Results

The transformation was measurable and sustained:

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May 2023 – Sep 2025 (All Time)

• 6,560 tracked conversions

• £216,251.91 total ad spend

• £32.97 cost per acquisition (CAC)

• 5.74% overall conversion rate

• 0 policy violations or disapprovals

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Year-on-Year Performance (May 2024 – Apr 2025 vs. May 2023 – Apr 2024)

• +100.12% conversions

• +101.26% conversion rate

• –27.63% CAC reduction

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YTD Comparison (Jan–Sep 2025 vs. Jan–Sep 2024)

• +37.07% conversions

• +20.21% conversion rate increase

• +22.51% higher spend, yielding higher ROI

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The year-over-year improvement demonstrated the compounding benefits of data refinement. After the first year of heavy testing, the account began producing double the conversions at significantly lower cost - a clear indicator of system maturity.

• Granularity drives efficiency. Campaigns segmented by treatment category consistently outperformed broader setups.

• External keyword tools are essential. Google’s internal tools miss large portions of healthcare search demand.

• Negative keyword hygiene is ROI-critical. 17,000+ exclusions preserved conversion quality.

• Privacy-first tracking unlocks smarter bidding. Offline conversion imports allowed us to optimize for real bookings.

• Policy discipline prevents disaster. Compliance vigilance delivered two and a half years of uninterrupted ad delivery.

City Dermatology Clinic’s Google Ads program evolved from a simple local campaign into a full-scale acquisition engine - one that combines strict policy compliance, deep data insight, and surgical keyword precision. In one of the toughest healthcare markets in Europe, the clinic now maintains predictable, cost-efficient growth - proof that with the right structure and discipline, Google Ads can be a sustainable driver of patient demand.

Author

Anna Rose Thomas

Anna is the visionary content writer extraordinaire at Solutions 8, a true artist of words. With a self-taught mastery of canvas, she weaves vibrant tales that pulse with life, injecting her imagination into every stroke. Driven by an insatiable wanderlust, Anna fearlessly embarks on soul-stirring solo escapades, her camera an extension of her soul. Through this lens, she captures the raw, unfiltered beauty of the world, distilling it into captivating imagery. Her passion for art, travel, and the enchantment of storytelling is unrivaled, making her the ultimate purveyor of spellbinding narratives.