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Optometry · why otp

We will not sell you the free eye test auction.

It is the most expensive, least differentiated thing an independent optometrist can buy, against advertisers who see four million Australians a year and bulk bill the same exam. There are better places to put the money.

What we say in the first meeting

Your conversion is worth almost nothing. Let's fix that first.

A bulk billed eye test returns a Medicare benefit of $67.85 against a delivery cost Optometry Australia estimates at more than $50 above the schedule fee. So before any discussion of keywords or budget, the question is whether the account can see what a booking actually dispensed. On some practice systems it can, and on others we have to approximate it.

That is not a technical preference. It is the difference between an account that learns to buy patients who buy glasses, and one that learns to buy the cheapest possible bulk billed appointment. Almost every optometry account we have looked at is doing the second thing and reporting it as success.

How we work

Four things specific to optometry.

We build the year around the benefit cliff
Optical volume rises more than 50 per cent into the December quarter while physiotherapy and chiropractic fall about 10 per cent. Generic healthcare seasonality advice is not merely unhelpful here, it is backwards. Spend ramps in September, peaks through October and November, and we buy January cheaply.
We chase the long appointment, not the commodity
Myopia management, dry eye, paediatric and complex contact lens work are where an independent has a structural advantage over a fifteen minute chain appointment. They also search as problems rather than as products, which makes them cheaper to reach.
We read your fund agreements first
At least one major fund's provider terms restrict bidding on its trade marks and require them as negative keywords. Building a fund campaign without checking that puts the practice in breach of its own provider contract, which is a worse outcome than a wasted click.
We tell you the benchmark does not exist
There is no published Australian optometry cost per click. The figure circulating at five to ten dollars is Canadian, and the one Australian number in print is arithmetic rather than measurement. We will bracket it honestly against verified Australian figures and then measure your actual account.
A positioning point to use carefully
In July 2026 a major newspaper investigation reported allegations that optometrists at several national chains faced pressure to hit sales targets and rush consultations. Those are reported allegations, the chains asserted clinical autonomy, and we would never write them as established fact. But it does mean an independent's genuine claim, that the optometrist owns the practice and there are no sales targets, now has external context behind it. Handled carefully and without naming anyone, it is the strongest positioning an independent has had in years.
Straight answers

Questions clinic owners actually ask

How long before an optometry account works?
Live in seven days, with bookings usually inside a fortnight, because eye test demand is steady and local. The honest complication is seasonality: an account launched in June is starting at the annual floor, and one launched in September rides the strongest quarter in the category. We will tell you which of those you are doing rather than letting a launch month be mistaken for account quality. A fair read on performance needs at least one full quarter, and ideally spans the December cycle.
Do you work with more than one optometrist in the same area?
No, one practice per catchment. Optometry catchments are genuinely small, because patients do not travel far for a bulk billed eye test, so two clients in the same suburb would be competing directly for the same searches with us on both sides. We take one.
What do you need from an optometry practice to start?
Access to the Google Ads account and Business Profile, which practice management system you run and whether it is Optomate Touch, an honest picture of your average dispense value or at least the ability to look it up, your health fund provider status including which networks you are actually in, and a decision on which clinical services you want more of. That last one shapes everything, because a practice that wants more myopia management patients and one that wants more bulk billed volume need opposite accounts.
Can you help with the December rush specifically?
Yes, and the useful work happens in September and October rather than December. By December the diaries are filling and the decision has been made. What we do is ramp ahead of it, push bookings rather than premium product since the December effect is volume rather than basket size, make sure the copy says book by 31 December rather than claim by, and then buy January while competitors are dark and limits have just reset.
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A campaign partnership built for clinics

Ads that earn their place in your P&L.

A senior team that lives inside your account. Conversion infrastructure wired in before any ad goes live. Reporting that ties spend to booked appointments, not impressions.

Dedicated account manager

A senior specialist who runs clinic accounts day to day.

Clinic-only specialists

Every keyword, headline and account structure built inside real Australian clinic accounts.

Award-winning team

Winner, Best Google Ads Campaign, Australia 2025. Google Partner. AFR Fast 100.

When you're ready
We will be too.
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