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Podiatry · google ads

Two patients cost the same $85 to acquire. One is worth ten times the other.

The difference is never visible in the cost per booking column. It is visible in the search term, and then in who is funding the appointment. Here is how we structure a podiatry account so those two things drive the bidding.

Start here

Structure the account around the payer, not the procedure.

Most podiatry accounts are organised the way the clinic's service menu is organised: an ad group for orthotics, one for heel pain, one for nail surgery, one for diabetic care. It feels tidy and it is close to useless, because it groups together patients who are worth wildly different amounts and separates patients who are worth the same.

Funding is the variable that actually predicts value. A veteran, a self managed NDIS participant, a chronic condition referral and a private patient with extras remaining are four different businesses. They use different words, they need different reassurance, and three of them will not convert on a page written for the fourth.

The keyword thesis

Symptom terms buy patients. Treatment terms buy browsers.

What underperforms

  • Orthotics. Almost nobody searches for orthotics before a podiatrist has told them they might need some.
  • Custom foot orthotics cost. Price shopping, late in someone else's funnel.
  • Podiatrist near me, unqualified. Cheap looking, and it buys everyone including the five visit Medicare cohort.
  • Diabetic foot ulcer. High risk clinically, and partly an emergency department cohort.

What actually converts

  • Heel pain, plantar fasciitis, arch pain. The patient has a problem, not a solution, and this is the gateway to the orthotics prescription.
  • Ingrown toenail, same day, walk in. Highest urgency in the profession. Converts on the phone.
  • Podiatrist that accepts DVA, gold card podiatrist. Pre qualified, zero gap, twelve session referrals.
  • Mobile or home visit podiatrist. Searched by the adult child, not the patient.
Campaign architecture

Five campaigns, because there are five economics.

Each of these gets its own budget, its own landing page, its own negative keyword set and its own definition of a good lead. Sharing any of those is how the funded demand quietly subsidises the unfunded.

DVA
The strongest economics and the least competition in Australian podiatry. A referral runs twelve sessions or one year, cycles repeat indefinitely, no gap fee is permitted, and orthotics and diagnostics are billed outside the twelve. Veterans search in their own vocabulary, and no competitor page in this market explains how to build for it.
Urgent and same day
Ingrown toenail and acute nail problems. Built for the phone, scheduled around when people actually search, and measured on calls that last long enough to be a booking. Accept that the lifetime value is short and bid accordingly.
Symptom led, orthotics gateway
Heel pain, plantar fasciitis, forefoot pain. The highest lifetime value cohort that search can actually reach, because the device follows the appointment. This is where a higher cost per booking is not just tolerable but correct.
NDIS and support coordination
The highest hourly rate in the market, and the click is often not the participant. Plan managers, support coordinators and family members search here, so the landing page has a different reader than the ad had a clicker.
Mobile, home visit and aged care
Recurring nail and skin care at six to twelve week intervals, extremely sticky, and searched almost entirely by adult children. DVA pays a higher item for a home visit than for rooms, which changes the geography of what is worth bidding on.
What the numbers actually are

The only Australian figures worth quoting.

Every one of these is Australian and published. We have deliberately left out the United States benchmarks that fill most podiatry marketing pages, because their funding system shares nothing with ours.

Cost per new podiatry booking, median
$85
Clinic Mastery, published range $60 to $135
Melbourne podiatry account, 90 days
$74
52 new patient bookings
AU healthcare average CPC, all specialties
$3.72
Medico Digital, from $11M+ AU spend. No podiatry line exists
AU healthcare average CPA, all specialties
$95.82
Same source, Dec 2024 to Nov 2025

Source: Clinic Mastery published podiatry account data 2026, and Medico Digital 2025 Australian Healthcare Paid Search Benchmarks.

Ad copy that breaches the National Law without anyone noticing
Ahpra's advertising guidelines specifically name urgency phrases including 'don't delay', 'act now before it's too late', 'don't miss out' and 'for a limited time only' as potentially unlawful where there is no clinical indication behind them. These are default Google Ads callouts. The guidelines also treat a free offer as misleading where the cost is recouped elsewhere, which is precisely what a 'free assessment' ad does when the clinic then bills the Medicare chronic condition item.
Straight answers

Questions clinic owners actually ask

Should a podiatry clinic bid on the word orthotics?
Rarely as a primary term. The argument against it, made most clearly by Clinic Mastery, is that orthotics are not really a search: almost nobody types the word before a podiatrist has already told them they might need a pair. The people who do search it are usually price checking a recommendation someone else made. The better buy is the symptom that leads to the prescription, which in Australian podiatry is overwhelmingly heel pain and plantar fasciitis, where the appointment and the device follow from the same click.
How should a podiatry clinic advertise to DVA patients?
With a dedicated campaign and a dedicated page, because the economics and the language are both different. Veterans search in DVA vocabulary, using terms like gold card podiatrist or podiatrist that accepts DVA, and they are pre qualified in a way no other cohort is: DVA prohibits charging them a gap, a referral covers twelve sessions or a year, referral cycles repeat as long as the GP considers it necessary, and orthotics and diagnostic items are billed outside that count. The page needs to confirm you accept the card and explain the referral process, because that is the entire question the veteran is asking.
Why is cost per lead a poor way to judge a podiatry campaign?
Because two podiatry patients acquired at the same price can differ by an order of magnitude in value. An ingrown toenail patient is one or two visits and then gone. A heel pain patient may proceed to a custom orthotic, which Australian clinics publish at anywhere from about $400 to $850 a pair. A DVA patient is twelve funded sessions at $97.10 before any device, and then another referral. The search term and the funding pathway are what tell you which patient you just bought, so those need to be visible in the reporting or the number is meaningless.
Can a podiatry clinic advertise a free initial assessment?
Only with real care. Ahpra's guidelines state that where the cost of a free offer is recouped through a price rise elsewhere or through other sources such as Medicare, the offer is not actually free, and section 133 requires the terms and conditions of any offer to appear in the advertisement itself. The guidelines are explicit that the public should not have to search for or contact the advertiser to find them. A free assessment ad on a clinic that subsequently bills a Medicare item is close to the example the guidelines use.
Related

Google Ads in other clinics

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.

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