Advertising Your Therapy Practice on the Internet


David Small
David O’Regan, Newbridge, Co Kildare

I recently spoke to David O’Regan, of David O’Regan, Counselling & Psychotherapy, Newbridge, Co Kildare about his experience of Pay Per Click advertising with Google. You know the ones, they come up in little boxes on the right hand side of your screen when you enter a search term in Google.

What Is Pay Per Click Advertising And How Does It Work?

As the name suggests, PPC advertising is a web based advertising, the cost of which is determined by the number of readers who click on the ad. No click, no cost. When a potential customer clicks on your ad, they go through to your website or a sales page telling them more about the product or service you are offering.

Unlike traditional advertising, PPC varies according to the number of readers who are interested enough to click on the ad. So you pay only for those people who might actually want to buy from you. When a reader searches the relevant keywords, your ad appears, so the ad will only appear for those readers who are actually searching for the keywords you have chosen.

Why Choose This Form Of Promotion?

We live in an age where two year olds can load up their favourite cartoons on YouTube using Daddy’s iPad or smartphone. Just because a website is created, doesn’t mean that the relevant people will find it. There are millions of websites out there, and the chances of someone looking for counselling or therapy stumbling across your site are small, especially if you just leave it sitting there.

However, search engine optimisation (getting the right people to your site by tweaking it) is a complicated science. You could spend lots of time and energy trying to get visitors, by using the right words at the right time, and by adding dynamic content and links, without much success. Or you can advertise. The first is costly of time (or money if you get someone else to do it for you), the second will cost you money.

How Effective Is It?

David O’Regan has been using PPC advertising to get more clients for a number of years, since shortly after starting his practice.  He has continued to use it because it works for him. He has been receiving a steady stream of new clients through this source. He’s not the only one. Google the word counsellor followed by your geographical area, and you’ll see ads both in the pink box at the top of the page and on the right. The aim is to get your ad well up there on page one of the search results, as most people rarely go beyond the first page.

However, in order to make it work for you, you need to get familiar with the mechanics of the process. So its effectiveness will depend on your willingness to engage with it.

Do I Need To Be A Computer Tech to Make It Work?

PPC on Google is relatively easy to set up and get going, and no, you don’t need to be particularly technological. (Other search engines also have PPC advertising, but Google is the largest.) Start small and give yourself space to play around with it, and get to know how it works. Google provides lots of feedback and statistics to help you monitor how it’s working for you.

Choosing the keywords is a skill that grows with experience. Counselling works better than psychotherapy, because clients are more likely to use that term. Your location is important, and interestingly, words spelt incorrectly work well! The cost increases according to the popularity of the keyword or phrase, so it’s worth choosing carefully.

David O’Regan also stresses that it’s important to think about what you don’t want to attract. For example, not all those googling depression or anxiety will be looking for counselling. They may be conducting research or looking for medication, so in choosing a word or phrase that describes an issue, it’s good to link it to the service you’re providing, as in depression counselling, or counselling for anxiety. As CBT is a form of counselling often suggested by doctors, it may be useful to include this in your keywords, whether you specifically provide it or not. Remember, the point is to attract people to your website, where they can find your contact details.

What Does It Cost?

The cost per click is determined by the keywords that you specify.  The cost of the words you choose varies according to their popularity. You decide on a maximum or average cost, so you can spend as little or as much as you like. To get the best out of it, though, you do need to play around with the keywords and phrases you use and also with the wording of the advert itself, to see what gets the best results for the least cost.

David O’Regan was initially spending an average of 50c per click, but this has increased over time to an average of €1 per click, as more therapists choose this form of promotion. You can choose your maximum daily spend, and once the costs have reached that level, your ad will no longer appear that day. Try to think of it not so much in terms of the absolute cost, but in relation to the income that may be generated. So, if you were to pay out €50 to €70 in a week, one session with one new client would pay for that.

Are There Drawbacks?

The cost of this form of promotion is increasing as more people use it. Long term therefore it may not be a viable choice, especially if the cost continues to rise. It cannot replace completely other forms of marketing or promotion, and as you are aiming directly to those who will use the service, it doesn’t you help to build a network of referrers.

It takes a couple of weeks for the ads to convert into calls, as people may come back to your website a couple of times to get comfortable before they make the call. A certain amount of momentum is therefore needed, so it doesn’t really work to opt in and out. David O’Regan recommends keeping your spend ticking over at a very low level even when you don’t need more work, such as when you’re away or have a full diary.

What Are Client’s Reactions?

Those who like it use it. Searching for a counsellor or therapist on the internet is a private way of researching, which doesn’t involve telling anyone you know what you’re doing. For some clients, this is very important. They can look at your website and get a feel for whether you’re likely to be a good fit for them, with no risk.

Those who don’t like technology in general or Google ads in particular may never find their way to you through this route.

However, since no form of promotion is going to appeal to everyone, it pays to promote your practice through a number of different channels.

Is Pay Per Click something you can see yourself doing? Have you experiences you’d like to share? Please leave your comments or questions in the box below. If you’d like to talk more about how you can promote your practice and attract the perfect clients for you, contact me to arrange your free 20 minute consultation.