Google Ads is the highest-velocity patient acquisition channel for Saudi healthcare practices — campaigns can be live within hours and patient inquiries can start flowing within 24 hours. The cost is that mismanaged campaigns burn budget rapidly. This piece walks through the operational sequence that produces predictable patient acquisition through Google Ads for Saudi medical practices in 2026.
Step 1: Configure the practice's regulatory profile in Google Ads
Healthcare advertising on Google requires specific certifications and verifications: Google Healthcare and Medicines policy acknowledgement, practice licence verification where Google requests it, and compliance with destination-page disclosure requirements. Skipping this step results in ad disapprovals that cost campaign time.
Step 2: Structure campaigns by patient intent
Saudi healthcare search queries cluster into intent groups: condition research ("symptoms of..."), treatment evaluation ("[treatment] options"), practice selection ("[specialty] in [district]"), and immediate booking ("[clinic name] appointment"). Each intent group warrants a separate campaign with appropriately matched landing pages and ad copy. Mixed-intent campaigns produce diluted results.
Step 3: Build the keyword list strategically
Keyword strategy for Saudi healthcare:
- Treatment-specific exact match. "زراعة الأسنان الرياض" "[specific treatment] Riyadh" — highest intent, highest cost per click
- Condition-based exact match. "علاج التهاب اللثة" — moderate intent, moderate cost
- Neighbourhood-specific phrase match. "[specialty] [neighbourhood]" — lower competition, high local intent
- Negative keywords aggressively applied. Exclude educational queries unrelated to treatment-seeking ("how does", "what is" without booking intent), DIY queries, free-treatment searches
Step 4: Write ads compliant with MoH and Google policy simultaneously
Ad copy operates under two compliance layers. MoH rules prohibit unsubstantiated outcome claims and comparative language. Google's healthcare policy prohibits before/after imagery in ads, certain medical condition targeting, and specific treatment claims. Effective Saudi healthcare ads emphasise practice credentials, location, booking convenience, and language capability — not treatment effectiveness claims.
Step 5: Build conversion-focused landing pages
Each campaign needs a landing page matched to the campaign's keyword intent. The landing page should include: clear matching of search query to page content, physician credentials, treatment process explanation, practice location and licensing display, WhatsApp booking button, and bilingual presentation. Sending Google Ads traffic to a generic homepage typically halves conversion rate.
Step 6: Implement conversion tracking accurately
Track these conversions: WhatsApp click, phone call, appointment booking form submission, and downstream patient appointment confirmation. Without accurate conversion tracking, budget optimisation operates on impressions and clicks rather than acquired patients.
Step 7: Apply daily monitoring during launch, weekly during steady state
First two weeks of any new healthcare Google Ads campaign require daily review: ad approval status, cost per click trends, keyword performance, and search term reports (which actual queries triggered ads). After stabilisation, weekly optimisation cycles produce predictable improvement.
Step 8: Manage the budget against acquisition cost
Budget allocation should follow patient acquisition cost rather than impression volume. Campaigns generating patients at CAC within target range deserve budget increase; campaigns above target need optimisation or pause.
Cost benchmarks
Monthly Google Ads budget for a Riyadh specialty clinic varies widely by specialty: SAR 8,000–18,000 for dental general practice, SAR 12,000–30,000 for cosmetic medicine, SAR 6,000–14,000 for general specialty practice. Agency management fees typically 12–18% of media spend or SAR 6,000–18,000 monthly minimum.
For more on healthcare marketing channels, see the Knowledge Hub. For managed Google Ads services for Saudi healthcare, see our healthcare marketing services.
