Case study · Physiotherapy · Albany Creek, QLD
Three Pillar Health had been through two agencies for SEO and Google Ads, one local to Brisbane and one offshore, found through Fiverr. The first had cost per conversion at about $90. The second got it to around $30, but the scoping call with Pete found the negative keyword setup was wrong, and people who were already searching for the clinic were showing up in the ads. We rebuilt Google Ads so a conversion means a genuinely new patient, and the number Zachary reads now is one he trusts. By his count, new patient enquiries went from 5 a week to anywhere between 5 and 15, on under $1,000 a month in ad spend. The books are growing, the team is consistently busier, and a new website is being built alongside it.
ads.google.com / overview
Inside the first year
$30
Cost per conversion, about
Physiotherapy · Albany Creek, QLD
5 to 15
New patient enquiries in a week
Real client. Real numbers.
$30
Cost per conversion, about
Down from about $90 with the first agency, Zachary's numbers
5 to 15
New patient enquiries in a week
Up from 5 before we started, his count
$90
A conversion, first agency
What one used to cost, by his account
Growing
Where the books sit today
On under $1,000 a month in ad spend
What a conversion cost, and what it counted
The first agency
About $90a conversion
A conversion cost around $90, by Zachary's account.
The second agency
About $30a conversion
Cheaper, but the count included people already searching for the clinic. Patients who should never have been shown an ad.
Since the rebuild
About $30a conversion
The same size number, made true. A conversion now means a genuinely new client. His words: a more accurate true number.
All three figures are Zachary's own numbers from his time with each agency and with us, not our ad account reporting.
The starting position
Three Pillar Health had used a couple of agencies before. One local in the Brisbane area, another offshore, found through Fiverr, running the SEO work and some Google Ads. In Zachary's words, they were going okay.
Okay looked like this. The first agency had cost per conversion sitting at about $90. The second brought it down to around $30, which read like progress, right up until the scoping call with Pete. The negative keyword setup was wrong, the SEO was not set up right, and people who were already searching for the clinic were showing up in the ads.
The clinic could feel it in the room. New patients were arriving who had been searching for Three Pillar Health already, people who should never have been shown an ad, and the conversion count claimed them anyway. The spend was about the same as it is now. The difference is that nobody could trust the number it produced.
The decision, when it came, was easy. Zachary saw a post from Pete saying he was going to start doing Google Ads, and the clinic already trusted Clinic Mastery with its mentoring. In his words, this seemed like an easy, trustworthy decision as well.
What we did
Zachary calls it really enlightening. The negative keyword setup was wrong, the SEO was not set up right, and ads were reaching people who were already searching for the clinic. None of that shows up in a cost per conversion figure on its own. It took one call to surface all three.
The point was never just a smaller number. It was a true one. A conversion now means a new client in the local area who was not already searching for the clinic, so when cost per conversion reads about $30, that is $30 for a genuinely new patient, not for someone who was coming anyway.
The monthly reports give a lot of clarity around what was worked on and where the focus areas should be, in Zachary's words. When he has a question about ads to run or the kind of clients coming into the clinic, he takes it to Pete and it gets answered. He describes himself as a total novice who now feels very comfortable reading the monthly summaries.
The build is under way now. Zachary's brief for it: a fantastic portrayal of what the clinic is, optimised for SEO, to hopefully make the advertising more successful again. His words, and the part of the work he calls exciting.
Who is inside the conversion count
Before, with the old setup
Everyone landed in the same count.
Genuinely new patients
Counted
The people the ads exist for.
People already searching for the clinic
Also counted
Shown ads they should never have seen, then claimed as conversions.
Now, since the rebuild
The gate sorts them before an ad is shown.
Genuinely new patients
Counted
New clients in the local area, connecting with the clinic for the first time.
People already searching for the clinic
Filtered out
They still find the clinic. They just cost nothing on the way in.
The descriptions in both panels are Zachary's, from his account of the scoping call and what changed after it. He did not put a number on how much of the old count was polluted, so this drawing does not either.
The numbers
Every figure in this table is Zachary's own count and his own words, not our ad account reporting. Cost per conversion sits at about $30, down from about $90 with the first agency, and this time he trusts that the conversions are genuinely new people. A typical week used to bring 5 new patient enquiries. It now brings anywhere from 5 to 15, on under $1,000 a month in ad spend.
Metric
Before
After
Change
New patient enquiries in a week
Before
5
After
5 to 15
Cost per conversion
Before
About $90, first agency
After
About $30
Who the conversions counted
Before
People already searching for the clinic
After
Genuinely new patients
Monthly ad spend
Before
Around what it is now
After
Under $1,000
Where the books sit
Before
Slower practitioners, struggled growth
After
Growing, consistently busier
What the team can focus on
Before
Finding new patients
After
Rebooking and cancellation rates
What a consistent week unlocks
Before, a typical week
5enquiries
A point, not a range. 5 was the week.
Now, a typical week
5 to 15enquiries
A band from 5 up to 15, arriving consistently. His count.
What the consistency unlocked, in his words
Income he can project
Easier for me to project what our income will look like.
Slower practitioners getting busier
Practitioners that were slower beforehand are starting to get busier.
Better problems to work on
Focus moves to rebooking and cancellation rates, the more interesting performance indicators.
The 5 before and the 5 to 15 now are Zachary's own counts, and every unlock is his description of what changed, not a tracked metric from the ad account.
The communication and the clarity that I've received from Clinic Mastery and primarily Peter has been second to none. It's really been a decision that I am so thankful that I made and I wish I made earlier, because it's, I think of the money that I've spent previously on negative keywords that I could have saved and actually have attracted new clients to the clinic, would have been fantastic. Pete is incredibly patient and will explain anything that you don't understand in detail. From a total novice like myself, who now feels very comfortable reading our monthly summaries, knowing where my money is going and knowing the areas of growth that we should focus on, I would highly recommend.
What's next
The new website is the next piece, set up to be a fantastic portrayal of what the clinic is and optimised for SEO, to hopefully make the advertising more successful again. Those are Zachary's words and his hopes, not a forecast. Inside the clinic, the attention moves to the numbers that only matter once new patients are flowing: rebooking rates, cancellation rates, and remunerating the team with more commission work as the practitioners get busier. The weeks are predictable enough to plan around now, and that is the point.
Ready when you are
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Tell us about your clinic. We'll come back with a one-page plan: which patients to target, which to skip, and what 90 days should realistically deliver.
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Looking for our general approach? See how we run Google Ads for physiotherapy clinics.