Google Ads for ABA Clinics
Relay builds Google Ads for ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) clinics around a service the clinic can staff, the area it serves, and a page that tells parents how to ask about care. Keep parent searches apart from BCBA and RBT job searches. Review search terms often, and judge the campaign by qualified leads and intakes, not clicks.
Which service should the first campaign advertise?
Pick one service your team can staff now. That could be in-clinic ABA for a set age range, or in-home ABA in a few nearby areas. Ask your clinical director which ages, settings and schedules have open spots. Do not advertise a service just because a keyword tool shows people search for it.
Write down the area you serve, the ages you accept, the insurance plans you take, and who answers the first call. These are the same checks Relay uses to qualify a lead. If the campaign promotes something the clinic cannot deliver, better targeting will not fix it.
Keep hiring separate. A parent looking for therapy and a BCBA looking for a job need different ads, pages and forms. The ABA marketing plan shows how search fits with social content, video and referral partners.
How do searches become campaign groups?
Start with real account data when you have it, and look at local results before you pick terms. The examples below show how to sort searches by intent. They are not a keyword list or search-volume estimates.
Service + area
Example: “ABA therapy near me” or “ABA clinic in [city].” Confirm the clinic serves that area and has open spots.
Send to the location page with the service area, ages served and a contact route.
Setting or age
Example: “in-home ABA [city]” or “ABA for toddlers [city].” Check with your clinical lead that the wording matches what you offer and the ages you serve.
Send to a setting or age page only when it has real, confirmed detail.
Insurance questions
Example: “ABA therapy that takes [plan].” Only bid on plans the clinic accepts, and have the billing lead confirm the list.
Send to a page that names accepted plans and says the clinic team checks benefits during intake.
Jobs and training
Examples: “BCBA jobs,” “RBT certification” or “RBT training near me.” These people want work or training, not services.
Review them in the search terms report and add exclusions where needed. Run recruiting as its own campaign if hiring limits growth.
How do you cut irrelevant search traffic?
Use Google’s search terms report to see the searches that triggered your ads. Compare them with your services and with the calls your team gets. The report does not show every search, so keep intake feedback in the review too.
Keep a negative-keyword log. Write the term, why it does not fit, the exclusion you added and the review date. Do not paste in a long list from somewhere else. A broad exclusion like “cost” can block parents who are asking a fair question about insurance.
Check location settings. Google can show ads to people in an area or to people interested in it. A grandparent in another state may be searching for a child who lives near your clinic. Pick settings on purpose and state the real service area in the ad and on the page.
What should the page after the ad explain?
Open with the service and area named in the ad. Then cover ages served, setting, accepted insurance, and what happens after a parent reaches out. A short staff introduction helps. A general homepage often leaves too many questions open.
Put the contact button next to a plain note about what happens next. For example: “Our team will call to check your location, your child’s age, the service you need and your insurance, then help you book a tour.” Test the phone link and form on a phone. Make sure the alert reaches the right person.
- The ad headline and page headline name the same service.
- Ages, area and schedules match what the team can staff today.
- Parent inquiries and job applicants have separate routes.
- The form asks only what the first call needs. Clinical details stay in the clinic’s intake process.
- Someone owns follow-up and keeps openings current.
What belongs in the first review?
Check spend and delivery in the first few days to catch setup errors. Then review lead outcomes with intake on a set schedule. Count qualified leads, wrong-service requests, out-of-area requests, job seekers, duplicates and leads nobody has reached yet as separate groups. Each one points to a different fix.
A low cost per form does not mean the campaign is ready to grow. Relay tracks each lead from qualified lead to tour to intake, so you can see where families stop. The wrong-leads guide walks through how to find the cause.
When should paid search expand?
Expand when you know which search themes bring qualified leads, your team can keep up with follow-up, and you still have open spots. Add a new area or service as its own test with its own accurate page. More keywords help only when they match families you can serve.
Keep budget lines separate: ad spend, management and any page work. The clinic marketing costs guide shows how. Pair paid search with the ABA SEO plan so parents who look you up later find clear answers.
Put the plan to work.
Relay turns your service priorities into videos, social content, paid campaigns, email, and search pages. For clinic engagements, we also call leads, check practical fit and book the agreed visits. Your team handles clinical decisions, benefits and intake.