Google Ads for orthopaedic surgeons works best as a small set of tightly scoped campaigns — brand and surgeon-name defence, subspecialty procedure terms, and second-opinion intent — each with strict negatives and a landing page matched to the query, rather than one broad campaign targeting "orthopaedic surgeon near me." This guide sets out how to structure that, and where compliant ad copy has to stop.
Why a referral-led specialty still needs paid search
Orthopaedic surgery remains substantially referral-driven, but two groups search directly: patients who already have a GP referral and are checking the surgeon's name and credentials before booking, and patients seeking a second opinion, often after a diagnosis or a previous consultation elsewhere. Paid search is not there to replace referral relationships — it is there to make sure the practice shows up cleanly when either of those groups searches, and to stop a competitor's ad appearing above your own name.
Campaign one: brand and surgeon-name defence
Bid on your own practice name and the surgeon's name. This feels unnecessary until a competing practice — or a comparison directory — starts bidding on it, at which point a patient with a referral in hand can be diverted before they ever reach your site. Keep this campaign separate from everything else so its performance (and its low cost per click, since it competes against relatively little) does not get averaged into other data.
- Include common misspellings of the surgeon's name and any former practice names.
- Send traffic to a page confirming the surgeon's credentials, consulting locations and how to arrange an appointment — not a generic homepage.
- Monitor for competitor bidding on your name and respond, but avoid retaliating by bidding aggressively on a competitor's name — the practical cost usually outweighs the benefit and it can undermine collegial referral relationships.
Campaign two: subspecialty and procedure terms
Structure this campaign around the specific subspecialty and procedures the surgeon actually performs — for example, "total knee replacement surgeon [suburb]" or "ACL reconstruction specialist [suburb]" — rather than a single broad "orthopaedic surgeon" ad group. Group ad groups by anatomy or procedure so each has its own ad copy and its own landing page.
- Match ad copy tightly to the ad group: an ad group about hip revision surgery should not run generic "orthopaedic care" copy.
- Send each ad group to a dedicated procedure page describing the condition, the surgical approach in general terms, and how to arrange a consultation — not to the homepage or a general services list.
- Where subspecialty search volume is low, it is reasonable to combine closely related procedures into one ad group rather than fragmenting spend across dozens of near-empty groups.
Campaign three: second-opinion intent
A distinct segment of orthopaedic searchers is looking for a second opinion after a diagnosis, a proposed surgery date, or dissatisfaction with a previous consultation. These searches ("second opinion knee replacement," "should I get a second opinion before spinal surgery") have different intent from a first-time symptom search and deserve their own ad group and landing page that explains, factually, how a second-opinion consultation works and what to bring.
Keep the tone here measured. It is appropriate to state that second opinions are a normal and available part of surgical decision-making; it is not appropriate to imply criticism of other surgeons or to suggest a guaranteed different outcome.
Negative keywords orthopaedic accounts need
Because orthopaedic terms overlap heavily with non-surgical care, physiotherapy and general injury information, a strong negative list is essential to avoid paying for clicks that were never going to convert to a consultation.
- Exclude job-seeking and training terms ("orthopaedic surgeon jobs," "how to become an orthopaedic surgeon," "orthopaedic surgery residency").
- Exclude free or DIY information terms ("knee exercises at home," "physio for knee pain") unless you are specifically running an educational campaign.
- Exclude public hospital and emergency-specific searches if your practice is private consulting only.
- Exclude terms tied to other specialties that share vocabulary, such as podiatry or general physiotherapy, unless those are genuinely part of your scope.
Landing pages: matching the query, not the practice
Every ad group should point to a page that answers the query it was clicked from. A patient searching for hip revision surgery who lands on a general "our services" page will bounce, and Google will read that as a poor experience, raising costs across the account. Each landing page needs the surgeon's relevant credentials, a factual description of the condition and procedure, information on the referral process where relevant, and a clear, low-friction way to request an appointment.
What ad copy can and cannot say
Compliant ad copy for orthopaedic surgery describes scope of practice, subspecialty focus and consulting locations factually. It does not include patient testimonials or outcome claims (prohibited under s.133 of the National Law), does not create unreasonable expectations of a successful or pain-free result, and does not use before-and-after imagery or comparative claims such as "the best knee surgeon" or "top-rated." Ad extensions such as call buttons and location extensions are useful and low-risk; review-count extensions need the same caution as reviews anywhere else, since surfacing outcome-specific review content is where the risk sits.
Before launching or renewing any campaign, run your ad copy through our free AHPRA advertising compliance checker, and see our broader guide to AHPRA-compliant marketing for the principles behind these restrictions.
Budget allocation across the three campaign types
As a general starting point, brand and surgeon-name defence should receive a small, steady allocation since cost per click is low and the protective value is high regardless of overall budget size. The bulk of spend should go to subspecialty and procedure campaigns, since these drive the highest-value enquiries and allow the clearest measurement of cost per consultation by procedure. Second-opinion campaigns typically need a modest allocation, tested and adjusted based on how many enquiries they actually generate relative to cost, since intent quality varies more in this segment than in the other two.
Measuring what matters
Track enquiries and consultation requests by campaign and ad group, not just clicks and impressions. For a referral-led specialty, also track how paid search interacts with your referral pipeline — for example, whether patients arriving via ads mention they already hold a referral, since that changes how you interpret cost per enquiry. Reporting split by subspecialty and by consulting location gives a far clearer picture than a single blended account view.
This campaign structure sits alongside the organic and profile work covered in our orthopaedic surgeon marketing overview and our wider medical SEO approach. For the local groundwork that should exist before paid search launches, see our Google Business Profile checklist for orthopaedic surgeons, and for the referral relationships paid search should support, read building GP and physiotherapist referral pathways.
