Why I'd Never Pay Per Click (and the One Time I Would)
PPC vs Organic Search for Wellness Businesses
If you've ever felt the pressure to "just run some Google Ads" to get more clients through your door, you're not alone. The promise of instant visibility is tempting, especially when building your organic presence feels like watching paint dry.
But here's what most marketing agencies won't tell you: for wellness professionals, pay-per-click advertising is rarely the strategic move it's made out to be.
The top organic search result receives nearly 40% of all clicks, whilst paid Google ads capture just 2.1%.
That means the clients searching for your services are far more likely to trust and click on organic results than paid advertisements.
In this article, I'm breaking down exactly why organic search consistently outperforms PPC for wellness businesses, covering everything from trust and cost to long-term sustainability. I'll also share the one specific scenario where paid advertising genuinely makes sense for your practice.
Before we dive deeper, if you want to understand the foundational principles that make organic search so powerful, download my free guide: ‘5 Google Search Secrets No SEO Agency Will Tell You’. These are the technical essentials that underpin everything we're discussing today.
Contents
Understanding the Real Cost: PPC vs Organic Search
Why Organic Search Wins for Wellness Business Growth
The Trust Factor in Health and Wellness
The Hidden Costs of PPC for Health Professionals
The One Strategic Scenario Where PPC Makes Sense
Building Your Organic Search Foundation
Making the Right Choice for Your Practice
Understanding the Real Cost: PPC vs Organic Search
Let's talk money, because that's often where the PPC conversation starts.
PPC costs for wellness keywords are eye-watering. Healthcare-related terms routinely cost between £3.16 and £6.69 per click, with some competitive keywords (think ‘nutritionist near me’ or ‘fertility specialist London’) climbing even higher. If you're targeting consumer wellness services, you're looking at an average cost-per-click exceeding £6.50.
Do the maths: at £5 per click, you'd need just 200 clicks to burn through £1,000. If your conversion rate is 3-5% (typical for health services), that's potentially £200-£300+ per new client enquiry, before they've even booked.
Organic search has upfront investment, yes. You're putting time and potentially money into optimising your website, creating valuable content, and building authority. But once you rank, that traffic costs nothing per click. A well-optimised blog post can generate hundreds of qualified visitors over months and years, with zero ongoing cost.
The ROI tells the story: organic search delivers a 14.6% average conversion rate compared to PPC's 10%. More importantly, organic search compounds over time. Your investment in month one continues paying dividends in month 12, 24, and beyond.
Why Organic Search Wins for Wellness Business Growth
Organic search is always on. Unlike PPC campaigns that stop the moment your budget runs dry, your organic rankings keep working whilst you're seeing clients, taking holidays, or simply focusing on the work you trained to do.
The top-ranking organic result achieves an average click-through rate of 27.6%. Even climbing just one position in search rankings can boost your click-through rate by 2.8%. These aren't paid placements; they're earned positions that signal genuine authority to both Google and your potential clients.
You own your organic presence. Every piece of optimised content you create becomes a digital asset. Blog posts, service pages, and educational resources build a foundation that supports your business for years. PPC, by contrast, is rented visibility. Stop paying, and you disappear entirely.
For wellness professionals who value sustainable growth over quick wins, this distinction matters enormously. You're not just buying traffic; you're building a platform that establishes you as a trusted voice in your field.
The Trust Factor in Health and Wellness
Here's something that gets overlooked in most PPC-versus-SEO debates: trust is currency in the wellness industry.
People researching health concerns, fertility challenges, or nutrition advice aren't impulse buyers. They're often anxious, overwhelmed, and desperate for credible guidance.
Up to 70% of users click on organic search results, compared to just 30% for paid ads.
Why? Because organic results feel more trustworthy.
When someone sees your practice ranking organically for 'PCOS nutrition specialist' or 'prenatal yoga teacher,' they're not thinking, 'This person paid to be here.' They're thinking, 'Google trusts this practitioner enough to recommend them.'
That perception of endorsement matters deeply in healthcare and wellness. You're asking people to trust you with their health. Starting that relationship with paid advertising introduces friction that organic authority simply doesn't create.
Here's something that crystallised this for me recently: I was checking my own search rankings and noticed a competitor SEO agency running paid ads at the top of results. An SEO agency. Paying for clicks. Think about that for a moment. If their organic SEO strategy was working, why would they need to buy visibility? It's the equivalent of a nutritionist selling meal replacement shakes or a financial advisor drowning in credit card debt. The disconnect is glaring.
This is exactly why you won't find me running PPC for my own business. As an SEO expert, if I can't rank organically for the keywords that matter to my business, why would you trust me to do it for yours? My organic rankings are my credentials. They're proof that the strategy I'm recommending actually works.
The Hidden Costs of PPC for Health Professionals
Beyond the per-click charges, PPC for wellness professionals presents complications that most agencies overlook.
Google's healthcare advertising restrictions are stringent. The platform has strict policies around health-related content, particularly for anything involving medical advice, supplements, or treatments. Your ads can be rejected or disapproved if they don't comply with regulations, and navigating these requirements takes time and expertise.
Ongoing management is essential. PPC isn't a ‘set and forget’ approach. You need to continually monitor performance, adjust bids, refine targeting, test ad copy, and manage budgets (PAY FOR THEM). For time-poor practitioners already juggling client appointments and business admin, this becomes another demanding task on an already full plate.
Keywords require constant vigilance. In wellness, people search using varied terminology. Someone might search 'hormone imbalance,' 'period problems,' 'PCOS symptoms,' or 'irregular cycles' for essentially the same concern. Managing negative keywords (terms you don't want to appear for, like 'free advice' or 'NHS services') is crucial to avoid wasting budget on irrelevant clicks.
When you factor in these hidden time and complexity costs alongside the direct spend, PPC becomes significantly less attractive for solo practitioners or small wellness businesses.
The One Strategic Scenario Where PPC Makes Sense
Right, here's the twist: I'm not completely anti-PPC. There's one specific scenario where paid advertising genuinely makes strategic sense for wellness businesses.
When you're launching a time-sensitive offering and need immediate visibility.
Think workshops, webinars, retreats with limited places, or seasonal programmes (like a 'New Year Fertility Reset' or 'Summer Wellness Retreat'). These offerings have tight booking windows. You can't afford to wait three to six months for organic content to rank.
In this scenario, PPC serves a clear, bounded purpose:
You have a specific end date (when the programme starts or places fill)
The cost-per-click can be justified against the programme revenue
You're supplementing (not replacing) your organic strategy
You can track ROI precisely and stop spending once you've filled spaces
Here's the key: this should be tactical, not ongoing. You're using PPC as a targeted tool for a specific campaign, not as your primary marketing strategy. Meanwhile, you're continuing to build organic authority that will eventually reduce or eliminate your need for paid advertising altogether.
For everything else (your core services, general enquiries, brand building), organic search remains the smarter long-term investment.
Building Your Organic Search Foundation
If you're convinced that organic search is the right path (and I hope you are), here's how to start building that foundation without overwhelm.
Start with proper technical setup. This means submitting your sitemap to Google Search Console, ensuring your site structure is clean, and implementing basic SEO best practices. My 5 Google Search Secrets guide walks you through these foundational steps, including character counts for titles and descriptions, internal linking strategies, and which pages to hide from search results.
Create content that answers real questions. Use Google's 'People Also Ask' feature when you search for your main service keywords. These questions tell you exactly what your potential clients want to know. Answer them thoroughly, clearly, and in your own voice.
Build internal links strategically. When you publish new content, link to it from existing high-performing pages. This signals to Google that your new page matters and helps distribute authority across your site. It also keeps visitors engaged, increasing dwell time (a positive ranking signal).
Optimise for mobile. Over 50% of organic search visits now come from mobile devices. If your website isn't mobile-friendly, you're losing clients before they even read your content.
Be patient and consistent. Organic rankings take three to six months to build meaningful momentum. But remember, every month you invest in SEO is a month closer to sustainable, cost-free traffic. Starting today means you'll be reaping benefits six months from now; waiting means you'll be six months further from those results.
Making the Right Choice for Your Practice
The evidence is clear: for wellness professionals focused on sustainable growth, organic search offers better ROI, higher trust, and compounding returns that paid advertising simply can't match.
Yes, SEO requires patience. Yes, it demands upfront effort. But ask yourself this: would you rather build a marketing channel you own, or rent visibility from Google month after month?
The practitioners I work with who invest in organic search consistently report that it becomes their most valuable lead generation channel within 12 months. Their websites attract qualified, motivated clients who've already decided they trust them based on the content they've found. That's not something PPC can replicate.
If you're ready to build that foundation properly, start with the fundamentals. Download the 5 Google Search Secrets guide to understand exactly what technical elements Google prioritises. Then, begin creating the helpful, authoritative content your ideal clients are actively searching for.
Your future self (and your bank account) will thank you for choosing the sustainable path.
Download Google Search Secrets to start implementing the essentials - step by step.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is PPC or SEO better for small wellness businesses?
For small wellness businesses, SEO typically delivers better long-term ROI. Whilst PPC provides immediate visibility, it requires ongoing investment and stops working the moment you stop paying. SEO builds cumulative authority that continues generating traffic and leads over time, making it more cost-effective for businesses with limited marketing budgets.
How much does PPC cost for healthcare keywords?
Healthcare and wellness keywords are among the most expensive in PPC, typically ranging from £3.16 to £6.69 per click, with competitive terms exceeding £6.50. In high-competition areas or for specialist services, costs can climb even higher. This makes PPC particularly challenging for solo practitioners or small wellness businesses with constrained budgets.
How long does it take to see results from SEO?
Organic SEO typically takes three to six months to show meaningful results. However, this timeline depends on factors including your site's current authority, competition in your niche, content quality, and consistency. The key advantage is that once you achieve rankings, they tend to be stable and self-sustaining with regular maintenance.
Can I do both PPC and SEO at the same time?
Yes, and there are scenarios where this makes strategic sense. You might run PPC for time-sensitive campaigns (workshops, limited programmes) whilst building organic authority for your core services. However, for most wellness businesses with limited budgets, focusing resources on SEO first creates a stronger long-term foundation.
What is the average ROI for organic search vs paid search?
Organic search achieves an average conversion rate of 14.6%, compared to PPC's 10%. Whilst PPC can deliver approximately £2 return for every £1 spent initially, organic search compounds over time, with content continuing to generate traffic and conversions months or years after publication without additional cost per click. This makes organic search's long-term ROI significantly higher for most wellness businesses.
If you’ve found this blog helpful, you might like to read these popular titles:
The Ultimate Guide to Blogging for Wellness Practitioners
How To Turn Your Nutritional Therapy Qualifications Into Search-Friendly Content
Next steps (choose your path)
DIY with support: Download Google Search Secrets and start making quick improvements today.
Done‑with‑you: My SEO Blueprint gives you a focused keyword strategy, on‑page fixes, and a 3–6 month content plan tailored to your niche.
Done‑for‑you / ongoing: If you’d like to hire me as your marketing department, I can create a retainer tailored to your business goals - content creation, on‑page SEO, and monthly optimisation handled for you. [Get in touch to chat about a personalised retainer].
Or, if you’re in research mode, browse more articles on my blog - you’ll find practical, step‑by‑step guides for wellness practitioners who want sustainable growth.
The Complete Series:
Part 1: Why your excellent qualifications aren't reaching ideal clients online
Part 2: Professional content strategies that showcase your expertise
Part 3: How to turn your nutritional therapy qualifications into search-friendly content
Your professional training is your content strategy. This approach ensures it reaches the people who need qualified support most.
Sam Ferguson is a website designer and SEO specialist for nutritionists, functional medicine practitioners, and women in wellness. With a unique blend of industry insight and technical expertise, Sam helps clients create impactful websites that attract, engage, and convert. When she’s not designing, you’ll find her sharing practical digital marketing tips to help wellness professionals grow their online presence with confidence.