Sleep Clinic SEO Case Study, Geelong
4x keyword growth and 173% more impressions for a specialist sleep clinic
Regional SEO works differently to metro. A specialist sleep clinic in Geelong doesn’t compete against the same sites as a Melbourne practice, but the patient catchment area is wider and the search behaviour is different. Patients travel further for specialist services, and they search with different location modifiers.
This clinic came to us in December 2024 with an existing website that had some organic presence. The priority: expand search visibility without disrupting what was already working. In medical SEO, aggressive changes can backfire, so methodical growth was the strategy.
Systematic Expansion
We built out the site’s content to cover more of the sleep medicine search landscape. New pages targeted specific sleep conditions, treatments, and the questions patients ask before booking a sleep study or consultation. The internal linking was restructured to build stronger topical authority in the sleep medicine space.
Regional SEO means targeting the specific search terms patients in Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula, and surrounding areas use. That includes condition-specific searches, treatment queries, and location-modified terms like “sleep clinic near me” with Geelong-area intent.
Where They Are Now
The numbers tell the story. In the first 90 days, the site had 166 ranking keywords, 120 on the first page, and an average position of 6.8. Fourteen months later: 665+ ranking keywords, 282 on the first page, and the site now appears for search terms it never ranked for before. That’s keywords up 301%, first page keywords up 135%, and impressions up 168%. The site now generates 560 clicks per 90-day period compared to 479 in the first 90 days, a 17% increase. Impressions went from 5,473 to 14,600+, up 168%. Over the full 14 months, the site has generated 2,600+ clicks and 47,900+ impressions from Australian searches. Year-over-year, clicks are up 41% and impressions are up 173%.
| Metric | First 90 Days | Current 90 Days | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking keywords | 166 | 665+ | +301% |
| First page keywords | 120 | 282 | +135% |
| 90-day clicks | 479 | 560 | +17% |
| 90-day impressions | 5,473 | 14,600+ | +168% |
| Year-over-year clicks | 398 | 560 | +41% |
| Year-over-year impressions | 5,378 | 14,600+ | +173% |
| 14-month total clicks | — | 2,600+ | |
| 14-month total impressions | — | 47,900+ | |
First 90 Days = December 2024 to February 2025, the first three months after we started work.
Current = the most recent 90-day period as of January 2026.
Clicks = the number of times someone clicked through to the website from Google search results.
Impressions = the number of times the website appeared in someone’s Google search results. An impression counts every time the listing shows up, whether or not someone clicks on it.
Ranking keywords = the number of different search terms Google shows the website for in search results.
First page keywords = keywords ranking in positions 1-10, meaning they appear on the first page of Google search results where most clicks happen.
Year-over-year growth = comparison of the same 90-day period this year versus last year, showing how performance has improved over 12 months.
All data filtered to Australian searches via Google Search Console. Data current as of January 2026.
The 4x keyword expansion is the key detail. That’s not just ranking better for existing terms. It’s genuine expansion into search territory the clinic wasn’t visible in before. New patients are finding the practice through searches it never previously appeared in. The first page keyword count more than doubled, meaning more of those rankings are in positions that actually get clicked.
If you run a specialist practice and want more patients finding you through search, get in touch. We understand how medical SEO works.
Frequently Asked Questions
How We Report These Results
Australian data only. Every number on this page comes from Google Search Console filtered to Australia. Unless specifically stated otherwise, we report on Australian search performance because that’s where our clients’ customers are. Worldwide numbers would inflate the results, and inflated numbers help nobody make good decisions.
Average position means ALL keywords. When we say average position improved from 42 to 27, that’s the average across every single keyword that site ranks for. Hundreds of them. Sometimes thousands. We don’t cherry-pick the best performers and ignore the rest. You’re only as good as your lowest-ranking keyword, and everything moves together. If we’re doing our job properly, Google expands the keywords, the synonyms, and the search terms you appear for as it recognises your site deserves to be there.
This is a process of proving to Google that your website should be the one people see when they search for what you offer. That proof builds over months, not days. It’s why consistency matters more than any single tactic.
Why SEO and Google Ads Work Better Together
We don’t recommend running Google Ads without SEO. The two have a symbiotic relationship that most businesses miss.
Google Ads fills the gaps where your SEO hasn’t reached yet. You’re paying to appear for the searches you haven’t earned organically. But those paid visits do more than generate leads directly. When someone clicks your ad and completes their search on your site, that signals to Google that your site satisfied the searcher. We call this a completed search session, and it’s one of the strongest signals you can send. That signal helps your organic rankings.
So Google Ads doesn’t just fill gaps… it actively helps your SEO by proving to Google that your site deserves to rank for those terms.
As your SEO builds and you start ranking organically for more terms, you can pull back your ad spend on those keywords and redirect it to the terms where you still need coverage. The result: your total cost per lead drops over time while your visibility keeps growing. Running only one is leaving results on the table. Both together compound each other’s effectiveness.
Want to understand how SEO and Google Ads would work together for your business? Talk to us and we’ll map it out for you.