1.  Master Negative Keywords to Eliminate Wasted Spend

Negative keywords are your first line of defense against irrelevant, expensive clicks. In biotech marketing, terminology overlap between fields creates costly mismatches. If you’re advertising “PCR testing services,” you don’t want your ads showing for “at-home COVID tests.”

Start with these negative keyword categories:

• Career-related terms: “jobs,” “careers,” “salary,” “hiring”
• Educational content: “free,” “how to,” “tutorial” when targeting qualified prospects
• Wrong industry segments: potentially “veterinary,” “agricultural,” “food,” etc.
• Geographic exclusions: locations where you don’t operate

Pro Tip: Review your Search Terms regularly and add any terms that are irrelevant or too expensive as new negative keywords. This practice reduces spend over time and ensures that the traffic coming from your ads becomes more qualified as you optimize your campaign.

2.  Refine Your Keyword Strategy with Precision Targeting

Broad match, short-tail keywords can bring irrelevant traffic to your site and drive up CPC. Instead, prioritize exact match and phrase match keywords for precise targeting.

Focus on long-tail keywords that reflect specific services – “GMP plasmid manufacturing” or “CRISPR screening services” rather than generic terms like “medical manufacturing” or “screening test.”

When in doubt, utilize Google Keyword Planner to enter your list of keywords to determine their average search volume and bid price. Finding the sweet spot between affordable, popular, and finely tuned, high-intent keywords will be the result of careful optimization.

3. Optimize Ad Copy and Extensions for Higher Quality Scores

High click-through rates (CTR) will tend to lower CPC through Google’s Quality Score model. Quality Score improvements can reduce CPC by 20-30% for the same ad position.

Boost CTR with:

• Tailored ad copy for each unique ad group
• Clear, action-oriented CTAs like “Request Demo” or “Download White Paper”
• Ad extensions including callouts, sitelinks, and structured snippets
• Landing pages that match ad content and load quickly

Better ads attract better clicks and drive costs down while improving user experience.

Inside Insight: See how we reduced our costs and increased conversions on our own ads by simply focusing on a higher-quality landing page.

4.  Leverage Strategic Audience Targeting

Your ideal customers likely have several demographic attributes in common – they may be in a high-income bracket, have advanced college degrees, and live and work in certain areas of the world. Consider geotargeting in addition to demographic targeting to focus spend where it matters most.

When appropriate, consider using in-market audiences, custom segments, and remarketing lists to reach users who are more likely to convert.

Target visitors who viewed high-intent pages like product specifications or pricing information. Smarter targeting equals fewer irrelevant clicks and lower CPC.

5.  Segment Campaigns for Granular Control

One-size-fits-all campaigns are expensive and ineffective. Segment your Google Ads campaigns by product line, buyer stage (awareness vs. purchase intent), and geography.

Granular segmentation enables more relevant messaging and precise bidding control, ultimately leading to lower CPC and higher conversion rates.

6.  Utilize Google Display Ads for Cost-Effective Brand Building

While Google Search Ads capture immediate intent, Google Display Ads excel at nurturing prospects through longer biotech sales cycles at significantly lower cost. Display ads typically cost 75% less per click than search ads, as well.

Effective display strategies include:

• Targeting scientific publications and industry websites
• Remarketing to conference page visitors
• Sequential messaging that tells your story across multiple touchpoints
• Visual storytelling with scientific imagery

7.  Implement Smart Bidding with Robust Conversion Tracking

Manual bidding becomes inefficient as campaigns scale. Google’s machine learning algorithms optimize bids more effectively than manual adjustments, but only with proper conversion tracking in place.

We recommend that you track these essential conversions:

• Lead form submissions
• Phone call conversions
• Content downloads
• Email subscriptions and meeting requests

Once tracking is implemented, strategies like Target CPA and Target ROAS automatically optimize bids to reduce CPC while maintaining lead quality.

Measuring Success Beyond CPC

While reducing Cost per Click is important, monitor these additional metrics to ensure overall campaign health:

• Cost per qualified lead
• Lead-to-customer conversion rate
• Brand awareness metrics like impression share

Partner with Biotech Marketing Experts

Reducing CPC in Google Ads isn’t just about tweaking bids – it’s about understanding your audience, products, and the competitive landscape.

At Samba Scientific, our deep experience in biotech and life sciences marketing means we don’t just manage ads – we make them work smarter through data-driven optimization.

Ready to optimize your biotech Google Ads campaigns? Schedule a consultation today.