$126 vs. $220
All case studiesDiStefano Hair Restoration · New England
Growth Lab
43% lower cost per lead on Google Ads, year over year.
Hair transplant specialist with six clinics across New England. Procedures run $6,500 to $11,000, and patients research for months before they book.
See what happenedThe proof
Spend held. Volume climbed.
January to August, 2026 compared with 2025.
Lowest of 2026, 206 leads
Core searches, all four states
Cost per surgery held flat
The challenge
A high-ticket, high-research purchase.
Every lead is expensive, and low-cost clinics overseas compete for the same searches.
Through August 2025, Google leads averaged $220 each. At the same time, organic clicks were shrinking as AI answers took over the top of Google.
From March on, monthly spend stayed between $14K and $18K, and August produced the most Google leads of the year at the lowest cost.
What we did
Restructured the Google Ads account
New Performance Max campaigns came in well below the account's cost per lead, so budget moved to them.
Tested bidding instead of guessing
Portfolio bidding lifted conversion rate from 4.46% to 5.54% and cut cost per lead 6%.
Tested landing pages
In Rhode Island the new homepage converted at 21.4% against 9.3% for a standalone page, so that's where traffic now goes.
Optimized all six Google Business Profiles
A monthly rotation by state, holding the #1 Map Pack spot on every core service keyword.
Building what's next
Tracking to booked consults, a local-vs-overseas campaign, AI Max and YouTube Shorts tests, and a creator program documenting real transplant journeys.
By the month
Google Ads cost per lead by month
2026 vs. 2025, January to August.
20252026
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Source: DiStefano metrics, Google Ads leads and spend, January to August 2025 and 2026. Surgeries from clinic records. Map Pack ranks from Semrush map tracking.
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