Clinic owners are rarely short of data. Google, the booking software, the website tool and the ad platform all produce charts. What is usually missing is a short list of numbers that someone checks on the same day each month, writes down and compares with last month.
This guide gives you that list: seven numbers, each with a source, a plain reading of what it tells you and a warning about what it does not. There are no “good” targets here. A clinic’s numbers depend on its size, town, profession and season, and we have no reliable benchmarks, so we will not invent any. Compare each number with your own last few months. That is the only fair comparison.
Three ground rules
- Pick one day a month, such as the first Monday, and take an hour. Same sources, same order.
- Write the numbers in one place. A single sheet is enough.
- Keep patient details out of marketing tools. Everything below is a count or a rate. Pull counts from your booking or clinical system and leave the records there. If a tool asks for patient lists, say no.
Look at three to six months side by side. One month is noisy, especially in a small clinic where a handful of people changes the picture.
1. Google Business Profile: calls, website clicks and directions
Where it comes from. Your Google Business Profile performance view, which shows taps on the Call button, website clicks and direction requests. Use the same date range each month.
Google ended call history in Business Profile on 31 July 2024, so you can no longer see a log of individual calls (Google). The count of call clicks is still reported (Google). Use that count, and check real calls against your front desk log.
What it tells you. Whether people who find you on Google and Maps take an action.
What not to read into it. A call click is a tap, not a conversation, and some come from existing patients. Direction requests are not bookings. Seasonal swings are normal. A change after you edit the profile may be coincidence, so wait three months. The Google Business Profile checklist lists what to fill in if the profile is thin.
2. Booking requests and online bookings
Where it comes from. Your booking software reports online bookings in a period. Add booking requests that arrive by form, email or phone, counted from your form tool or inbox. Record the two separately.
What it tells you. Whether your website and profile turn interest into appointments. It sits closer to the point of marketing than any click count.
What not to read into it. A fall may mean a full schedule, a hard-to-find button or a changed setting, so check which. It does not separate new patients from returning ones unless your system flags them. A booking is not a visit, because some are cancelled or missed. If online booking is missing or awkward, see our guide to setting up Jane online booking. In our scan of 21,478 physio and chiro homepages, 49% of physio and 45% of chiro homepages had no online booking.
3. New patients, and where they heard about you
Where it comes from. Your own system, plus one question at intake: “How did you hear about us?” Offer a short list (Google search, Google Maps, a doctor or practitioner, a friend or family member, a partner organisation, social media, walked past, other) and a text box. Make it a required field or a line the front desk always asks. Each month, count new patients and count each source. You do not need names.
What it tells you. How many new patients arrived and which channels they credit. Over several months you will see which sources are steady and which come and go.
What not to read into it. It is self-reported, and people may name the last thing they saw. “A friend told me” may also mean they searched for you. “Google” can cover your profile, ads and search, so add “Did you click an ad?” if you need the split. Small counts swing wildly: three from one source, then one, is not a trend. For keeping the count of booked first visits honest, see how to measure booked first visits from marketing. Start this month, so the history exists later.
4. Review count and recent rating
Where it comes from. Your Google Business Profile, and any other review site you use. Note the total count, the new reviews this month and the star rating shown, then read the newest ten.
What it tells you. Whether reviews are arriving at a steady pace and what recent patients say. Some prospective patients read them before they book.
What not to read into it. The overall rating moves slowly, so the newest reviews say more about now. One bad review is not a trend. Our guide to responding to negative reviews covers replies. Do not chase the number: Google’s policy bars incentives and selective asking, so ask every patient the same way and let the rating land where it lands (asking for Google reviews). A rise in count shows you are asking, not that care improved. Our reviews service can set up a steady process. In our scan, 68% of physio and 57% of chiro homepages showed no reviews.
5. Rebook or return rate, and no-show rate
Both come from the clinic’s own system, not a marketing tool.
Rebook or return rate. Of patients who had a first visit in a period, how many booked another? If your software cannot report it, ask its support team. Count by number, not by name.
No-show rate. Of appointments booked in a period, how many were missed without notice? Your booking software should report it.
What they tell you. Whether new patients come back and whether your reminders and policies are working. They set the value of every booking marketing brings in.
What not to read into them. A low return rate is not always failure, because some people need one visit. A rise in no-shows can be a switched-off reminder or bad weather, so check settings before blaming patients. Never report either rate by condition or patient. A clinic-wide figure is enough. See our front desk phone script and patient reactivation.
6. Cost per booking request, if you run ads
Where it comes from. The ad platform shows spend. Your booking software and form tool show booking requests in the same period. Divide spend by the requests that came from the ads.
What it tells you. What you pay for each person who tried to book. Clicks are cheap to produce and say little about whether anyone wanted an appointment.
What not to read into it. Cost per click is not cost per booking. Tracking is imperfect, because someone may see an ad and call days later; your intake question helps fill the gap. Compare with your own recent months, not another clinic. Do not upload patient lists or build audiences from them. See our guide to physio Google Ads, and our reporting service shows spend and booking requests side by side.
7. Website visits, as context only
Where it comes from. Google Search Console shows how often your site appeared in results and how many clicks it got. An analytics tool shows visits.
What it tells you. Whether people are finding the site, and over months whether your pages gain or lose visibility.
What not to read into it. Visits are not patients. Staff, existing patients and bots all count. The figure is large and moves visibly, which makes it tempting to fixate on, so it sits last on purpose. If visits fell and bookings held, you are probably fine. If visits held and bookings fell, look at the booking path. Our SEO basics guide covers weak visibility.
A simple monthly one-page layout
One row per number, one column per month. Keep three to six months on a page.
| Number | This month | Last month | Two months ago |
|---|---|---|---|
| Call clicks | |||
| Website clicks | |||
| Direction requests | |||
| Online bookings | |||
| Booking requests | |||
| New patients (total) | |||
| New patients by source | |||
| Total reviews / new this month | |||
| Star rating shown | |||
| Rebook or return rate | |||
| No-show rate | |||
| Ad spend / cost per booking request | |||
| Website visits |
Under the table, three lines: what moved, what might explain it (season, holiday, a change you made, a staff change) and one thing to do this month. The notes matter as much as the figures: in six months, “reminders switched off in March” will explain a month that otherwise looks like a mystery.
Check it today
Pick the number you have never written down, probably the source of new patients, and add the question to your intake form this week. Then block an hour for the first Monday of next month. To see what your Google profile, website and booking path show right now, claim my audit and we will send you what we find.