The short answer
In 30 seconds
Run two search campaigns: one in Portuguese for local patients and one in English for expats and visitors, both limited to a few kilometres around your practice. Describe the service, never promise results, and make sure your website shows your cédula profissional and ERS registration. Around €300 a month is enough to start learning, and a new patient typically costs a few dozen euros in ads.
The rules you need to know
Osteopathy is a regulated profession in Portugal, under the law on non-conventional therapies (Lei n.º 71/2013). Practising requires a cédula profissional issued by the ACSS, the health system's central administration; foreign qualifications go through a recognition process first.
Advertising is regulated too. Health advertising in Portugal falls under Decreto-Lei n.º 238/2015, supervised by the ERS (Entidade Reguladora da Saúde), and the ERS includes non-conventional therapies in its scope. In practice:
- Identify yourself on your website and every advertising channel: your name, cédula profissional number, the entity's name and tax number, ERS registration number and the address of the practice.
- Do not promise results: no "cure your back pain", no "guaranteed results in three sessions".
- Testimonials must be genuine, attributable and must not create false expectations.
- "Free" must really be free, and advertised prices must be the final price.
Fines range from €250 to around €3,700 for an individual and from €1,000 to around €45,000 for a company. We go through the rules in detail, with examples, in advertising a clinic in Portugal.
Two patient groups, two languages
| Portuguese-speaking patients | English-speaking patients | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | Local residents, the majority of patients almost everywhere | Expats, digital nomads, retirees, tourists |
| Searches in | Portuguese | English, sometimes Portuguese |
| Volume | Higher | Lower, concentrated in Lisbon, Cascais, the Algarve, Madeira |
| Your edge | Training abroad, if you explain it well | Being treated in their own language |
Being English-speaking is a real advantage with the second group, and your ads should say so. With the first group, your ads and page need to be in proper European Portuguese, written by a native speaker, not translated. A page in Brazilian Portuguese, or obvious machine translation, puts local patients off before they book.
What patients type
In English
- "osteopath Lisbon", "osteopath Cascais", "osteopath near me"
- "English speaking osteopath Portugal", "English speaking osteopath Algarve"
- "osteopath for babies Lisbon", "sports osteopath Lagos"
In Portuguese
- "osteopata Lisboa", "osteopata Cascais", "osteopata perto de mim"
- "osteopata bebé", "osteopata grávida", "osteopata desportivo"
Start with these: the profession plus a place, or a specific group you treat. Leave symptom searches ("back pain", "sciatica") for later; they are vague, more expensive and mostly people reading about the problem. And exclude from day one anything about courses, training, jobs and salaries, which in osteopathy is a lot of searches.
Keep the radius tight. Patients rarely cross a city for an appointment. Three to five kilometres in Lisbon or Porto, ten to fifteen in smaller towns, and only people physically in the area, not "interested in" it.
The page they land on
Send each campaign to a page in its own language that answers four questions without scrolling on a phone: are you an osteopath, where are you, what does the first appointment cost, and how do I book. Below that: who you are and where you trained, what happens in a first appointment, real reviews, opening hours, and the identification the law requires in the footer.
Online booking matters more for a practitioner working alone: you cannot answer the phone during treatments, and an unanswered call is a patient for someone else.
What it costs
The cost of a new patient comes down to four numbers: cost per click, the share of clicks that book, the share of bookings that turn up, and how many sessions a patient has. A worked example with illustrative values:
- €1.50 per click, 8% of clicks book: €18.75 per booking
- 85% turn up: about €22 per new patient
- €50 per session, three sessions on average: €150 per patient
Your real cost per click depends on your area and how many practices advertise there; Google's Keyword Planner gives you an estimate for free. Starting with around €300 a month gives you enough data after the first month to know your own numbers.
Before you start
Checklist
- Your Google Business Profile is complete, with "Osteopath" as the main category, photos, hours and a link to leave reviews.
- Your website shows your cédula profissional, ERS registration and address.
- You have a page in European Portuguese written by a native speaker, and one in English.
- Ads describe the service and never promise results.
- Calls, WhatsApp and online bookings are tracked as conversions.
- You are listed in specialised directories such as osteopatas.pt.
Want more patients, in both languages? We specialise in Google Ads and work closely with osteopatas.pt. We look at your area, who is advertising and what a new patient would cost, and tell you in English. Request a free analysis →