The Q1 2026 benchmarking report for UK private healthcare companies has just been published. Learn how the top 12 UK private healthcare companies perform across the digital space.

The latest Q1 2026 benchmarking report for UK private healthcare companies has just been published. It covers the largest 12 national private healthcare companies, including  Spire Healthcare, Nuffield Health, Aspen Healthcare, Ramsay Healthcare UK, Circle Health Group, The London Clinic, Benenden Health, HCA Healthcare UK, Practice Plus Group, GenesisCare, One Healthcare, and Cleveland Clinic London.  

The research gives an inside track on who is winning the biggest share of voice online, and quantifies the gaps, risks and missed opportunities for other private healthcare companies to win brand exposure, drive traffic, and generate online enquiries. The report highlights quick wins that will improve enquiries from your online strategy and identifies the barriers that may be reducing your site’s ability to optimise digital performance.

To see a preview and contents page of the Q1 report, click here. To get a copy of the full report and the key takeaways, please complete the enquiry form or schedule a call.

Q1 2026 WINNERS LEADERBOARD

For a glance into just 6 of the metrics we evaluated these top 12 private healthcare companies on, check out our quick-look table below;

Continue reading for further detail on this quarter's best and poorest-performing private healthcare companies, or request a copy of the report for the full review.

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What The Industry Research Report Covers

The 70+ pages of research benchmarks each site based on 50+ metrics and indicators of successful digital strategy, including organic visibility, domain authority, paid media ads, conversion performance, technical performance, site speed, universal search, content, social ads, accessibility, and mobile performance.  

Driving Optimal ROAS from Paid Media Channels

Some of the leading players in the space are high spenders on paid media channels such as Google, Bing & Facebook - but have a poor or sub-optimal conversion improvement strategy. Without an optimised, sophisticated conversion strategy that maximises the conversion rate, the return on investment is unsustainable or will underperform. Scaling spend on paid media is not achievable unless the conversion rate delivers optimal performance in the sector. Some in the space have paid media spend levels from 30k+ per month but dedicate minimal resources and budgets to conversion testing.  Given the cost per clicks on ad networks will continue to rise, we recommend spending at least 10% of your paid media budget on ongoing conversion optimisation testing schedules to ensure your paid media ROI maintains long-term viability, competitive advantage, and sustainability.

Pay-Per-Click Marketing

Pay-Per-Click marketing is constantly evolving, with more and more advertisers being forced to hand over a lot of control to Google's algorithms as the push for automation grows ever stronger. There are still key elements of control that we have though, the main one of these being budget which is ultimately something the algorithms can't take from you. That's why being smart with your budget and ad coverage is essential to achieving strong results and bettering what your competitors have to offer.

For Q1 2026, the average monthly budget wastage across these UK private healthcare companies was £9,438 with some of the top players in the market spending a considerable amount on areas and audiences unlikely to deliver a return. We can see this in more detail when looking at the average monthly cost per cost-per-click (CPC) amongst advertisers, with the average of this metric being £11 . This highlights how competitive the market is and how important it is to control your budgets effectively.

There are varying monthly ad budgets across the competitors in the report. While this gap highlights the competitive advantage that larger budgets can provide, it's not just about spending more; it’s about spending smarter. By focusing on driving efficiency in campaign management, targeting, and budget allocation, businesses with smaller budgets can still effectively compete with larger players. Investing in data-driven strategies and refining ad performance can help close the gap and maximise the return on every pound spent, enabling growth even in a competitive landscape. Relative to their spend, One Healthcare reported the lowest monthly cost-per-click (CPC) at £0, and Benenden Health has the highest at £38.

The report highlights the importance of budget efficiency by comparing monthly ad spend with estimated CPC in relation to your competitors, see who has the highest and lowest CPC. To maximise the effectiveness of your budget, it’s essential to focus on driving CPC down while maintaining or improving campaign performance. In this report, HCA Healthcare UK has the lowest estimate monthly ad spend at £11,100, and Benenden Health has the highest at £411,000.

By optimising targeting, refining ad copy, and leveraging data to identify high-converting opportunities, you can ensure every click delivers maximum value. This approach not only stretches your budget further but also boosts your return on ad spend (ROAS), enabling you to achieve stronger results without simply increasing expenditure.

Technical Website Compliance

Savvy digital marketers know that having a technically sound website is an essential component of a successful fully integrated digital strategy - plus a site capable of maximising conversion performance. Private healthcare providers will want to ensure their sites are easy to navigate and that information is clear and readily available, as potential patients will want to find answers quickly.

In our previous audit, Cleveland Clinic London received the most 404 errors (168). This quarter, Cleveland Clinic London remains the company with the most 404 errors, though they’ve decreased their total by one point to 167. For consumers, repeated 404 errors suggest that a website is poorly maintained. Visitors may assume the site is outdated or unreliable, even if the issue is minor. Over time, this perception can lead users to favour competitor websites that feel more stable and professional. 

Site Speed & Conversion Rate Performance

When 62% of consumers are less likely to convert if they have a negative mobile site experience, ensuring that your site is quick and easy to load makes a significant improvement on your overall conversion rates. As with ensuring their site is easy to navigate, private healthcare companies will want to convey a fast, convenient experience from every digital touchpoint, including mobile page speed.

In our last audit, Aspen Healthcare received the slowest mobile site speed (8). This quarter, Aspen Healthcare has increased their mobile site speed to 41, moving them up the scoreboard. Currently, the mobile site speed ranges between 54 and 25, with Nuffield Health flagging the slowest score. One of the most effective ways to improve mobile site speed is by optimising images. Large, uncompressed images significantly slow down page load times on mobile networks. Using modern image formats, compressing files, and serving appropriately sized images for different screen resolutions can make a noticeable difference.

Building Competitive Advantage with Domain Authority

Domain authority is an essential metric for measuring the effectiveness of SEO performance and helps create a reliable overall gauge of how effective your site is at achieving organic traffic, i.e. ‘free’ traffic that isn’t gained through sponsored ads. Private healthcare providers can look to raising awareness of specific conditions to gain backlinks and authority in their sector - both digitally and through brand perception.

A ‘good’ DA really comes down to how your competitors are performing, however it is generally considered average between 40 and 50, good between 50 and 60, and excellent above 60. In our previous audit, GenesisCare reported the lowest DA score (0). This quarter, GenesisCare continues to score 0 for their DA, keeping them the company to watch. Strong technical foundations are essential when building domain authority. Websites should prioritise fast load times, mobile optimisation, secure browsing, and minimal technical errors. Poor technical performance can limit how effectively search engines crawl and evaluate a site, slowing authority growth.

Organic Performance – Mobile & Desktop

A strong organic performance is strategically important as it ensures your site ranks above competitors for key, transactional keywords. When 93% of your customers won’t go past the first page of Google, your absence or lack of targeting for essential keywords will cost you conversions. Private healthcare providers may see themselves be hit in two contrasting ways by current consumer trends. Though many potential patients will be cutting back on non-essential treatments (or opting to pursue surgeries and treatment plans through the NHS), many others will be looking to beat NHS waiting times by opting for private treatment.

Seven brands reported a drop in organic traffic on desktop, with Cleveland Clinic London receiving the biggest loss (-39%). On mobile, 4 brands received a drop in organic traffic, with Aspen Healthcare reporting the biggest drop on this device (-57%). From a user perspective, limited organic presence often leads to fewer supporting signals such as reviews, references, or related content. This lack of visible validation can make users hesitant to trust the information provided. As a result, they may seek out alternative websites that appear more prominent in search results.

Universal Search Opportunity

Google Universal Search Results is an evolving opportunity to make your pages visible on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Universal results often appear before traditional listings and are eye-catching for users. Universal search results refer to rankings on a SERP that are not the traditional ‘blue line’ Google link, and a site can appear for universal search results without being strong in standard rankings. Private healthcare providers are likely to see the most benefit from 'people also ask' appearances - a chance to share information about procedures, pricing, and conditions directly from the SERP.

Nuffield Health continues to secure the most Universal Search appearances (37,829) — an increase from 18,372 previously. The majority of their appearances this quarter came from ‘images’ (20,700).

The Longtail Keyword Opportunity

Longtail keywords are often considered high intent and potentially more likely to convert as a searcher is being more specific. Optimising for longtail keywords also puts your content strategy in a strong position to rank for brand new search terms as they enter Google’s index. Private healthcare providers should look to optimise for high-enquiry intent terms, such as those including pricing details or potential recovery times.

Nuffield Health continues to secure the most longtail keyword appearances for position 3 (9,436) — a decrease from 9,989 previously. Nuffield Health also secured the most appearances for positions 4–10 (21,866) — an increase from 21,805 previously. Using longtail keywords encourages higher-quality content creation. Because these keywords are more specific, they naturally push writers to go deeper into a topic rather than covering it at a surface level. This results in more informative, detailed and helpful pages that answer real questions, improving overall content value and user satisfaction.

Facebook Adverts

With the number of Facebook users in the United Kingdom (UK) hitting over 44 million users in 2023, it is not surprising that companies have jumped at the opportunity to advertise on the social media platform. Facebook’s UK digital advertising revenue has been estimated to have breached 2.6b GB pounds in 2019.

We’ve included screenshots of The London Clinic’s sponsored Facebook posts. This UK private healthcare included vertical videos to optimise their content for mobile users, though they should avoid too much text per post, as this can deter social media users from reading their content.

Top Social Shares & Content

When it comes to social media and on-site content strategies, it is important to release content that has a longer shelf life. An article is considered 'Evergreen' if it has maintained its relevancy to an audience for longer. It's great for your brand engagement, but great for Google too, who will recognise content which achieves traffic over a long period of time. As with improving DA performance, and longtail keyword content, private healthcare providers can look to raising awareness of conditions, promoting healthy lifestyles, and answering common questions as a way to build brand awareness through engaging, shareable content.

Spire Healthcare secured the most Facebook Likes (81,300), and Nuffield Health secured the most Instagram followers (30,400). Facebook was the most popular social media platforms of all brands. Nuffield Health received the highest total engagement rate (16,378) and the highest average engagement (176).

Website Readability & Accessibility

20% of people in the UK have a disability – 2 million of which are people living with sight loss. In addition, 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women have some degree of colour vision deficiency. When websites are not designed to meet these needs, brands lose customer interest as they turn elsewhere. It goes without saying that any brand operating within the healthcare sector should have accessibility at the forefront of their concerns. Brands within the healthcare sector often trend towards light blue branding and imagery, due to its soothing nature, but this can often cause contrast issues and be difficult to read.

In our previous report, Cleveland Clinic London flagged the most accessibility alerts (37). This quarter, Cleveland Clinic London has decreased their accessibility alerts to 35. Currently, HCA Healthcare UK reported the most accessibility alerts (71). Alerts are often flagged when brands prioritise visual design over readability, using light text on light backgrounds or placing text over images. This not only affects accessibility compliance but also reduces overall usability for all visitors.   

GET THE FULL 70-PAGE Q1 2026 REPORT

To get a copy of the full report, please complete the enquiry form. If you want to talk to us about accelerating your digital performance, please call us on 01543 410014 or schedule a call with Rory Tarplee.