The Q4 2025 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 Q4 2025 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 Q4 report, click here. To get a copy of the full report and the key takeaways, please complete the enquiry form or schedule a call.
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.
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.
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 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 Q4 2025, the average monthly budget wastage across these UK private healthcare companies was £2,204, 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 £28 . 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, The London Clinic reported the lowest monthly cost-per-click (CPC) at £0, and HCA Healthcare UK has the highest at £123.
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, Circle Health Group has the lowest estimate monthly ad spend at £3,290, and Benenden Health has the highest at £91,800.
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.
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, The London Clinic reported the most 404 errors (45). This quarter, The London Clinic has reduced their 404 errors to 12, no longer putting them at the bottom of the leaderboard. This quarter, Cleveland Clinic London is the one to watch, reporting a total of 168 404 errors. Consistent monitoring of 404 errors shows professionalism and care for user experience. Visitors notice when a site runs smoothly without interruptions, which builds trust and improves brand reputation.
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 previous report, Cleveland Clinic London received the slowest mobile site speed (14). This quarter, Cleveland Clinic London has increased their mobile site speed to 35, no longer putting them at the bottom of the scoreboard. Currently, the company with the slowest mobile site speed is Aspen Healthcare (8). Many online purchases now happen on mobile devices, so site speed directly affects sales. Delays during checkout or browsing can cause users to abandon their baskets, but a faster site leads to smoother transactions and higher revenue.
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.
In our last report, GenesisCare received the lowest DA score (0). This quarter, GenesisCare continues to report a DA sore of 0, suggesting they’re not regularly auditing their site and following a backlink strategy. A plan to grow domain authority should include active promotion across digital channels. Sharing content through social media, newsletters, and collaborations increases visibility. The more exposure content gets, the more likely it is to attract quality links.
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.
Six companies reported a drop in organic traffic on desktop, with Practice Plus Group receiving the biggest loss (-21%). On mobile, 3 companies reported a drop in organic traffic, with Aspen Healthcare receiving the biggest loss (-19%). Time and location also affect how users browse. Mobile users often search on the go, while desktop users may browse during work hours. This difference in usage patterns influences traffic levels.
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 remains at the top spot for the most Universal Search appearances (18,372) — a decrease from 30,100 in our previous audit. The majority of these appearances came from ‘images’ (15,600).
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 secured the most longtail keyword appearances for position 3 (9,989) and positions 4–10 (21,805). Incorporating longtail keywords makes content sound more natural and less forced. This benefits both readers and search engine rankings by improving content quality.
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 HCA Healthcare UK’s sponsored Facebook posts. This UK private healthcare company should keep to a maximum of 3 lines of text per post to help with engagement.
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 (79,500), and Nuffield Health secured the most Instagram followers (30,000). Facebook was the most popular social media platforms of all brands. Nuffield Health received the highest total engagement rate (16,975) and the highest average engagement (132).
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 audit, Cleveland Clinic London received the most accessibility alerts (64). This quarter, Cleveland Clinic London has reduced these alerts to 37. Currently, HCA Healthcare UK received the most accessibility alerts this quarter (62). Visitors who encounter accessibility problems may share negative experiences online. Word spreads quickly through reviews and social media. As a result, the brand’s trustworthiness can decline even further.
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.