SEO, Google Ads, your website, social and email, run as one digital programme and reported as one number: cost per qualified enquiry. This page explains what each channel does for an NDIS provider, with honest timelines and prices.
NDIS digital marketing is the coordinated use of search, ads, your website, directories and social to put your services in front of participants, families and support coordinators at the moment they are choosing a provider, within the scheme’s advertising rules. The mix matters more than any single channel: each one covers a different audience at a different moment.
Typical figures from NDIS provider campaigns. Your market shifts these; the free growth plan localises them.
| Channel | Reaches | Time to enquiries | Typical cost | Honest take |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEO + local SEO | Participants & families searching | 8 to 12 weeks, compounds | $1,500 to $2,500/mo | Cheapest enquiries you will ever get, eventually |
| Google Ads | High-intent searchers now | Days | $1,000+ spend + management | Fastest results, $8 to $12 clicks punish sloppy setups |
| Website (CRO) | Everyone who checks you | Immediate multiplier | From $4,500 or free on plans | Doubles what every other channel returns |
| Directories | Coordinators shortlisting | Same week | Mostly free | Day-one move for every provider |
| Social media | People verifying you | Months | From $800/mo | Trust channel; supports, rarely books |
| Email & follow-up | Past enquiries & referrers | 2 to 4 weeks | Inside plans | Cheapest reactivation; most providers ignore it |
If 100 visitors produce one enquiry, buying more visitors buys more disappointment. Website and GBP first: they are the multiplier on everything after.
Directories, GBP and citation cleanup cost hours, not dollars, and start working the same week. Most providers skip straight past free money.
Ads buy enquiries during the 8 to 12 weeks SEO needs to rank. As organic enquiries grow, ad spend shifts to the suburbs and services SEO has not won yet.
Once enquiries flow, structured follow-up and coordinator outreach turn one-off enquiries into a referral engine. This is where growth stops depending on spend.
The channel figures and sequencing here come from digital marketing programmes we run for NDIS providers, not generic playbooks. Ask us about your market.
Practically, very little: almost every channel that books participants is digital. The exceptions, coordinator relationships and community presence, matter enormously, which is why our programmes include outreach alongside the digital channels.
There is no single best channel, only the best next channel for your situation. New providers usually start with the website and free directory and Google Business Profile work, then add SEO for cheap long-run enquiries and Google Ads to fill vacancies now. The right mix depends on your service type, catchment and how fast you need enquiries.
Google Ads can produce enquiries within days. SEO and content take 8 to 12 weeks to show movement and 3 to 6 months to compound. That is why we usually run ads while SEO matures, then shift spend as organic enquiries grow.
Meaningful movement starts around $1,500 a month all-in. Below that, do the free moves: GBP, directories and reviews, which we cover in our guides. Above $3,000 a month you can run search, ads and outreach simultaneously.
Parts of it, absolutely, and our course teaches exactly that. The honest trade-off is time: done properly it is 10 to 15 hours a week. Providers usually hand it over when an hour of their time earns more than an hour of ours costs.
One monthly report, headlined by qualified enquiries and cost per enquiry, with rankings, traffic and spend underneath for those who want detail. If enquiries are not growing, the report says so in the first line.
The free growth plan maps your market and hands you the sequence, whether or not you hire us to run it.
A specialist reviews your visibility against the providers competing in your catchment, and sends a written growth plan within two business days. You keep it either way.