Cost Per Click (CPC) is one of the most important metrics for businesses in online advertising and is a key indicator of how well your ads are performing. CPC can measure how much an advertiser pays when someone clicks on their ad, then it calculates how much money you are making from those ads due to the effects on your return on investment (ROI).
Not sure why this matters and why it can affect your business? Well, continue reading… Let us break it down for you.
How it works
CPC, similar to the pay-per-click advertising model, uses a bidding system. Within this system, advertisers bid on keywords that are relevant to their product or service. When these keywords are searched for by customers, the ad for your product or service will then show up on the results page.
At this point in time, the advertiser has not yet paid for any service. The payment is taken when the ad is clicked and your page is viewed. It is calculated by dividing the total number of clicks from the total cost of an ad.
The cost per click is dependent on a number of factors, this includes: your ad’s quality score, your bid amount and the competition. (CPC links to the number of competitors you are bidding against as well as how high they are willing to bid).
In order to get the most out of your CPC, it is important to write compelling ads, select the correct keywords and optimize your landing pages.
Finding a Keyword’s Cost Per Click
Semrush and Google Keyword Planner offer tools that can help you find a keyword’s average cost per click.
Semrush:
Enter your keyword and click the “Search” button.
Look for the keyword’s CPC in the table labeled “CPC.”
This will show the average price that advertisers pay for users to click on the ad triggered by the keyword within Google Ads.
Google Keyword Planner:
Google Keyword Planner is a great place to find a keyword’s average cost per click as it tracks and collects data directly from Google Ads.
Click “Discover new keywords.”
Here you will find: “Start with keywords” or “Start with a website.”
Choose “Start with keywords” enter your keyword, and then choose “Get results.”
Here you will see the keyword you provided, a list of related keyword ideas and each keyword’s CPC. You can also see how much you would approximately need to bid for your ad to appear at the top of the search engine results pages.
Lowering your CPC
To make the most out of your campaigns, lowering your CPC will ensure that they are cost-effective and increase your return on investment. This can be achieved with the following tips:
Improving your quality score – This can be done by making your ads more relevant. Avoid broad ad groups with multiple keyword groupings, and focus on creating highly targeted ad groups. Improving your landing page is another focal point, this can be done through writing clear and relevant copy and providing a simple and effective user experience. Lastly, achieving a higher click-through rate through assets, call-to-actions and using compelling text, will resonate your ad with your audience and improve your quality score.
Negative Keywords – Implementing negative keywords can substantially reduce your cost per click. The terms you exclude from your search campaigns will ensure your ads do not show up when people search for them.
Ad Scheduling – Using ad scheduling means you are able to change your bid during different times of the day. You can also show your ads at times of the day when customers are most likely to be online.
Geo-Targeting – Adjust your targeting to specific location groups through countries, areas within a country or a radius around a location.
Keyword Match Types – With broad match types, your ads will show up on searches that relate to your keyword. Phrase match types will ensure your ads show up on searches which include your keyword meaning. Exact match will ensure your ads show up on searches that include the same meaning/intent as your keyword. Exact match keywords tend to be more targeted but have higher CPC, whereas broad match keywords are less targeted but they have lower CPC.
We hope you can now better understand why cost per click matters and how it can affect your business.
Here at MIRA, we have a team of experts who are trained in cost per click with proven results. We want to help, just let us know how. Get in touch with us today, we’d love to chat.