The solution to lowering your CPC in Google ads isn’t about cutting back; it's about making your ad spend work harder for you. With the right tweaks, you can bring your cost down without sacrificing performance.
The Essentials at a Glance
To Reduce Your Google Ads CPC
Improve Quality Score by enhancing ad relevance and optimising landing page experience.
Use smart keyword management, including negative keywords and long-tail keywords.
Refine bidding strategies with the right bidding models and bid adjustments.
Use ad extensions to boost visibility and click-through rates.
Segment your audience and use remarketing to tailor your ads.
Schedule ads for high-conversion times and target top-performing locations.
Continuously monitor performance and A/B test ads and conduct regular account audits.
5 Effective Ways To Reduce Cost Per Click In Google Ads
Improve Quality Score
Quality Score is a metric Google uses to determine how relevant and useful your ads are to the people searching for your keywords. It directly influences your ad rank and the cost-per-click (CPC) you end up paying.
The higher this score is, the less you’ll pay for clicks while enjoying better ad placements.
Three key factors determine your Quality Score:
Ad relevance
Landing page experience
Expected click-through rate (CTR).
So, what can you do to improve these?
Make Your Ads More Relevant
The goal here is to make your ads feel like the perfect match for what users are searching for. If someone is looking for “high-end kitchen appliances,” your ad should speak directly to that.
Here’s how you do it:
Use targeted keywords in your ad copy and group similar keywords together. The more focused your ads, the better. You can also try dynamic keyword insertion, this little trick automatically updates your ad with the user’s exact search term. It’s like giving your ad a personal touch.
Optimising Landing Page Experience
it’s not just about the ad. What happens after the click matters just as much. Google cares about whether your landing page matches the promise of your ad. If your ad is all about a special offer, your landing page better deliver on that immediately.
And don’t forget about user experience. A slow, clunky page? That’s a one-way ticket to high bounce rates, which can drag down your Quality Score. Make sure your page is fast, easy to navigate, and mobile-friendly. The smoother the user experience, the better.
Increasing Expected CTR
Google’s expected click-through rate is a prediction of how often people will click on your ad based on how relevant it is. You want to write ad copy that grabs attention.
Speak directly to your audience’s needs, and don’t be afraid to use ad extensions. Things like sitelinks and callouts (additional links to other parts of your website or snippets of key information) can give users more reasons to click.
Smart Keyword Management
Your keywords are the backbone of your campaign. But managing them smartly means more than just choosing the right ones; you’ve got to filter out the bad ones too.
Negative Keywords
Negative keywords are just as important as the ones you’re actively bidding on. They tell Google what searches you don’t want your ads to show up for.
This helps you avoid paying for clicks from people who aren’t likely to convert into customers. For example, if you sell high-end luxury products, you probably don’t want to show up for searches like "cheap kitchen appliances."
You can find these irrelevant search terms by reviewing your search term reports. These reports show exactly what users typed into Google before clicking on your ad, and if analysed correctly, you’ll quickly spot terms that are wasting your budget.
Add those to your negative keyword list to prevent your ad from showing up for those searches in the future, making you avoid more unnecessary costs over time.
Focusing on Long-Tail Keywords - Less Traffic, More Results
Long-tail keywords are phrases that are longer and more specific than general search terms.
They are easy to overlook because they have a lower search volume compared to broad terms, but we often find them to lead to better results because they attract users who are closer to making a purchase.
For example, a search like "best high-end kitchen appliances for small spaces" is highly intent-driven and more likely to convert than a broad term like "kitchen appliances."
So basically, you're getting lower competition and higher relevance, which lowers your cost per click.
Finding the Right Keyword Match Type
Google Ads offers different match types to control how closely a search term has to match your keyword for your ad to appear. This gives you flexibility in how broad or narrow you want your reach to be. However, the trick is finding the right balance between casting a wide net and keeping your targeting relevant.
For example, with a broad match, your ad can show up for a wide range of related search terms, which can be great for visibility but may lead to irrelevant clicks.
On the other hand, an exact match will only trigger your ad when someone types in your exact keyword, which keeps your traffic highly relevant but may limit your reach. Somewhere in between is phrase match, which shows your ad when the search includes the exact keyword phrase but with some flexibility before or after the phrase.
You must monitor performance regularly to get the most out of your match types. If you notice that broad match terms are bringing in irrelevant traffic, consider switching to a phrase or an exact match. You want to ensure you’re reaching the right people without overpaying for clicks that don’t convert.
Refining Bidding Strategies
Now, let’s talk bidding. You need to make sure your bids are giving you the best return on investment. And sometimes, that means switching things up.
Choosing the Right Bidding Model
There are different options depending on your goals and how much control you want over your bids.
Manual CPC bidding gives you full control over how much you’re willing to pay per click on each keyword. This is ideal if you want to manually adjust bids based on the performance of individual keywords or ad groups. But, while it offers precision, it can be time-consuming if you have a large campaign.
For a bit more automation, there’s Enhanced CPC (ECPC). This model still allows you to set your maximum bids manually, but Google automatically adjusts them to maximise your chances of conversion. If Google thinks a click is more likely to lead to a sale, it will increase the bid slightly to help secure that click.
If you’re more focused on conversions and don’t want to micromanage bids, models like Target CPA (cost per acquisition) or Target ROAS (return on ad spend) might be a better fit. With these models, you’re telling Google what your target acquisition cost or return on ad spend is, and it adjusts bids automatically to hit those goals. While you lose direct control over individual bids, these models can be great for scaling campaigns and focusing on results.
Implementing Bid Adjustments
Even with a solid bidding model, refining your strategy often means making bid adjustments to ensure your budget is allocated effectively. Bid adjustments allow you to increase or decrease bids based on factors like device, location, or time of day.
For example, with device bid modifiers, you can adjust your bids based on devices used to access your ads. (Mobile, desktop, or tablet). If mobile users tend to convert more often, you might choose to increase your bids for mobile traffic while lowering them for desktop users.
Similarly, location bid modifiers let you adjust bids based on geographic performance. If your ads perform better in certain regions, you can increase your bids in those areas to capitalise on the higher conversion potential.
You can also analyse your campaign data with a time schedule to see when your ads perform best. It could be certain hours of the day or specific days of the week,
For example, if your ads convert best during weekday mornings, you can increase bids during those hours and lower them during off-peak times to avoid wasting your budget.
Learn more about: using smart bidding with broad match
Audience Segmentation and Remarketing
Here’s where things get even more interesting. You don’t need to show your ads to just anyone. Segment your audience and focus on the people who are most likely to convert.
Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA)
With RLSA, you can customise your bids and ad copy for people who have already visited your website but didn’t convert. These users are already familiar with your brand, so they’re more likely to convert than someone seeing your ad for the first time.
If someone visited your site to browse a product but didn’t make a purchase, you can adjust your bids to show them more relevant ads when they search again. You can also tailor the ad messaging to include a special offer to encourage them to come back. It helps reduce your CPC by focusing your budget on high-intent users.
Customer Match
Customer Match takes targeting a step further by allowing you to create custom audiences based on your own data, such as email lists. If you have a list of existing customers or subscribers, you can upload that list to Google Ads and target them with specific ads when they search. This is great for re-engaging past customers or promoting new products to people who have already shown interest in your brand.
Since these users already know your business, they’re more likely to engage with your ads, helping you improve your CTR and lower your CPC.
Similar Audiences
If you want to expand your reach but still target high-potential users, Similar Audiences is a great option. Google uses data from your existing remarketing lists or customer lists to find new users who share similar behaviours and interests with your current customers.
These users may not have interacted with your brand yet, but because they have traits similar to those of your existing audience, they’re more likely to be interested in what you offer.
For example, if your current audience includes people who frequently purchase kitchen appliances, Google can find users with similar search patterns and interests. This helps you reach new potential customers without starting from scratch, improving your ad relevance and performance right out of the gate.
Competitor Analysis
When you understand what your competitors are doing, where they are succeeding and where they’re falling short, you can adjust your own Google Ads campaigns to ensure you’re not overspending while still having the upper hand.
Identifying Competitor Strategies
Use tools like Ahrefs, Ads Transparency Centre, and auction insights to analyse your competitor keywords, ad copy, and performance metrics. This data helps you see where you stand and where opportunities lie.
If you notice your competitor is bidding heavily on a certain keyword, but their ad copy isn’t particularly compelling, you can create an ad that’s more relevant or engaging, capturing more clicks without needing to outbid them.
Differentiation
Once you’ve identified what your competitors are doing, the next step is to differentiate your ads. Think of your unique selling propositions (USPs).
What makes your business stand out? Are you offering a special feature, a better price or superior customer service? Then, you can position your ads to appeal directly to your audience in a way that competitors might not.
Bid Strategies
If you know your competitors are aggressively bidding on certain high-cost keywords, you might want to adjust your approach. Instead of trying to outbid them directly, you can focus on less competitive long-tail keywords, which can drive more relevant traffic at a lower cost.
Alternatively, if your competitors are dominating a particular keyword, you could shift your budget to other areas where competition is less fierce. It's an underrated strategy that helps you make smart bidding decisions while maintaining visibility and keeping costs under control.
Bringing It All Together
Lowering your CPC in Google Ads comes down to working smarter, not harder. You should focus on improving your ad quality Score, optimising your keywords, and refining your bids to see better results without overspending.
If you want expert help in making sure your Google Ads campaigns are generating the maximum ROAS and revenue, feel free to get in touch with our PPC experts at Mira Marketing.