CPC (Cost Per Click)
What you pay each time someone clicks your ad. Set by auction, so it varies by industry, keyword, and competition — from under $1 to over $50.
Free · no signup · last reviewed August 29, 2026
The definition
What you pay each time someone clicks your ad. Set by auction, so it varies by industry, keyword, and competition — from under $1 to over $50.
Why it matters to an owner
Your CPC decides how many chances at a customer a budget buys. Everything else in paid ads is downstream of it.
Keep going
Google Ads Budget PlannerTurn a monthly budget into expected clicks, leads, and cost per lead — with cited benchmar…CPL (Cost Per Lead)Total spend divided by leads produced. The first number that tells you whether a campaign …Quality ScoreGoogle's 1–10 rating of how relevant your keyword, ad, and landing page are to each other.…
This is the work. Want it done?
Everything here is free to use yourself — that’s the point. If you’d rather a senior marketer just handle it, in your accounts and your name: 20-minute call, no pitch deck.