How Cost Per Click (CPC) Works
Divide total click cost by the number of clicks. If a campaign spends $600 and receives 300 clicks, its average CPC is $2. CPC is an average: individual clicks can cost more or less.
A Simple Example
A garage door company pays $3 per click and 1 in 10 visitors becomes a lead. Before considering lead quality, its click cost implies roughly $30 in ad spend per lead.
Why Cost Per Click (CPC) Matters
CPC connects auction cost to the economics of the landing page. It helps diagnose whether performance changed because traffic became more expensive or because the traffic converted differently.
Common Misreading
A lower CPC is not automatically better. Cheap clicks from weak searches can produce fewer customers than expensive clicks from high-intent searches.
Continue with the practical guide
The glossary gives you the definition. The guide covers the decisions and implementation in more depth.
See what determines Google Ads costs →