How much does it cost to advertise on Google?

27 Sep How much does it cost to advertise on Google?

The pay per click (sponsored links) industry is a huge market, with hundreds of different PPC networks and millions of users.

If you’re new to PPC, you probably have a lot of questions about how it all works. Maybe you’re not sure if PPC is right for you, or you just want to know how much Google Ads costs.

Whatever your question, I’m here to help shed some light on the subject and bring you up to date with the world of PPC.

In this post, we’ll specifically answer the question “How much does it cost to advertise on Google Ads?”.

Although we don’t have a simple answer, we’ve broken it down into steps so that everyone can understand. So it doesn’t matter if you want to start PPC advertising for your store or business, you’ll know exactly how much you need to set aside for your first campaign.

To get you started, let’s take a look at keyword prices and find out how much you’ll pay for their click. But do you know how exactly to find out how much a keyword costs?

 

How do I find out how much a keyword costs?

 

If you’re thinking about running a campaign on Google Ads, you’ll probably want an idea of ​​how much it will cost. While there are several factors that determine the price of a campaign, the best starting point is your keyword. The keyword itself will vary from price to industry, so getting a rough estimate is ideal.

To get a rough idea of ​​how much a particular keyword might cost, use the Keyword Planner tool as a good reference within the Google Ads tool. Just type in an industry term or keyword and the tool will find many keywords relevant to you.

You can adjust the targeting below the search box to only show the cost of advertising in any country you like. This can often have a slight impact on price as some countries are more expensive than others.

Once the results have loaded, you’ll see a “suggested bid” column. This estimate is calculated by looking at all current advertisers serving ads for that keyword and calculating the network average. Your actual cost may vary depending on other factors (such as your quality score, which we’ll cover later), but overall, it’s a good indication of how much a campaign might cost.

Depending on your industry, you can determine whether the cost per click is considered expensive or not. If all the keywords in the planner cost more than $10, you’re likely to be in a pretty expensive niche. However, if you’re looking for $1 and $2 keywords, then you’re in luck!

 

Device segmentation and the impact on CPC

 

With so many options and settings available in Google Ads, tweaking just one of them can have a big impact on your cost per click and how much you pay. As mentioned earlier, different targeting options, such as the country you want to target, can have a big impact on your average cost-per-click. Another targeting option available on Google Ads is the ability to target different devices.

As you probably know, not everyone visits websites on their computers alone. In fact, there are a variety of devices that users use regularly that you can take advantage of. From mobile phones to tablets and computers, these are the top three devices you can target on Google Ads.

Each of these devices will have a different CPC depending on whether you target all of them or just one in particular. Depending on the targeting, it will directly affect the cost per click and therefore how much Google charges.

Trying traffic from different devices is a good way to see if you can improve your campaign or not. Some campaigns may perform better if you only target mobile traffic, while others will perform better if you get rid of mobile traffic.

The only way to find out is to do it yourself and check the results. Some industries may find that mobile traffic converts better and therefore values ​​them more. While another industry may not invest much in mobile traffic and focus only on computers. Each industry has its own preference and it’s up to you to figure out which traffic is best for yours.

 

But after all, how much does it cost to advertise Google Ads?

 

Now you’ve seen how expensive keywords can be and how to use Google’s tool to estimate your cost per click, it’s time to put it all together to calculate the cost. So how much does Google charge for advertising on its network?

This answer may seem confusing to someone new to the field, but be patient. The answer to the question is that it is actually the user who decides how much Google charges. Wait… What?!?!

Yes, you read that right. It’s up to the user to decide how much Google charges per click (although this isn’t always the best idea).

Google Ads can be an automatic or a manual platform. Sometimes this means users want to let Google adjust their bids automatically. While at other times, users want to have full control.

Being in control means you can decide how much Google charges per click. You simply change the number to your maximum bid per click and Google takes care of the rest. However, just because you enter a low number does not mean that you will receive many clicks for that price. Enter a very low number and you won’t get any!

To ensure that people see your ads, set your bid at about 50 cents above your industry average CPC (cost-per-click).

As we mentioned earlier, the price paid for the keyword will mainly depend on the industry and competitiveness. If it’s super competitive, it’s best to let Google handle the automation of work and bidding.

Because prices can change so quickly, having a manual bid would not provide the best results. Chances are, your competitors use some sort of automated system that automatically adjusts bid prices, giving them an edge over whoever does everything manually. Imagine trying to manually change a 100 keyword campaign twice a day…

For smaller companies, it’s quite common to be able to pay 50 cents per click. However, if you want to be in the top four on Google, you’ll always want to bid better than your competitors. This brings us to our next question: How much does it cost to advertise on Google’s first page?

 

How much does it cost to advertise on the first page of Google?

 

Advertising on the first page of Google can be easy or difficult, depending on the keyword you’re targeting. If a keyword has no competition, just create an ad and you’re on the first page.

However, keywords that have been around for the longest time have multiple ads showing. These keywords can be much more complicated to get to the top spot. As a general rule of thumb, if you want to rank higher on Google, you need to pay more.

If your keyword planner can provide the average price that other advertisers are paying, you want to pay more. We suggest that you pay an additional 30% to 50% per click to see your ranking. Sometimes you’re still on page 2, while sometimes you shoot straight to number 1. Unfortunately, there’s no simple calculation. The only way to find out how much it’s really going to cost you on page 1 is to adjust your bid and analyze the result.

If you need to pay 50% more or more to access page 1, don’t panic. There’s a smart way to lower your cost-per-click without having to lower your bid price.

 

Quality score and its effect on prices

 

We mentioned earlier that there are several factors that affect the price paid per click. One of the most important factors (after the keyword’s average bid) is its quality score.

Every advertiser and advertising campaign on Google Ads receives this quality score metric. A good quality score means you save and pay less per click compared to other advertisers. A poor quality score means that your cost-per-click does increase and you can pay 100% or more just to compete with other advertisers who pay a lower price.

This system forces advertisers to ensure that their ads and landing page are relevant to give visitors the best user experience. The last thing Google wants to do is place a bad ad in the first place, as it’s less likely to get clicked, which means it’s less likely to get paid.

To provide a brief overview of the Quality Score metric, advertisers who optimize their landing pages and ads to include their target keyword receive a better score. In such a competitive industry, many companies go to great lengths to ensure their quality score is good. After all, with huge savings to be made, why don’t you?

So, keep an eye on your quality index, so that you don’t pay more for each click you receive.

And to make sure everything’s explained, we’re going to quickly recap the key factors that affect how much you pay on Google Ads.

 

PPC Pompetition

Because Google Ads uses an auction bidding system, every industry is unique and the level of competition will greatly influence your keywords’ cost per click. If you’re in a super competitive industry like car insurance, finance or payday loans, expect to pay tens, if not hundreds, of dollars per click.

Compare that to a very new or less popular industry and chances are the cost per click will be much lower. Keywords with less volume and buyer intent generally cost less as they require more clicks to convert a user.

 

Local de destino

Targeting different areas of the world can have a huge effect on the cost of your clicks and the overall campaign. Think of countries as different tiers when it comes to price.

Places with a higher concentration of people, such as capitals or highly developed regions, are often classified as “level 1” traffic. These locations have the highest CPC due to the high quality of traffic. Compare that to a lower level for places like inner cities or with a smaller population and the cost of clicks will be much lower. This is because advertisers don’t value these locations very much compared to others out there, and things like language and income can also be important when choosing a destination.

When setting up your campaign, keep an eye on which cities and countries you’re targeting and ask yourself if you really need to target them. Excluding some locations can save a lot of money!

 

Device segmentation

Like locations, device targeting plays a huge role in the price paid per click on Google Ads. Divided into three main traffic categories for mobile, tablet and computer, each device has its own CPC.

Computer traffic generally has the highest CPC, but depending on the industry, mobile traffic can sometimes be more expensive. Trying out different types of traffic to your campaign is the best way to see if you can save money or not.

 

Network segmentation

You might think Google only has one network on which they can show their ads, but you’ll be surprised to learn that they have three. Known as the Google Search and Display Network, these three different networks display ads in different ways.

The Google search network is what most people think of when they think of Google ads. These are the ads displayed when you search for something on Google’s search engine.

On the other hand, you have the display network that works differently. This network is still controlled by Google, but it allows you to show your ads to a wider audience using other people’s websites.

Webmasters serve ads on their sites in exchange for receiving revenue from people who click on their ads. This, in turn, allows users to target a wider audience.

In addition, there is also a network of videos, which are shown on Youtube. With it, you can show your brand’s video to your customers before they watch their favorite videos, which will help boost consideration as well as attract more attention than static ads.

As you can probably guess, these different networks have different prices and can greatly affect how much it costs to advertise on Google. The search network is generally much more expensive than the view network as the quality of users is much higher. If you want to get some cheap traffic from the Google network, try their display network. And if you want to increase knowledge and consideration, use the Video network.

 

Quality score

The final factor affecting how much you pay for advertising on Google is the quality score of your campaign and account. As mentioned earlier, quality score can save advertisers a lot of money or cost them a lot more.

A good quality score can reduce the average cost-per-click of an ad by as much as 50%. Although a poor quality score can increase the cost of a click by up to 400%. It’s essential to ensure that your campaign is optimized for the highest possible quality score if you want to reduce your Google advertising costs.

Now that you know how much Google charges for advertising, it’s up to you to decide if it’s worth your time and money. There’s no guarantee that you’ll make money from advertising on Google, but it’s certainly worth a try. You never know, you can get high quality clicks for just 50 cents eachor less! Otherwise, one of your competitors will.