How Much Do Google Ads Cost?
Google ads are evolving. Cost-effective pricing levels, targeted audience reach, and statistically proven increased brand awareness capabilities mean adding Google Ads to your mix could be the best marketing choice you make all year-if you choose the right partner to help you implement and optimize your campaign. But before we get into the nitty gritty, let's explore the question that brought you here: what exactly is the cost of advertising on Google?
How Much Does It Cost to Advertise on Google?
As a pay-per-click (PPC) service, Google Ads allows users to bid on keywords and decide how much they are willing to spend per click. The bigger your bid, the higher your ad will be at the top of the page—and with more than 80% of global companies using Google Ads, the bigger the better. Your bids play an important role during the auction process.
The Google Ads auction process is unique. It ranks ads based on an algorithm that considers your bid and ad quality. The auction provides advertisers with a cost-per-click (CPC) rate. The CPC rate is determined using the Ad Rank below yours, divided by your quality score- but more on that later.
Cost Effective and Efficient
Regarding the Google sponsored ads cost, you have options to choose from such as setting an average daily budget or a monthly PPC budget for individual ad campaigns. This way, you can manage your campaign without breaking the bank. Essentially, your business pays for the click, not the ad placement itself. With 63% of people having clicked on a Google Ad, is that something you can afford to pass up?
Google recommends setting a starter budget for daily ad spending of $10-50 for new businesses
The average cost per lead (CPL) with Google is $6-30
Monthly average costs for Google Ads fall between $100-10,000
The average CPC through Google is $0.11-0.50
Are Google Ads Free?
No, Google ads are not free. However, nonprofits have access to $10,000 each month in search ads with Google to share their message with people through Google Ad Grants. If your business is not a nonprofit, Google may offer incentives or promo codes to new advertisers, such as $1,000 in free advertising if you spend $100.
What Impacts Your Ad Price?
So, back to the original question of how much are Google Ads. The answer is that prices vary. Google Ad pricing depends on a collection of factors, the three most prominent being: industry, customer lifecycle, and market trends.
If you're in a lucrative industry, your CPC rate will be bigger than industries that don't make as much. For instance, lawyers can have a single client that brings in thousands of dollars, but it would take hundreds of clients to make that same amount for a bookstore owner. Thus, the attorney's CPC rate will be higher.
It may take clients a while to make a decision—that's the customer lifecycle. When customers visit your website multiple times, participate in a webinar you're hosting, or download PDFs you supply, they impact your Google Ads cost.
Of course, happenings in your industry will impact pricing. Consumer trends, platforms, and priorities are constantly changing. Keeping your finger on the pulse of industry trends will allow your business to cash in on its benefits. Other factors that contribute to the question, "How much is a Google Ad," include:
Keywords
Device targeting
Bidding
Ad scheduling
Budgets
Account management
Geotargeting
Quality Scores
Tips for Managing Your Google Ads Account
Create a structure that fits your campaign type (keyword selections, ad copy, ad group levels, ad extensions)
Keep a close eye on your dashboard
Perform regular PPC campaign audits (performance levels)
Try out automatic vs. manual bidding functions
Make data-driven optimizations (targeting, landing pages, etc.)
Test copy and designs for effectiveness
Qualities of a Good Google Ad
Your advertisement's quality score plays a part in determining how much a Google Ad will cost your business based on three things: relevancy to the keyword, click-through rate (CTR), and landing page quality. The more your ad matches the searcher's search intent, the more relevant it will be and the greater the percentage of users who click on it (the CTR). Your ad's landing page quality refers to the relevancy of the page users land on once they've clicked on your ad.
Google Ads rate quality scores on a 1-10 scale, with ten sitting as the highest possible score. A larger score means that your ad and landing page have been ranked as extremely useful and relevant to user searches. This can potentially lead to better ad positions and saving money. For example, if your bid for a keyword is $6 and you've received a quality score of 10, your Ad Rank - the set of values determining if and where your ad is eligible to show on a page relative to other advertisers -would be 60. The highest Ad Rank gets the top advertising spot from there.
A good Google Ad is a powerful digital marketing tool that will significantly impact your:
Brand visibility
Reach
Total sales
Website Traffic
ROAS
To Buy Google Ads or Not to Buy Google Ads? That is the Question.
If your business plans to expand and wants to reach a wider audience, consider how much Google-sponsored ads cost and make the best decision for you. Advertising on a platform as large as Google can mean big things when you're looking to advance your business. With 91.47% of the global market share, Google is far ahead in the race of preferred search engines.
Why is that important to know? It suggests that most internet surfers look to Google for help answering questions and searching for products. As a business looking for your ideal online marketing partner, look to Google Ads. Advantages include:
An expanded understanding of digital marketing methods
Easier customer targeting
Complete control of your campaign
Scheduling services
A customized marketing approach
Real-time ad adaptation
Superior connectivity
Quick results
Offline account management options
Higher revenue
And more
Turning Engagement into Profit
Before dropping a significant amount of cash on a new ad campaign, you want a guarantee that using Google Ads will be worth it. That's completely understandable. After all, your business doesn't have an infinite marketing budget. Let these stats put your mind at ease:
90% of users say ads play a role in their purchasing decisions (Google Ads Statistics)
63% of internet users would click on Google Ads over others (Demandsage)
80% of online shoppers pay attention to ads through Google (Gitnux)
Google Ads deliver an estimated 800% return on investment (ROI) (Economic Impact)
98% of people prefer to shop online vs. in-store, increasing digital ad value (Shepard)
Google Ads reach 90% of the global internet population (Google Help)
With the right partner- like CMG- you'll see ROI on your Google Ads so fast that the question "how much do Google Ads cost" will become obsolete.
Concerned about Click Fraud? We Have a Fix for That Too.
In 2023, a nerve wracking $84 billion of ad spend was wasted due to click fraud. When your Google Ads budget goes to bots, the strain is felt through your entire pipeline. Your analytics team can waste days deciphering if your spike in ad views is legitimate and that confusion can cause decision makers to implement revenue-strategies based on dirty data.
By 2028, wasted ad spend is expected to rise to $172 billion. CMG won't let our clients be a part of that figure. Our new Clickfraud add-on enhances your PPC Google advertising and digital ads by filtering out fake traffic so you can:
Protect your PPC campaigns.
Block click fraud, ad fraud and fake impressions on your ads.
Divertall your spend to real human traffic only.
Rely on clean data for decision-making
Google Trusts CMG. So Should You.
CMG is honored as a Google Premier Partner year after year. That means we're in the top 3% of Google ads experts in the country. When you work with us, you have decades worth of Google Ads experience (and more) propelling your campaign.
Beyond that, we're one of the largest and most powerful digital marketing firms, covering over 20 media markets and reaching 52 million consumers weekly. We love what we do, and it shows in our work. Through modern data and analytics, trackable key performance indicators (KPIs), and more, our team will develop a captivating marketing plan unique to your business to bring in the exact customers you're looking for.
Contact CMG Local Solutions to build your online marketing presence today.
