Average cost per click (CPC) is top of everyone’s mind – the lower the CPC, the more clicks you can fit into your budget.
There have been several questions about how to lower average CPCs. Today’s Ask An SEO comes from two readers, Muhammad and Raghvendra, who ask the following two questions:
1. How can we reduce our keyword CPC? Keyword is triggering on $15, but I have a low monthly budget. Can you please guide me on how I can control CPC?
2. How can we lower the average CPC of any keywords? For example, the CPC of ‘interior design Institute’ is Rs. 71, but I am getting an average CPC Rs.102 in my search campaign.
This post will review strategies to lower average CPCs and evaluate average CPCs.
How To Lower Average CPCs
It’s important to remember that an auction dictates the average CPC.
The price you pay directly results from what you and your competitors are willing to bid.
The most direct way to control what you bid is with manual bidding. However, doing that forfeits the over 60 signals that go into automated bidding.
Instead, consider opting for different variants of keywords. This can mean bidding on “attorney” vs. “lawyer.” It can also mean bidding on misspellings.
A typical budget buster is bidding on the same concepts in multiple campaigns or ad groups. Before bidding on an idea, make sure you’re not entering the same auctions with that concept.
For example, if you bid on the keyword “dog walker near me” in a campaign targeting Boston and another campaign targeting New York, you would not be driving up your auction price.
If you bid that keyword concept targeting the exact location, it would cause duplicates. Duplicate keywords drive up average CPC.
Why Are Some Average CPCs So High?
Some verticals will have higher average CPCs because of the services offered. Location and cost of living can also influence CPCs.
Setting realistic expectations for the average CPC is essential.
Too low, and you won’t budget enough to get reasonable ROI (return on investment) from your marketing. Too high, and you’ll allow your campaigns to get complacent.
As more and more accounts shift to automated bidding, building in time for new campaigns to find their keyword champion is essential.
Sometimes it makes sense to opt into more expensive keywords because they represent higher value.
For example, investing makes sense if you know your best customers search a certain way and tend to transact at a specific time.
On the other hand, cheap clicks for the sake of cheap clicks might clog the budget and make it so you don’t have fuel for those prime prospects.
Balance efficiency with pragmatism, and your account will perform well.
Final Takeaways
The most significant contributing factor to increased CPCs is competition.
Make sure you’re not accidentally bidding against yourself, along with setting reasonable expectations for the competitiveness/value of keyword concepts.
Have a question about PPC? Submit via this form or tweet me @navahf with the #AskPPC hashtag. See you next month!
More resources:
- What’s A Good Google Ads CTR/CPC/CPA In 2022? [STUDY]
- What Is Cost Per Click (CPC)?
- PPC 101: A Complete Guide to Pay-Per-Click Marketing Basics
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
