How To Lower Average Cost Per Click

Average CPC is first on everyone’s mind – the lower your CPC, the more clicks you can fit into your budget.

There have been many questions about how to lower average CPC. Today’s Ask An SEO comes from two of our readers, Mohamed and Ragvendra, asking the following two questions:

1. How can we reduce keyword CPC? Keynote runs at $15, but my monthly budget is low. Can you guide me on how to control CPC?

2. How can we lower the average CPC for any keywords? For example, the CPC for “Interior Design Institute” is Rs. 71, but I get an average CPC of Rs 102 on my search campaign.

This article will review strategies for lowering your average CPC and evaluating your average CPC.

How to lower your average CPC

It is important to remember that the auction sets an average CPC.

The price you pay results directly from what you and your competitor are willing to offer.

The most direct way to control what you bid is manual bidding. However, doing so results in the loss of more than 60 signals entering the automated bidding.

Instead, consider choosing different types of keywords. This can mean bidding on “attorney” versus “lawyer”. It can also mean bidding on misspellings.

A typical budget provider will bid on the same concepts in multiple campaigns or ad groups. Before bidding on an idea, make sure you are not entering the same auctions with this concept.

For example, if you bid on the keyword “dog walker near me” in one campaign targeting Boston and another campaign targeting New York, you won’t raise the auction price.

If you bid on a keyword concept that targets the exact location, it can cause duplicates. Repeat keywords raise your average CPC.

Why are some average CPCs so high?

Some sectors will have a higher average CPC due to the services offered. Location and cost of living can also affect CPC.

It is essential to set realistic expectations for your average CPC.

Too low, and you won’t have enough budget to get a reasonable ROI (Return on Investment) from your marketing. Too high, and you’ll let your campaigns get complacent.

With more and more accounts switching to automatic bidding, it’s essential to give new campaigns time to find their keyword champions.

Sometimes it makes sense to subscribe to more expensive keywords because they represent a 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 cheap clicks might clog the budget and make them run out of fuel for those prime prospects.

Balance efficiency with pragmatism, and your account will perform well.

The final takeaway

The most important factor contributing to an increase in CPC is competition.

Make sure you don’t accidentally bid against yourself, along with setting reasonable expectations for the competitiveness/value of the keyword concepts.

Do you have a question about PPC? Submit via this form or tweet me at @navahf using the hashtag #AskPPC. See you next month!

More resources:

• What is a good CTR / CPC / CPA in Google Ads in 2022? [STUDY]
• What is CPC?
• PPC 101: A Complete Guide to the Fundamentals of Pay-Per-Click Marketing

Featured Image: Paolo Bobetta/Search Engine Magazine