How Much Do Google Ads Cost?

When people search for keywords on the internet, they are looking for either information or products. Search engine optimization (SEO) efforts target informational searches. They are often effective for driving organic traffic to your website, but Google ads are ideal for promoting items for transactional searches.

How much do Google ads cost, and how can you leverage them for transactional web searches? Ads are usually more costly than traditional SEO in the long run, so if you want to use them to boost sales, you need to know how much money to budget for advertising.

How Much Does It Cost To Put an Ad on Google?

The average cost of a Google ad is $3.53. However, prices vary widely depending on the industry a company is in and how much work it puts into SEO.

Your industry significantly impacts the cost per click (CPC) and cost per lead (CPL). Because companies only pay for a Google ad when a consumer clicks on it, these two factors are the driving forces when developing an advertising budget. An industry that often has more profitable sales usually has a higher CPC and CPL than those with a higher number of sales that are lower in cost.

For example, an art supply company likely pays a low CPC because it generates many sales at an affordable price point. A company in the professional services industry stands to earn up to $10,000 from a single customer, so the CPC is often significantly higher, with the average hovering at just over $9.

Is $500 Enough for Google Ads?

Yes. $500 can be a good budget for small businesses with a niche vertical and a low CPC; however, companies that sell more expensive products and have a national presence may need to put more money into their advertising budget. You must ask how much Google ads are to know if you can afford this advertising strategy. Understanding how Google determines CPC can help you decide if a $500 budget is enough for your needs.

When internet users search for a transactional keyword, they trigger an auction. Google then compares all qualifying ads that target the same keyword and assigns each of them a quality score. Google analyzes the landing page associated with each ad. This is where a good SEO strategy can boost your ad results. To determine a quality score, Google takes the landing page results and compares them to the expected click-through rate based on past performance and assigns the ad a score between 1 and 10.

Next, Google takes your quality score and multiplies that number by the top amount you are willing to spend for each click, which search engines call your maximum bid. The resulting number is your ad rank. This determines where your ad appears on search engine results pages (SERPS).

Finally, Google determines your exact CPC by taking the ad rank of the listing directly below yours and dividing it by your quality score, then adding one cent to that number. The resulting CPC is what you pay every time a customer clicks on the ad. The amount is usually significantly lower than your maximum bid, so ads can be a cost-effective advertising tool if you also work on SEO to boost your quality score.

Is Paying for Google Ads Worth It?

Ads can be a good tool when you are targeting transactional keywords. Understanding the pros and cons of this marketing strategy can help you decide if it is right for your business.

One major benefit of ads is that they yield immediate results, while SEO often takes time to prove effective. Using an ad on Google also allows you to target searches when customers are most likely to make a purchase. This leads to a significant return on investment (ROI), which is sometimes as high as 800%.

There are several types of Google ads to help target users on different platforms:

• Shopping
• Display
• Search
• App
• Video

However, ads have their limits. They are only effective for promoting keywords with commercial intent, so they do not target users who perform informational searches. You must keep up with trending keywords to maintain a good ROI. It also takes a lot of time and energy to improve your website’s user experience and content to improve your ad CPC quality score.

If you want a good ROI with Google ads, you must work on SEO. Without SEO, your website will not receive a competitive quality score, leading to a lower ad rank and less exposure overall. Good SEO is a critical component of a successful pay-per-click marketing campaign.

Is There a Monthly Charge for Google Ads?

Google does not charge a fixed fee for you to create ads, but you must pay the total cost of successful ones every 30 days or once you’ve reached your payment threshold, a predetermined amount that triggers an instant charge to your account.

It may seem like Google ads are the most cost-efficient way of marketing your products because you only pay for clicks, not just exposure. However, you’re wasting your time if you are not also investing in SEO services. If you want your ads to drive sales, they need decent quality scores, which only happens if you use SEO to make your website more visible on search engines.

While you may not have to pay for Google ads unless they are successful, you probably want to invest in monthly SEO services to boost your marketing strategy. Using both SEO and Google ads is a great way to manage your budget smartly when you sell products rather than information.

Can You Fit the Cost of Google Ads Into Your Marketing Strategy?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to how much Google ads cost, but if you sell products, they can be an effective marketing tool. BKA Content has a team of SEO experts ready to help you make ads beneficial to your marketing strategy. Learn more about how our SEO services can enrich your advertising campaign and boost sales.