PPC Pricing: How Much Is It and Should You Do It?

Digital marketing is crucial for every business. Pay-per-click (PPC) can be a valuable form of advertising, considering the costs and potential profits. When used efficiently, PPC can be a cost-effective way to boost sales.

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What Is PPC?

PPC is a form of digital advertising. You can place these adverts on social media, websites, or search engines and bid for an amount per click. Every time someone clicks, you pay a certain fee.

As you only pay per click, you can save on advertising costs while gaining brand exposure. You can use PPC for websites and social media, but search engine advertising on Google is one of the more popular forms of PPC.

Key elements when developing your PPC campaign

PPC is relatively easy to manage once you’re familiar with the process. Identify the target keywords related to your offering and bid on them. The bid is for the amount you will pay per click.

The amount you bid is up to you, as you won’t know how much others bid for the same keywords. If others bid for them at a higher price, your advert may appear less. The good news is that you can change this later on to make the campaign work for you.

Keep these steps in mind as you build your PPC campaign, as they will affect your PPC costs:

• Identify your target audience so you’re clear on who your ad is for.
• Determine your PPC goals, such as lead generation or gaining website traffic.
• Do keyword research to ensure they match the intended audience and search topic.
• Create your advert and choose your platform, like Google or a website.
• Decide on the bidding amount.
• Keep an eye on your campaign to see if it gets clicks.
• Test different platforms, ad content, and bid amounts.

Factors influencing PPC pricing

Estimated costs vary based on ad quality, industry, keywords, and more. Consider the following aspects when strategizing your PPC campaigns:

• Industry: Industries like finance, retail, insurance, and e-commerce can be competitive. As there can be many bidders, the price per click rises.
• Choice of keywords: Search intent can play a significant role. Keywords with a transactional intent are usually more expensive than those with informational intent. If you use the same keyword as a competitor, like skin cleanser, it comes down to Quality Scores and higher bids.
• Your Quality Score: Your Quality Score is a combination of several factors outlined below. Typically, the higher your score, the less you pay per click.
• Your landing page: The quality of your landing page influences your overall Quality Score. If your landing page prompts users to take action, it can lower PPC pricing.
• Expected click-through rate (CTR): Your expected CTR is the percentage of people who see and click on your ad. A high expected CTR boosts your Quality Score, lowering your PPC costs.
• Your history with Google Ads: Google also considers the history of your Google Ads account, which can affect your Quality Score.

How much is PPC?

The costs of PPC can differ for various companies in different industries. A company’s marketing budget and business model can play a substantial role. As we’ve seen, the Quality Score of a Google Ads account is also significant.

PPC average costs

We’ve done some research and put together some PPC cost averages from businesses in 2024. These figures are their approximate PPC spend so you have an idea of how much it’ll cost you:

• Average cost per click: Typically $0.11-$0.50 per click
• Average cost per 1000 impressions (CPM): Ranges around $0.51-$1.00
• Average PPC costs per month: The average cost per month is $100-$10,000
• How much businesses pay agencies for PPC: About $1001-$3000 per month
• How much businesses pay freelancers for PPC: Companies pay $1001-$3000 to freelancers
• Average company PPC spend: Companies pay $5001-$10,000 per month
• Cost range for startups: Startup businesses pay $100-$5000 per month on PPC
• Costs for small businesses: Approximately $100-$5000 per month
• PPC costs for medium-sized companies: Mid-sized companies pay $10,001-$50,000 per month 
• How much enterprises spend: Enterprises pay anywhere between $100-$5000 per month

Looking for more insights? Explore our PPC statistics page where we delve into general trends, user behavior, and performance metrics that can help you understand the landscape of PPC advertising better.

Other costs associated with PPC

Google’s prices and those of other PPC programs like Yahoo! will differ. Microsoft Ads are more or less the same as Google programs, with businesses paying $0.11-$0.50 per click.

If you’ll be using an agency, you’ll need to budget those fees, too. Typically, they will be 12%-30% of your ad spend.

If managing your PPC campaigns in-house, expect to pay about $15-$800 monthly for PPC tools and software.

The flexibility of PPC and how it benefits your budget

PPC is a bidding system, much like an auction. If a competitor’s bid is higher than yours and yours comes second, your advert will appear in the number two spot in searches. Your Quality Score can influence the price, so if this is higher, you could pay less.

If you’ve worked on your Quality Score as best you can and still aren’t seeing the results you’d like, you can simply bid higher. Also, if a campaign isn’t working, or you want to change your advert, you can edit it in your Google Ads account and bid again. The flexibility of PPC puts you in control of your campaign and budget.

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Maximize your PPC advertising and increase revenue

For every $1 spent on PPC, businesses make $8. These figures show an impressive return on investment (ROI) for any type of company. Adopting a strategic plan, crafting engaging adverts, and pivoting as needed can increase the success of your efforts.

We at SEO.com are digital marketing experts, helping our clients generate leads and boost sales. Get started with our PPC Management services and request a PPC proposal today!