Like many parts of business, how much you spend on Google Ads can vary widely. Cost per click (CPC) can range from $.25 to $100.00 and above. These costs vary based on industry, competition, and Quality Score.
Google Ads management makes it easier to ensure your money is being well spent, but there’s no single best solution across the board. With some insight and professional help, you can make sure you get the most out of your Google Ad buys.
What Determines How Much Google Ads Cost?
Google Ads function through a bidding system. Whenever a business buys ad space on Google, they announce how much they are willing to spend per click or per number of views.
If you pay more, your ad is more likely to be seen so long as the ad has a high quality score. Here are other factors that can impact cost:
Industry
The cost of ads varies widely depending on the industry. Part of the reason for this is that the ROI (return on investment) for a single click on an ad for a legal firm could equal thousands of dollars for the law firm, whereas a single click for a retail clothing shop might mean $5 in revenue. Industries that stand to make more from advertising tend to get charged more.
Competition
As the owner of a small or medium-sized business, supply and demand runs your life. Google Ads is no different. More businesses doing what your business is doing and competing for the same audience will drive up prices.
Quality Score
Quality Score is a measurement established by Google to rate the quality of any given ad. To reach this number, Google assesses the ad’s relevance, expected clickthrough rate, and landing page experience. By measuring these factors, Google rates the quality of your ad, which in turn affects the cost.
Location and Time
This is really another version of competition, as ads displayed in competitive regions during competitive times of day can be more expensive.
Optimizing Your Ads
Ad Rank
Like your Quality Score, Ad Rank is a measurement determined by Google to assess if your ad qualifies to be shown and where on the page it will be displayed. A number of factors are combined in this, including your bid amount, the ad’s Quality Score, your landing page, and the competitiveness of the ad space. Ad Rank is also affected by each specific search (for example, a searcher’s location can change where your ad might rank).
Target Effectively
Ad success doesn’t just mean getting people to click–it means getting the right people to click.
Proper Tracking
In order to know what is and isn’t working, you need to have strong performance measurements in place.
Landing Page Quality
It bears repeating that your landing page impacts your relationship to Google Ads. Even if you make the perfect ad, you need to have a good landing page to back it up.
Management Assistance
Running an effective ad campaign is a fulltime job, often requiring a team of people to plan, bring to fruition, and adjust over time. Depending on your ROI, spending money on ads can leave you with extremely narrow margins. If your profit per sale is only $5, you have to be cautious about how you spend your advertising budget. Because of this, some businesses turn to the experts and consultants found at agencies.
These specialists can research successful keywords and campaign structures, help you optimize your Google Ad bids, perform competitor analysis, measure performance, and advise on necessary adjustments. These advertising managers sometimes charge hourly, sometimes by project, and sometimes ask for a percentage of the ad spend.
Finding the Right Help
In a world where you need to be an expert in your field to run a business, it can be hard to have the time or money to also become an expert in advertising. BERK Labs can help. This full-service digital marketing agency has expertise with a range of platforms and analytic tools so you don’t have to.
There are a lot of variables that go into making a successful ad that’s worth the money you spend on it. BERK Labs can help you figure out how to get more leads from your website and make sure that the money you spend is used as efficiently as possible. If you want to know how much Google Ads management costs, reach out today and see what BERK Labs can do for you!