The CPC of your campaigns, the budget your clicks need and the CPC not to go above.
Cost per click (CPC)
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Enter what a campaign cost you and the number of clicks it received: the calculator gives your average cost per click, rounded to the penny, with the workings. It also works the other way round: what a number of clicks will cost at a given CPC, or how many clicks a budget pays for. Add your conversion rate and your profit to see what a conversion costs you and the CPC above which your clicks cost more than they earn.
Choose "CPC", then enter the total cost and the number of clicks for the same period, as your ad account shows them. The average CPC is the total cost of the clicks divided by the number of clicks, which is how Google Ads Help defines it. It is not the same as your maximum CPC bid, which is a ceiling: the amount actually charged for a click is often lower.
Choose "Total cost" to see what a number of clicks will cost, or "Clicks" to see how many clicks a budget pays for. The number of clicks is rounded down, because a click is never paid for in part, and the budget left over is shown. With your average CPC you get an estimate; with your maximum CPC bid you get the most those clicks should cost, unless bid adjustments or automated bidding take a click above your bid.
Open "Profitability" and enter the share of clicks that end in a sale or an enquiry, then what one conversion leaves you with before advertising. You get the expected conversions, the cost per conversion and the break-even CPC: profit per conversion multiplied by the conversion rate. Above it, each conversion costs more in clicks than it earns, and the calculator tells you so.
The cost, budget, CPC entered and profit are taken to the penny, and the conversion rate to a hundredth of a point. The CPC worked out and the cost per conversion are rounded to the nearest penny, with halves rounded up, and expected conversions to two decimal places; in the workings, ≈ marks a rounded figure. The break-even CPC is rounded down to the penny, so that a bid at that figure stays below the threshold.
CPC = total cost ÷ number of clicks.
Total cost = CPC × number of clicks.
Number of clicks = budget ÷ CPC, rounded down.
Expected conversions = clicks × conversion rate.
Cost per conversion = CPC ÷ conversion rate.
Break-even CPC = profit per conversion × conversion rate.
A search campaign cost £1,240.00 for 3,100 clicks, so its average CPC is £1,240.00 ÷ 3,100 = £0.40. Of those clicks, 4% led to an order: 3,100 × 4% = 124 orders, each of which cost £0.40 ÷ 4% = £10.00 in advertising. If an order leaves £12.50 of profit before advertising, the break-even CPC is £12.50 × 4% = £0.50, so at £0.40 a click the campaign pays its way. With a budget of £250.00 at £0.65 a click, you would pay for 384 clicks and have £0.40 left over.
Divide the total cost of your clicks by the number of clicks. Google Ads Help gives the example of two clicks, one costing £0.20 and one £0.40: £0.60 ÷ 2 = an average CPC of £0.30.
Your maximum CPC is your bid: the most you are willing to pay for a click. Your actual CPC is what you are charged for a given click, and in the Google Ads auction it is often lower than your maximum, because you pay only the minimum needed to clear the Ad Rank thresholds and beat the Ad Rank of the advertiser just below you. It can go above your maximum, for example if you have set a bid adjustment. Your average CPC is the average of your actual CPCs over a period.
Multiply what one conversion leaves you with by your conversion rate. Google Ads Help describes a skateboard shop that makes £10 on each board it sells, where 1 visit in 10 ends in a purchase: at £1 a click its advertising costs equal its sales, so it needs to pay less than £1 a click to make a profit. Use profit rather than revenue, otherwise the threshold does not cover what the goods cost you.
Divide the budget by the CPC and keep the whole number. £100.00 at £0.30 a click pays for 333 clicks, with £0.10 left over. Starting from a maximum CPC bid gives you a spending ceiling: Google Ads Help gives the example of 23 clicks at a £0.25 bid, which cost no more than £5.75. How many clicks you really get also depends on how often people search and on the competition for your keywords.
No. In its 2020 market study of online platforms and digital advertising, the Competition and Markets Authority found that search advertising is normally paid for per click, while display advertising may be sold per click but is more often sold per thousand impressions (CPM). Prices can also be measured per action, such as a sale (CPA). This calculator deals with CPC; the cost per conversion it gives is what an action costs you when you pay per click.
This calculator gives general information, not legal, tax, financial or accounting advice. The result depends on the figures you enter: check that they cover the same period and are of the same kind, for example all excluding VAT.
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