How Much Does a Google Ads Campaign Cost? A Pricing Guide

Businesses spend an average of $9,000-$10,000 a month on Google Ads, with an average cost per click (CPC) of $2-$5. Factors like bidding strategies, business size, and software influence the overall investment.

Google Ads delivers an average 200% return on investment (ROI). Does that mean you’ll always double your money? Not quite.

Google’s general ROI calculation only accounts for pay-per-click (PPC) ad spend. While that’s a good chunk of your Google Ads campaign cost, it leaves out other essential costs like software subscriptions and management fees.

Below, HawkSEM CEO Sam Yadegar and freelance search engine marketing (SEM) strategist Amalia Fowler break down the full costs of a Google Ads campaign, including factors, agency costs, and how to maximize ROI with the right tech and expertise.

How much does Google Ads cost?

From our client data, on average, businesses spend $9,000-$10,000 on Google Ads, with an average cost per click of $2–$5.

However, these numbers depend greatly on factors like:

• Ad spend
• PPC management costs
• Asset creation
• Tools and software needed

Ad spend

Ad spend takes up a big piece of the Google Ads campaign pie. That’s because it accounts for the total cost of clicks you get. This falls outside of management costs, content creation, and software.

So, we’ll need to cover several sub-factors that influence CPC and ad spend, like:

1. Business size
2. Industry and CPC
3. Specific keywords you target
4. Quality score
5. Market trends and seasonality
6. Bidding type and strategy
7. Ad type
8. Audience targeting
9. Daily budget

1. Business size

Small businesses tend to have smaller audiences to target, while enterprise businesses reach many more people on the web.

Fowler reminds us that Google Ads costs vary greatly depending on business size:

“For local businesses who operate in a certain service area with minimal competition, $1,500 a month could be enough (for ad spend, before service fees),” she explains.

“For bigger businesses, it’s hard to say without knowing the information listed above,” says Fowler. “I have large clients who do well with $5,000 and large clients who are only competitive at the $40,000 a month mark due to competition and CPC.”

As you can see, there’s a vast difference between local and enterprise spending — $1,500 to $40,000. What gives? Yadegar explains:

“The disparity is audience size,” he says. “Local businesses typically target tight, small geo’s, while enterprise can be international.”

According to Fowler, the best way to narrow down your brand’s ad spend starts with keyword research and CPC: Figure out how much 100-200 clicks for those campaigns would cost you on average per month. That’s a lower search volume minimum.

Speaking of CPC, did you know they differ widely across industries?

2. Industry and CPC

The industry you operate in heavily influences your ad pricing because CPC rates vary for different sectors.

For example, if you opt for ads on the Google Search Network, you might pay $3.33 per click in the business-to-business (B2B) space, $1.16 per click in ecommerce, and $6.75 in the legal industry.

If you choose to leverage ads on the Google Display Network, your CPC tends to be lower, even within the same industry.

Yadegar tailors each client’s PPC advertising strategy to align with these CPC rates:

“A higher CPC means searchers are more ready to buy or convert,” he explains. “That warrants a more bottom-funnel approach.”

Bottom-funnel strategies target those further along in the buyer’s journey. This often includes remarketing tactics (reaching out to previous site visitors) to personalize and persuade potential customers already familiar with your brand.

“Feel free to blend in some top and mid-funnel strategies alongside bottom-funnel targeting,” Yadegar says.

Top-funnel audiences are new to the buyer’s journey and might not know your brand. Informational content about your industry and brand might appeal to a top-funnel audience.

But remember: your most valuable audience is those closest to purchase, so prioritize bottom-funnel strategies.

3. Specific keywords you target

Search engine ads target four types of search intent:

• Informational
• Navigational
• Commercial
• Transactional

The first two may not lead to immediate conversions, as these audiences are browsing for information about your industry or brand.

However, the last two search intents often drive action, as these people are ready to investigate or purchase a product or service.

Different search intents demand different ads. So it only makes sense to target these prospects with different keywords for optimal results.

Yadegar highlights that keywords with transactional and commercial intent typically cost more than those with informational and navigational intent.

Even within the same industry, the intent behind your keywords will directly impact their price.

For instance, if you’re in the real estate space, the keyword “sell house fast Austin” will have a CPC of $95, but “worst month to sell a house” will have a CPC of $60.

That’s because the intent for “sell house fast Austin” matches transactional intent. Meaning? The person who searches for that phrase is more likely to want to complete a transaction quickly.

Similarly, pricier services often garner higher CPCs in related search queries.

In the legal industry, the keyword “truck accident lawyer Dallas” will have a CPC of $425, but “offshore accident lawyer” will have a CPC of $815.

While both of these phrases have similar intent, the offshore query signals a potential for a more expensive service.

4. Quality Score

Quality Score is Google’s internal ranking score for the relevance of your ads and keywords.

Your ad’s Quality Score directly correlates to your CPC (and ad position in the SERP). The higher your Quality Score, the lower your CPC and the better your ad placement.

Our advice? Aim for a Quality Score of at least 5 — anything lower increases your CPC. If it’s higher than 5, however, your CPC will come down.

For example, a Quality Score of 1 (the lowest) results in a 400% higher CPC. In contrast, a Quality Score of 10 (the highest) slashes your CPC by 50%.

Your Quality Score hinges on how well your ad copy addresses search intent, your Google Ads history, landing page quality, click-through rates (CTR), and keyword relevance vis-a-vis audience intent.

5. Market trends and seasonality

We discussed how pricier items can drive up keyword costs. However, a keyword’s cost today won’t necessarily stay the same forever.

It’s important to watch for market and industry trends that could spike demand for your products. A new trend could surge your Google advertising costs (in terms of CPC).

Seasonality can also impact your campaign costs. For example, if you try to rank for summer-related keywords like “men’s swim trunks” in July and August, your CPC might be higher compared to the frosty winter months.

6. Bidding type and strategy

Although you can set daily Google Ads budgets, your cost per lead also depends on your chosen bidding model.

Depending on the search intent, you might choose CPC, cost per impression (CPM), cost per view (CPV), or cost per action (CPA). These automated strategies optimize your bids based on the above metrics.

Prefer to have more control over your Google Ads campaign?

“Manual bidding gives the most control on costs,” Yadegar recommends..

Automated bidding, on the other hand, is much easier to manage since Google’s algorithms calculate optimized bids for you. However, Yadegar warns it often comes with higher costs:

“Fully automated bidding strategies can lead to overspend,” he says. “We recommend only using automated bidding once results are predictable and backed by ROI.”

7. Ad type

Google offers multiple advertising platforms, each affecting your Google Ads campaign cost.

You can choose from search, display, video, shopping, app, discovery, local, or app ads — all of which have different prices.

Display ads might cost less than search ads. For example, search ads have an average CPC between $1-$2, and display ads have an average CPC of less than a dollar.

8. Audience targeting

It turns out that the more targeted your ads are, the more expensive your CPC and ad spend will be. Why? Because highly-targeted ads reach conversion-ready audiences, which means stiffer competition and higher bids.

For example, you might target ads based on:

• Location
• Timing
• Long-tail keywords
• Audience segments and demographics
• Online history

Targeting an audience from a small town in Wyoming would typically cost less than targeting an urban audience in a bustling metropolis like Los Angeles or New York City.

9. Daily budget

In your Google Ads account structure, you can set a maximum bid amount to spend on ranking your ad for a certain keyword. You can also set an average daily budget to keep your ad spend below your preferred threshold at the end of each day.

While you should make sure your budget is competitive enough to rank above competitors, you can’t allocate more than what you predict your ads will generate in revenue.

Yadegar strategizes budgets based on every client’s needs:

“Once we establish a growing ROI, we recommend budget adjustments where we have tried-and-true winners,” he explains.

Still, budgeting can be tough for even seasoned brand owners and marketers. That’s where our skilled PPC strategists step in, bringing valuable support to manage your PPC campaigns effectively.

PPC management costs

If you manage your PPC campaigns in-house, employee salaries are an inevitable cost. But what if your marketing team lacks the bandwidth to successfully and effectively manage your Google Ads campaigns?

In that case, an expert or a Google Ads agency is your best bet for success.

Here are three common Google Ads pricing models:

1. Flat fee

As the name suggests, the flat fee model is a monthly expense that remains the same no matter how small or large your marketing budget is. However, some experts use a tiered flat-fee model.

For example, if your monthly budget for Google Ads is $5,000, they’d charge $500 to manage it. But for a $10,000 budget, the fee could rise to $1,000, reflecting the additional effort that goes into managing a larger budget.

2. Performance-based fee

In a performance-based fee model, clients pay only for the leads they get. This bypasses factors like monthly budgets, maximum bids, maximum CPC, return on ad spend (ROAS), metrics, bidding strategies, or conversion rates.

While some clients care about these details, most are focused on what really matters: the number of leads they get per month, the quality of those leads, and the cost per lead.

3. Percentage of ad spend

In the percentage of ad spend model, agencies take a fixed percentage of your ad spend as a commission. The industry average is between 10% and 20%, though some experts charge up to 30%.

In addition to the percentage of ad spend, there might be a one-time investment to set up your Google Ads account, too.

Some agencies offer ad creation as an add-on service to PPC management, but whether you choose a PPC agency or separate digital marketing agency, these costs will impact your overall Google Ads campaign cost.

Asset creation

To develop winning ad copy and landing pages, you’ll need writers, designers, and web developers to get the job done right. These experts can be freelancers, ad agencies, or part of your in-house team.

Freelancers and ad agencies may have different pricing models, like per word (for content), per hour, or per asset. Experienced freelance writers in your industry typically charge $65 to $100 per hour or $0.21-$0.30 per word.

On the other hand, graphic designers might charge around $35 per hour or more depending on experience, while web developers will range $61-$80 per hour.

If you opt for a digital marketing agency, expect monthly rates that range anywhere between $2500 to $10000 and up.

Like any other Google Ads campaign cost, prices can fluctuate according to:

• Experience
• Location
• Industry specialization

For example, a content writer that specializes in B2B might charge clients differently from one who specializes in entertainment.

If you hire editors or project managers to oversee projects before you greenlight them, you’ll need to factor in those costs, too.

Alternatively, you can streamline management tasks with the right tech.

Tools and software needed

Curious about how to keep your advertising schedule in check? How does your team know when to submit certain ad assets or check progress? More importantly, how can you tell if anyone’s actually making headway?

One word: technology. Take click fraud, for example.

Most experts use tools like ClickCease,Lunio, and ClickGuard to detect click fraud. ClickCease’s mid-tier plan is $71 per month, ClickGUARD’s has a higher cost of $119 per month, and Lunio charges a small percentage of your ad spend.

Yadegar reveals some of his go-to Google Ads management tools to keep the clicks rolling in:

• Project management: Trello (costs up to $17.50 per month), Asana (prices capped at $24.99 per month), and ClickUp (costs around $12 per month or more depending on your subscription)
• Reporting and analytics: Google Analytics (free), Excel ($159.99 for license or $6.99 per month when bundled with Microsoft 365), and Supermetrics (prices can go up to $579)
• Competitive analysis: Semrush (mid-tier pricing at $249.95 per month), Similarweb (starts at $125 per month), and Spyfu (costs up to $79 per month)
• Feed management: Channable (costs up to $104 per month), DataFeedWatch (prices can go up to $599 per month), and Feedonomics (custom pricing)
• Analysis and optimization: TrueClicks, Optmyzr, and Wordstream (software costs vary depending on business requirements)
• Writing assistants: Grammarly (prices capped at $15 monthly per member), Jasper.ai (price estimates vary), and Rytr (plans stop at $29 per month)

Why advertise on Google Ads?

Your Google Ads campaign might take up a big portion of your marketing budget, but it’s often worth every penny. Here’s why:

1. Better visibility

The aim of any digital marketing campaign is to get in front of potential customers. With Google’s vast reach, you reap the benefit of advertising to a massive audience.

Plus, your ad copy usually ranks before organic results, which makes them the first thing prospects see and click. This gives you a significant edge and an excellent way to win new customers.

2. Efforts focus on truly interested customers

With PPC ads, you only target qualified people who have the intention to buy. Moreover, you only pay if they interact with your ads. Talk about a win-win for ROI.

3. More flexibility

You control your ad spend, how long you want to run your ads, who you want to target, ad types, and what kind of pricing works best for your needs. Simply put, you call the shots.

4. Rapid scalability

Ever compared SEM vs. SEO, where SEM speaks to PPC marketing and Google Ads? While both garner results, Google Ads generates leads and revenue far faster.

SEO can take months to show results, while Google Ads work instantly. Sure, you’ll see better results if you pair both strategies together, but even without SEO, Google Ads ensures your offerings reach your prospects at the right moment.

5. Actionable insights

Advertisers can see how their target audience interacts with their ads and gather data on what drives revenue.

For example, Google Ads lets you see which specific keywords spark the most interest, what ad copy gets the most impressions and interactions, and which demographics click on your ads the most. This way, you focus your efforts on what you know works.

What you get from a Google Ads management agency

Once you know the average costs and agency pricing structures, you might wonder what deliverables you get from an agency partnership.

Along with management, agencies and contractors usually offer resources and professional insights into different types of digital marketing.

Basic Google Ads campaign management services usually include:

• Strategy creation and optimization
• Keyword and audience research
• Campaign buildout
• Campaign optimization
• Reporting
• A/B testing

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Is the cost of Google Ads worth it?

With the right account structure, bidding strategy, and PPC agency to optimize your campaigns, Google Ads can be a game-changer. But many factors influence the true effectiveness of Google Ads campaigns.

Here are three ways we recommend to determine if Google Ads campaigns are worth the investment:

Keep an eye on metrics with Google Analytics

Wondering if your ad copy hits the mark with your audience? Check your Google Analytics account to find out. Here, you’ll see important metrics like:

• Impressions
• Clicks
• Emerging trends
• Conversions

Set conditions to view these insights in real-time or whenever you’d like.

And if you partner with HawkSEM? You’ll get exclusive access to our secret weapon.

Leverage ConversionIQ for performance management

At HawkSEM, all clients benefit from PPC and overall web performance insights through our proprietary tech, ConversionIQ.

This machine-learning software collects and calculates data points across your entire marketing landscape, attributing revenue down to the last social media post, web page, or keyword.

It’s a great supplement to Google Analytics, with intuitive dashboard views and actionable insights to make the most of your ad spend.

As for our favorite metric to monitor…

Check your ROAS

Your ROAS measures the revenue you generate from your online advertising investment. We recommend you set up a target ROAS and wait one to two weeks (or until you have enough data) to assess its performance.

To calculate ROAS, divide your revenue by your ad spend.

We also suggest you calculate your ROI by dividing your revenue by the total amount you’ve spent on constructing, running, and evaluating those ads. This will help you determine if you’re making or losing money with Google Ads.

The takeaway

Your Google Ads campaign cost can range anywhere from $1,500 to $40,000 per month, with an average of $9,000 to $10,000. This variation stems from factors like industry and keyword intent, along with software costs, asset creation, and PPC management.

But you don’t have to stress over high Google Ads campaign costs — it’s all about ROI.

Partner with a top 3% Google Premier Partner agency like HawkSEM and you get decades of experience in PPC campaigns — just check out our case studies.

It’s time to turn your PPC costs into profit-boosting investments. Let’s talk.

This article has been updated and was originally published in January 2023.