Find out how much you should be spending on Google Ads with tips to stretch your budget even further.
Google Ads can help your business drive leads, but not without a cost.
So how much should you spend on Google Ads? This depends on many factors like your industry, campaign type, and more—which is why calculating how much to spend on Google Ads is a common challenge for growing businesses. With this complete walkthrough, you’ll get everything you need to determine and measure your Google Ads spend with confidence.
Your Google Ads spend will be displayed as “cost” within the platform and it indicates the total amount of money that went towards a given campaign or asset.
Depending on your campaign type and the type of bidding strategy you choose, you will be charged per every click on your ad or one thousand impressions of your ad. Google may spend higher or lower each day to average out close to the daily budget you set at the campaign level.
🚨Should you be spending more or less on Google Ads? Find out instantly with the Free Google Ads Grader.
Here are some other important terms to know when it comes to calculating and managing your Google Ads spend:
There are several other spend-related metrics beyond this you can select when modifying your columns in the Google Ads platform, but these are the main ones that can help you understand how your Google Ads spend is being used in your account.
Whether you’re new to Google Ads or a seasoned veteran trying a new strategy, you might wonder “how much should I spend on Google Ads?” as you get started. There is no right or wrong answer to this question as what every business can afford varies, but our experts recommend starting with at least $1,000-2,500 per month.
For example, our Google Ads benchmarks found that the overall average cost per click in Google Ads is $4.66. So, if you wanted to get roughly 10 clicks per day at that price, that would bring your monthly spend to about $1,398.
Our latest search ad benchmark report can help you understand what to expect for average Google Ads costs within your industry.
Here are some factors to consider when determining your Google Ads budget. You may end up having to spend more or less on a given Google Ads campaign depending on the following factors.
Once you’ve determined how much you want to spend on Google Ads, you’ll want to keep track of your budget. As mentioned earlier, you can view your current Google Ads spend within the “cost” column of the Google Ads platform. You can also modify columns within the Google Ads platform to bring in other related spend metrics like ROAS or CPL. On top of this, you can find other related reports to help you measure your Google Ads spend under the insights and reports section of the platform.
For example, the insights section can give an overview of trends within your account regarding CPA and conversion goals. The report editor and dashboards sections also allow you to build custom reports around key spend metrics. You can also use the budget simulator tool at the campaign level to see spending suggestions for certain goals and time frames.
Your Google Ads spend might feel like a balancing act to get the most clicks and conversions for the least amount of money. Here are some ways you can lower your spend without having to sacrifice the number of clicks and conversions you can afford to bring in.
🏃Want to take Google Ads tips like these on the go? Download our free PPC 101 guide for more strategies you can save and refer to at any time.
You can set an account-level monthly spend limit within the billing section of the platform to cap your overall Google Ads spend. While Google may go above or below your campaign daily budgets from day to day, it will never exceed your monthly spend limit.
Try to gain an understanding of which bid strategies are right for your business and how they might impact the pacing of your spend. For example, Maximize Conversions is usually found to spend at a more aggressive rate since it’s prioritizing placements and clicks that are more likely to convert—and may be more expensive because of that.
You can use the Google Keyword Planner and other PPC keyword research tools, like our Free Keyword Tool, to identify which terms within your industry are the cheapest. Try prioritizing keywords that typically have a lower cost per click.
Additionally, brand keywords, or keywords that include your business name, also tend to be cheaper since they’re specific to your brand.
If you find you’ve hit your spending limits in Google Ads, you can consider other marketing channels to supplement your campaigns as you continue to scale your search strategy over time.
For example, you might consider more free or low-cost marketing ideas to be able to put more spend towards Google Ads. Alternatively, other solutions like social ads, could yield more stable or even cheaper costs to balance out your search costs.
Whatever you choose to spend in Google Ads, be sure to set your expectations accordingly (and audit them regularly). For example, if you can only afford $10 per day, that’s okay! But if your industry’s average cost per click is $10, be ready for your click volume and conversion rates to grow at a much slower pace.
As you collect more historical data over time and continue to build out and optimize your account, you’ll be able to get more out of Google Ads for less.
You don’t have to work towards that alone, either. See how our solutions can help you make the most of your Google Ads spend!
