CPC (cost per click) is your total ad spend divided by the number of clicks received. CPA (cost per acquisition) is your total ad spend divided by the number of conversions. Use the free calculator below to instantly compute both metrics, your conversion rate, and an overall cost efficiency rating for any paid advertising campaign.
Key Takeaways
- CPC formula: Total ad spend divided by total clicks. The UK average Google Ads CPC is £0.66–£2.50 depending on industry.
- CPA formula: Total ad spend divided by total conversions. A strong CPA for e-commerce is typically under £30.
- Conversion rate benchmark: Google Ads search averages 3.75% across all industries in the UK.
- CPC under £1: Considered excellent for most display and social campaigns.
- Track both metrics: Low CPC means nothing if your CPA is unsustainable. Always measure them together.
[CPC_TOOL_PLACEHOLDER]
What Is Cost Per Click and How Do You Calculate It?
CPC equals your total advertising spend divided by the total number of clicks your ad received.
The formula is straightforward: if you spent £1,000 on a Google Ads campaign and received 500 clicks, your CPC is £2.00. This metric tells you exactly what you are paying for each visitor who arrives on your website through paid advertising.
CPC varies dramatically across platforms and industries. Google Ads search campaigns in the UK average between £0.66 and £2.50 per click. Legal services can exceed £6.00 per click, while retail often sits below £1.00. Facebook Ads typically cost £0.30–£0.97 per click, making it a more affordable traffic source for awareness campaigns. Understanding your CPC helps you forecast budgets accurately and compare performance across different advertising channels.
What Is Cost Per Acquisition and Why Does It Matter More?
CPA measures the actual cost of acquiring a customer or conversion, not just a click.
While CPC tells you what traffic costs, CPA reveals what results cost. You calculate CPA by dividing your total ad spend by the number of conversions. If you spent £2,000 and generated 40 sales, your CPA is £50.
CPA matters more than CPC because cheap clicks that do not convert waste money faster than expensive clicks that do. A campaign with £5 CPC and 10% conversion rate delivers a £50 CPA. A campaign with £0.50 CPC and 0.5% conversion rate delivers a £100 CPA. The expensive clicks actually cost half as much per customer. Smart advertisers optimise for CPA, not CPC. Your target CPA should always be lower than your average customer lifetime value minus fulfilment costs.
What Is a Good CPC for Google Ads in the UK?
A good CPC on Google Ads search in the UK ranges from £0.50 to £2.00 for most industries.
Industry benchmarks vary significantly. Finance and insurance advertisers pay £3.50–£6.00 per click. E-commerce businesses typically see £0.60–£1.50. B2B services average £1.50–£3.50. Travel and hospitality hover around £0.80–£1.80.
Your CPC depends on keyword competition, quality score, ad relevance, and bid strategy. Improving your quality score from 5 to 8 can reduce CPC by 25–37%. Focus on writing tightly relevant ad copy, sending traffic to matching landing pages, and maintaining strong click-through rates above 3%. Long-tail keywords with 3–5 words typically cost 40–60% less than broad single-word terms while delivering higher conversion rates.
How Does CPC Compare Between Google Ads and Facebook Ads?
Google Ads CPC averages £0.66–£2.50, while Facebook Ads CPC averages £0.30–£0.97 across UK campaigns.
The price difference reflects different user intent. Google Ads captures people actively searching for products or services, which commands a premium. Facebook Ads reaches people during passive scrolling, so the cost per click is lower, but conversion rates also tend to be lower.
For direct-response campaigns, Google Ads typically delivers lower CPA despite higher CPC because search intent drives stronger conversion rates (3.75% average versus 1.1% for Facebook). For brand awareness and top-of-funnel engagement, Facebook offers better cost efficiency per impression and per click. Most successful advertisers use both platforms. Google captures demand that already exists. Facebook creates new demand. Allocate 60–70% of your budget to the platform that delivers the lowest CPA for your specific business.
How Can You Lower Your CPC Without Losing Quality Traffic?
Improve your quality score, use negative keywords, and target long-tail phrases to reduce CPC by 20–50%.
Start with negative keywords. Audit your search terms report weekly and exclude irrelevant queries. Most accounts waste 15–25% of their budget on non-converting search terms. Adding 50–100 negative keywords in the first month typically cuts wasted spend immediately.
Next, raise your quality score. Google rewards relevant ads with lower CPCs. Write ad copy that directly mirrors the search query, create dedicated landing pages for each ad group, and ensure page load times stay under 3 seconds. A quality score improvement from 5 to 7 reduces CPC by approximately 22%. Also consider scheduling your ads to run only during hours that produce conversions. Pausing ads between midnight and 6am saves 8–12% of budget for most B2B businesses without losing any meaningful leads.
What Conversion Rate Should You Expect from Paid Ads?
The average Google Ads conversion rate is 3.75% for search and 0.77% for display across all industries.
Top-performing accounts achieve 5–10% conversion rates on search campaigns. E-commerce conversion rates from paid traffic average 2.5–3.5%. Lead generation campaigns typically convert at 4–7% when targeting bottom-of-funnel keywords.
If your conversion rate sits below 2%, your landing page likely has issues. Test these elements in order of impact: headline alignment with ad copy, call-to-action button placement above the fold, form length (reducing from 7 fields to 4 increases conversions by 25–40%), page load speed, and social proof placement. A 1% improvement in conversion rate from 3% to 4% reduces your CPA by 25% without spending a single extra pound on advertising. Always optimise the landing page before increasing your ad budget.
How Do You Use CPC and CPA Together to Optimise Campaigns?
Track CPC for traffic cost management and CPA for profitability decisions across every campaign.
Monitor CPC daily to catch sudden increases from competitor activity or quality score drops. Review CPA weekly to identify which campaigns, ad groups, and keywords deliver customers at a sustainable cost. Set a maximum CPA threshold based on your profit margins.
Here is a practical framework: if your average order value is £100 with a 40% margin, your gross profit per sale is £40. Your maximum CPA must stay below £40 to break even. Target a CPA of £20–£25 to maintain healthy profitability. Work backward to find your required conversion rate. At £2 CPC and a £25 CPA target, you need an 8% conversion rate. If your current rate is 4%, you need to either halve your CPC or double your conversion rate. The calculator above helps you model these scenarios instantly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between CPC and CPM?
CPC charges you per click on your ad. CPM (cost per mille) charges you per 1,000 impressions regardless of clicks. CPC works best for direct-response campaigns where you want website visits. CPM suits brand awareness campaigns where visibility matters more than clicks. Google Ads search uses CPC. Display and video campaigns can use either model.
Can CPA be lower than CPC?
No. CPA is always equal to or higher than CPC because CPA equals CPC divided by conversion rate. If every click converts (100% conversion rate), CPA equals CPC. In reality, conversion rates range from 1–10%, so CPA is always a multiple of CPC. A £2 CPC with 5% conversion rate produces a £40 CPA.
What is a good CPA for e-commerce?
A strong e-commerce CPA in the UK sits between £15 and £35 for products with average order values of £50–£150. Your target CPA should be 20–30% of your average order value to maintain profitability after product costs and fulfilment. Luxury goods can sustain higher CPAs of £50–£100 because margins are larger.
How many clicks do I need before judging CPC performance?
Wait for at least 100 clicks per ad group before making optimisation decisions. Fewer than 100 clicks produces statistically unreliable data. For conversion rate analysis, you need a minimum of 30–50 conversions to identify meaningful patterns. At a 3% conversion rate, that requires roughly 1,000–1,700 clicks.
Does a lower CPC always mean a better campaign?
No. A lower CPC means cheaper traffic, but cheaper traffic often converts at lower rates. A campaign with £0.30 CPC and 0.5% conversion rate costs £60 per acquisition. A campaign with £3.00 CPC and 8% conversion rate costs £37.50. Always evaluate CPC alongside conversion rate and CPA to measure true performance.
How do I calculate CPC if I only know my daily budget?
Divide your daily budget by the number of clicks received that day. If your daily budget is £50 and you receive 35 clicks, your CPC is £1.43. Track this daily and average it over 7–14 days for a reliable CPC benchmark. Google Ads also reports average CPC directly in the dashboard.
What is enhanced CPC in Google Ads?
Enhanced CPC (eCPC) is an automated bid strategy where Google adjusts your manual bids up or down based on conversion likelihood. Google can increase your bid by any amount for clicks it predicts will convert. This typically improves conversion volume by 10–20% but may increase your average CPC by a similar margin.
How often should I check my CPC and CPA metrics?
Check CPC daily for anomalies and budget pacing. Review CPA weekly for campaign-level decisions. Analyse CPC and CPA trends monthly for strategic adjustments. Seasonal businesses should compare year-over-year rather than month-over-month to account for demand fluctuations that naturally affect both metrics.
What is a good CPC for LinkedIn Ads?
LinkedIn Ads CPC in the UK averages £4.50–£8.00, making it the most expensive major advertising platform per click. The higher cost reflects LinkedIn’s professional targeting capability. B2B companies accept higher CPCs on LinkedIn because lead quality tends to be 2–3 times better than other platforms, resulting in competitive CPAs despite the higher click cost. Target decision-makers by job title to justify the premium.
Does my landing page affect CPC?
Yes. Google evaluates landing page experience as one of three quality score factors. A slow, irrelevant, or poorly structured landing page lowers your quality score, which directly increases your CPC. Pages loading in under 3 seconds with content matching the ad copy and clear calls to action earn the highest landing page experience ratings, reducing CPC by 15–25% compared to poorly optimised pages.
Start Tracking Your True Advertising Costs
Understanding your CPC and CPA is the foundation of profitable paid advertising. Without these numbers, you are guessing where your money goes and whether campaigns actually generate returns. Use the calculator above to benchmark your current performance against industry averages. Input your real campaign data, identify whether your CPC falls within acceptable ranges for your industry, and check whether your CPA allows room for profit after all costs.
If your numbers reveal problems, start with the highest-impact fixes: add negative keywords to cut wasted spend, improve landing page relevance to boost conversion rates, and test long-tail keywords to find cheaper traffic that still converts. Small improvements compound. Reducing CPC by 20% and improving conversion rate by 1% together can cut your CPA by over 30%.
Free tool by: John Isaacson, Digital Marketing Strategist at JI Digital
Last Updated: January 2026
