Average CPC = ad spend ÷ clicks
$2,400 ÷ 400 clicks = $6.00
Why is the cheapest click often the most expensive job?
A click is not a customer. It is a person who arrived on your website, and what happens next decides what the click was worth. Two keywords can sit side by side in an account, one at $3 a click and one at $8, and the $8 one can be the bargain because the people behind it are ready to book. Owners who manage to the click price drift towards the searches nobody else wants, and nobody else wants them for a reason.
The number that pays the bills is cost per job, or cost per lead for a business that quotes first. CPC is one input to it. Divide the click price by the share of clicks that become enquiries and you have the cost of an enquiry: a $6 click that converts at 10 percent is a $60 enquiry.
What does a Canberra removalist pay per booked move? (example figures)
A removalist in Canberra with two trucks spends $2,400 a month on Google Ads across two groups of keywords. One group targets searches such as "removalists canberra" and "interstate removalist canberra to sydney". The other was added to bring the average click price down, with searches like "cheap movers" and "man with a van".
| Spend | Average CPC | Clicks | Quote requests | Moves booked | Cost per move | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Removalist searches | $1,600 | $8.00 | 200 | 24 | 10 | $160 |
| Cheap mover searches | $800 | $4.00 | 200 | 16 | 2 | $400 |
| Whole account | $2,400 | $6.00 | 400 | 40 | 12 | $200 |
The cheap group halved the click price, and each booked move from it cost two and a half times as much, because the people searching for a man with a van wanted a $150 job and the business quotes from $900. Moving that $800 into the removalist searches, at the same rates, would buy about 100 more clicks there and around 5 more moves a month. The account's average CPC would rise to $8, and the business would be better off.
What sets the price of each click?
An auction that runs every time someone searches. Google weighs your bid against how good your ad and page are, what the search looks like and who else is bidding, and gives each advertiser an Ad Rank. Your maximum CPC is a ceiling. What you pay is the least needed to hold your position and clear Google's minimum, which Google describes in "About assets" as beating the Ad Rank of the advertiser directly below you. That is why a better ad and a better page can lower the price without lowering the bid.
The same rules explain why CPC rises without you touching anything. A new competitor bidding on "removalists canberra" in January, when leases turn over, lifts the price for everyone in that auction.
Which CPC column should you trust?
In Google Ads, open Campaigns, then Keywords, and read Avg. CPC beside each keyword, with Conversions and Cost / conv. next to it so the click price never sits alone. In Meta Ads Manager there are two: CPC (cost per link click), which counts clicks that left Facebook or Instagram for your site, and CPC (all), which also counts likes, profile taps and clicks to expand the image. The second always looks cheaper. Use the first when you compare Meta with Google.
How does CoraVision read your click costs?
CoraVision reads spend and clicks for every Google Ads and Meta campaign once you connect them, then again every night, and CPC is those two numbers divided. On the dashboard, the Google Ads and Meta cards show the last 7 days of cost per acquisition, which is where the click price ends up once the page and the phone have done their part. The plan Cora builds with you has weekly check-ins, which is the place to read CPC beside the cost per job, never on its own.
Questions
Why did my cost per click jump this month?
Usually because someone else started bidding on the same searches, or the season changed and more businesses want the same customers. A drop in your ad quality can do it too. Open Auction insights in Google Ads to see which competitors appeared alongside you and how often.
Should I cut my maximum bid to pay less per click?
Only if the clicks you lose are clicks you did not want. A lower bid moves the ad down the page or out of the auction, and the searches you drop are often the ready-to-book ones that everyone bids on. Judge the change by cost per job a month later, not by the click price the next morning.
Do I pay when someone clicks my ad by accident?
You pay for clicks Google treats as genuine. Google filters clicks it judges invalid, such as repeated clicks from one source, and does not charge for them. A real person who clicked and left straight away is still a paid click.