Cost per click; the average amount an advertiser pays for each click generated by a paid campaign.
A practical metric for comparing the traffic efficiency of paid advertising.
Short and sweet:
Cost per click; the average amount an advertiser pays for each click generated by a paid campaign.
A practical metric for comparing the traffic efficiency of paid advertising.
See also: Cost Per Click, PPC, Click-Through Rate
CPC, or cost per click, is the amount an advertiser pays each time someone clicks a paid ad, calculated by dividing total spend by the number of clicks generated. It’s set through an auction where advertisers bid against each other for the same placement, meaning the same keyword or audience can cost dramatically more in a competitive industry than a niche one. Because CPC only reflects cost, not results, marketers usually pair it with conversion data to judge whether the traffic being purchased is actually worth the price.
A competitive keyword like “personal injury lawyer” can carry a CPC of over $50 on Google Ads, reflecting just how much law firms are willing to pay for a single click.
A small Etsy seller running Google Shopping ads might see this cost drop to just a few cents for a niche product term, letting a modest daily budget generate dozens of clicks.
Facebook Ads typically report a much lower rate than Google Search for the same industry, since social platforms price clicks differently than intent-driven search traffic.
