Google ads play a significant role in bringing desired visibility and ROI for your business. But in the long run, the cost per click (CPC) for these ads can add up, making your campaigns more expensive than expected. If you are spending more than you’d like on Google ads and want to cut it down, the fear of losing leads can hold you back.
But not anymore! This article shares tips on how to lower Google Ads CPC without losing leads. So, let’s begin!
Tips to Lower Google Ads CPC
Small to medium-sized businesses, on average, spend anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 monthly on their Google paid search campaigns. It’s around $12,000 a year minimum and can increase depending on the keywords you are targeting.
However, if you don’t want to spend that much, here are some tips that help you reduce your Google ads CPC without losing potential leads:
Use Negative Keywords
Do you know that when your ads appear for irrelevant searches that aren’t likely to click or convert, it increases your CPC? For instance, if you are running ads for “Luxury watches,” your ads may show up for searches like “free watch giveaways,” attracting the wrong audience who have no intention of buying.
Therefore, one of the best strategies to lower your Google ads CPC is to use negative keywords. Typically, negative keywords are the terms and phrases that Google ads specialists use to prevent ads from appearing on irrelevant sites or searches. So, you must create a list of negative keywords to use across your ads.
Let’s suppose your business sells “premium handbags.” Then, your negative keywords will include “free handbags” or “cheap handbags.” Know that using negative keywords filters out irrelevant traffic and ensures that your budget is spent only on high-intent users. This lowers your CPC and improves your ads’ performance in the long run.
Improve Your Ads Content
Another tip that helps lower your Google ads CPC is to improve your ad content, particularly the ad copy. You need to make it highly relevant to the keyword you are targeting and also make specific landing pages for that keyword.
Also, it’s not just for search ads but also for display and video ads, so the messaging is consistent across all campaigns. Now you must be thinking, “Wait, it’s a lot of work.” well, with the following tips, optimizing your ad content becomes a breeze:
- Don’t fill the ad copy with unnecessary words. Only mention what really matters to your customers. For instance, instead of writing about your brand’s performance, you should list the main features, benefits, and value propositions of products.
- Use ad extensions in your Google ads. Ad extensions are additional information, such as phone numbers, locations, and other links, that can be added to your online ads to make them more compelling for the audience.
- Search your competitors and analyze how they structure their ad copy, call to action, and value proposition. Identify gaps and try to come up with better content that attracts high-intent consumers.
- Use persuasive or powerful words like “exclusive,” “limited-time discount,” or “unbeatable.” These words create a sense of urgency that encourages the target audience to act.
If possible, hire a copywriter to craft unique and highly relevant ad copy that will attract the maximum number of people while also lowering your Google Ads CPC.
Focus on Quality Score
Google ads quality score is a tool or metric that measures how well your ads are performing compared to other advertisers. Put simply, quality score is Google’s rating for the relevance of the keywords, landing page, and ad copy.
It’s generally calculated on a scale of 1 to 10, with one being bad and ten being great. QS is quite important when it comes to lowering your ads without losing potential leads. How?
Well, the higher the quality score, the higher the ranking of your ads and the lower the overall CPC. For instance, if your ad has a quality score of 8/10, it is more likely to show up in a higher position on the search results page while paying less per click compared to an ad that ranks lower.
Don’t know how to view your Google ads quality score? Here are the steps for that:
- Go to your Google ads account and click the Campaigns icon.
- Tap Audiences, keywords, and content.
- Click Search Keywords and tap the Columns icon in the table’s upper right corner.
- Hit the drop-downarrow beside the All Columns and then open the Quality Score section.
- To see your current quality score, you need to select the checkboxes right next to the metrics of your choice.
Lower Your Bids
While this may seem impractical for many people, lowering your bids on some keywords can also help you reduce your Google ads CPC without impacting much of your profitability. You may see that a few of your keywords have bids higher than necessary for them to be on the first page.
Let’s say that you are bidding $11 on the keyword “Best Leather Shoes for Men,” but the average first-page bid for this keyword is around $5.70. In this case, lowering your bids won’t affect your ranking much but will surely reduce your CPC.
In addition, you should identify low-performing seasons for your keywords and minimize the bid during those times to save some bucks without any lead drop.
Tip: This strategy is best suited if you haven’t yet leveraged Google’s automated bidding systems and control everything manually.
Optimize for Location and Devices
Adjusting your Google ads CPC doesn’t just revolve around keywords; it’s more than that. You must consider multiple other things, including location and devices. For instance:
- What areas or locations are providing you with maximum clicks and conversions?
- Which time and day has the highest number of conversions?
- What device is used the most to make a purchase or conversion?
Based on these things, you should then lower your Google ads CPC. For example, if you see that your ads are getting maximum clicks and conversions on Monday but weekends are slow, you can set a lower bid for Sundays to save money while keeping it higher for other days.
In the same way, if you notice that New York is bringing in maximum conversion while Alaska is mostly unresponsive, you can adjust your bids accordingly.
Use Long-Tail Keywords
You can also try using long-tail keywords that comprise 3 to 8 words to lower your Google ads CPC. Since these keywords are more specific, they have low competition, which means you will likely pay less to rank on these keywords.
But this isn’t the only benefit of using long-tail keywords! These terms are more detailed, attracting audiences who want specific solutions and avoid generic searches, offering high conversion rates.
Benefits of Lowering Google Ads CPC
Unlike other platforms like Amazon Advertising, Google ads target a bigger audience, which necessitates that businesses optimize their campaigns to enjoy their benefits. Now that you are aware of the different tips to lower Google ads CPC, here are some of the benefits of doing so:
- Better Lead Quality: Lowering your Google ads CPC involves improving your ads’ relevance and better targeting, which helps you attract quality leads who truly want to invest in your business and have the potential to become your long-term clients.
- Long-Term Growth: Another benefit of reducing your Google Ads spending is long-term, sustainable growth. It allows you to save money on advertising, so you can run ads for longer periods without exhausting your budget too quickly.
- Save Money for Other Advertising Methods: Lowering your Google CPC frees up funds that can be reinvested into other marketing channels, like social media, to reach the maximum audience and increase brand awareness.
FAQs
What is CPC in Google ads, and why does It matter?
CPC or cost per click is the amount you pay each time someone clicks on your Google ads. It matters because a high CPC can quickly drain your advertising budget and, in some cases, greatly impact your campaign’s profitability.
Why does my Google ad’s CPC keep increasing?
There are several factors that may increase your Google ads’ CPC, such as increased competition, which means more marketers are bidding for the same keywords, and a low-quality score. Changes in user behaviour and market shifts also impact the overall CPC.
Will lowering Google ads’ CPC lower my ads ranking?
Not necessarily, as it depends totally on your quality score; if it has a higher quality score, then your ads will rank high even after lowering your CPC. However, if your quality score is lower, then it becomes difficult to maintain your rankings at a low CPC.
Conclusion
Lowering your Google ads CPC is all about improving your quality score, using negative keywords, optimizing ad copy, and adjusting bidding strategies. These tips ensure that your ads are highly relevant and only attract an audience who are really interested in investing in your business.
