7 Google Ads Budget Considerations to Help You Plan Your PPC Campaign
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is an indispensable tool when it comes to driving traffic to your website. Not only do you have the freedom to control all budgetary aspects, but you also get to customize your campaigns for specific target audiences, times of the year and much more.
If you’re hoping to reap the benefits of PPC ads, then Google Ads is an ideal place to start. Google Ads appear in multiple high-traffic locations, including search pages, Google Maps results, and websites your customers use.
Despite how tempting it may be to set a high budget and hope for conversions, there are some careful considerations you should take to get the most out of your ad spend. In this article, we’ll cover the following points to help you budget for your PPC campaign like a pro.
Table of Contents
1. Estimate A Budget for Google Ads
First, you’ll want to determine your maximum and minimum budget for Google Ads in accordance with your overall marketing budget. Ask yourself, “How much am I willing to spend?” and, “What’s the minimum amount needed to ensure I get the traffic I want”? With these numbers determined, you’re set to tackle the finer details of your campaign budget.
2. Know Your Industry
Every campaign decision you make should be centered around your industry and, more specifically, your market niche. You’ll want to fully understand your target audience and learn more about your competitors’ strategies. PPC ads are targeted; therefore, you need to know your customers’ pain points so that you can showcase how your product or service meets their needs. In addition to the above, you’ll also need to convince them that you offer something better than the competition.
In short, you must research your industry, study your audience and identify your competitors. Then, learn what does and does not work for them, and ultimately strive to beat their strategy.
3. Factor in Your Location
When developing an advertising budget, you must consider your location and whether or not it has any effect on your business. For example, does the climate have any impact on your products or services? Are you an e-commerce mega-store that has warehouses all over the country? These factors are crucial when devising your strategy and determining where you will target your ads.
4. Seasonal Google Ad Considerations
Another question worth asking is: how do the seasons affect your marketing strategy? For example, if you run a furniture store, you may have a patio line you’re pushing in the spring and summer months, while in the winter, you may showcase holiday décor. Similarly, seasonal factors apply to clothing stores, hardware suppliers and more. That’s why seasonality adjustments for your ad campaigns are a must when trying to stay ahead of competitors.
It’s also worth noting that some seasons are more expensive to advertise in than others. Therefore, you’ll need to evaluate whether running large campaigns during busy shopping times is critical for your business.
5. Understand Google Keyword Search Costs
Keywords are the key to targeting specific audiences using a search engine. Before running any Google Ads, you’ll want to find out how much your keywords cost since it varies based on search volume and competition. That’s why it’s best to research what your target audience is searching for before spending money on the highest-performing and most expensive keywords in Google AdWords.
Average Google Ads Cost per Click (CPC)
The cost of a Google Ad depends on several factors such as your region, industry, season and current consumer trends. Currently, the average cost per click for Google ads in their search network is between $1 and $2. The average CPC for display ads in 2022 is under $1. Keep in mind, though, that the most expensive keywords in Google AdWords can cost over $50 per click.
Google Ads Cost Per Click by Industry
So, what determines the average CPC by industry? In general, the cost per click value is a key indicator of competition in your market niche. That is, the higher the competition, the higher the CPC rate. Fortunately, if you sell in a competitive niche, there are ways to lower your CPC. Choosing longtail keywords and keywords with lower search volumes are two options. Another is to reserve your biggest campaigns for seasons that aren’t busy for shoppers. For example, running ads during Christmas and Black Friday will cost you far more than running them in, say, the middle of January.
6. Learn About Conversion Rates for Google Ads
Lower CPC rates are just one piece of the puzzle. You’ll also want highly converting ads so that you get the best return on your investment. That’s why it’s smart to research typical conversion and click-through rates for your industry, as well as run smaller campaigns to collect this data for yourself.
AdWords Benchmarks
Benchmarks for Google Ads show how well ads perform in a given industry. Benchmarks include several metrics, such as:
- Average click-through rate (CTR)
- Average cost per click (CPC)
- Average conversion rate (CVR)
- Average cost per action (CPA)
Each year, new data is compiled by Google and other analysts to determine these stats. You can use these numbers to help you budget for your future campaigns and see how well current and previous campaigns are performing/have performed.
Google Display Benchmarks
Search campaigns are a must-have when using Google Ads; however, Google also offers display ads in the form of text, images or videos. Display ads tend to be less expensive than search ads which is why you should consider using them alongside your search campaign.
Current Google display CTR benchmarks and similar data can help you design a campaign that gets the most out of your display ad budget.
7. Choosing Your Keywords
Now that you have a good idea of what keywords are both cost-effective and converting, you can begin to design a campaign around the optimal keywords for your industry. Remember, cost and volume aren’t the only metrics you should consider. Relevance is arguably much more important—you need to choose keywords your customer base is searching for to ensure your ads are visible to them.
Luckily, numerous online tools can help you find the top keywords for your niche. SEMRush and Spyfu offer subscribers robust SEO and keyword research tools, while WordStream and Google Trends provide free alternatives. Google’s Keyword Planner, which sits within the Google Ads platform, also provides valuable search term data and forecasts. Best of all, most of these tools include a search volume estimator and historical trend data to help you choose the most valuable domain keywords.
How to Set Your Google Ads Budget
Now that you have a better idea of how to structure your Google Ads budget, you’ll be more equipped to determine your daily budget for pay-per-click ads. You can also set your budget so that Google does not exceed a certain daily amount. However, suppose your ads have been performing exceptionally well, and you want to continue running them. In that case, you can use an AdWords budget monitoring service to send you real-time alerts about your spending.
Additionally, a Google-based budget planner known as Performance Planner is a useful tool you can use to help determine and manage your future PPC daily budgets.
Contact the Experts
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