Why Your CPC Is High and How to Lower It

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) or Cost-Per-Click (CPC) is an internet marketing strategy that is construed far better than organic marketing. It follows a bidding mechanism whereby advertisers bid on keywords and phrases they believe their target audience uses the most to search for their products and services. Everything about the strategy is compelling. It reduces marketing costs, targets the relevant audience, enhances website traffic, and evokes maximum conversion rate. Although a lot of PPC elements go right and add value to the campaign, yet it becomes tremendously frustrating to watch a plunge in the number of clicks and a rise in Cost-Per-Click. Hence, here is a guide on how Max CPC is different from actual CPC, reasons why it is so high sometimes, and measures to lower it to normal.

MAX CPC vs ACTUAL CPC

There is just one line difference between Max and Actual. As the terms explain themselves, Max means the maximum amount advertisers are willing to pay for each click on their Ads, whereas, Actual means the actual amount they end up paying at the end.

REASONS FOR HIGH CPC

Now comes the three primitive causes of high Cost-Per-Click. Read through these factors before you hop on the strategies to curb the trend.

1) High Competition

Bidding means there will be an auction that will take place every time someone uses a keyword that was bid upon. Since there are a plethora of providers for the same products and services, the competition remains high. Eventually, one who bids higher improves the chance of making his or her Ad appear higher in the results.

2) Industry

The type of industry also determines the cost of the bid. An industry that reaps higher value on each click expects its advertisers to pay more on each click. However, an industry that would result in a peanut-sized profit on each click would witness the advertisers who avoid paying higher for the same.

3) Quality Scores

The quality score of online business also determines the amount it will have to pay for each click. Quality score is a rate given out of ten by Google to every website based on its past performance, Ads’ relevance, landing pages, and keywords. And those that score lesser tend to pay higher to appear on top.

MEASURES TO LOWER IT

Having understood that, you can jump on the measures to lower your cost to average CPC. In brief, one straightforward tip would be to lower the bids or simply put, bid for a lower position that also doesn’t impede your number of clicks. Secondly, bid on long-tail keywords that target specific areas where your competitors aren’t. Thirdly, focus on certain common PPC tasks like improve Ad relevance, make Ad groups specific, test new landing pages, etc. Thereupon, you will be back to your actual CPC with a relevant number of clicks on your Ads.

CPC is an effective paid form of marketing strategy that almost every website needs along with SEO. But sometimes, factors like competition, industry, and quality score elevate the cost which becomes extremely cumbersome to deal with. Hence, the foregoing PPC PAPA guide is given that explains the causes of high CPC and their fixes to alleviate the stress of the advertisers and arm them with useful strategies.