Cost Per Click (CPC)

CPC is the price paid per click, which varies enormously by keyword competitiveness — a competitive B2B keyword might cost $10-40 per click, while a long-tail niche term might cost $1-3. Manual CPC bidding gives you direct control over what you pay per keyword; automated "Smart Bidding" strategies optimise bids using machine learning, but need enough conversion volume (typically 30-50/month) to calibrate well.

• —Manual CPC is the right starting point at low volume — Smart Bidding needs conversion data it doesn't have yet to optimise correctly.
• —CPC times clicks needed per conversion is your real customer acquisition cost from that channel — CPC alone is an incomplete number.
• —Rising CPCs on a keyword over time usually means more competitors are bidding on it, not that the keyword stopped converting.

This is the exact lesson that covers this term in depth — with examples, diagrams, and a hands-on exercise.