Google Ads Click Price Calculator
How much may a click cost you? The calculator works backwards through your numbers: from order value via margin and conversion rate to the click price where you start losing money.
Contribution margin per order: €900
In an online shop set this to 100 %: the order is already the close.
The calculator does nothing but apply your four inputs. What a click actually costs is decided in the auction, through competition, Quality Score, location and season. Check the numbers in your own account instead of relying on a model.
Only above the break-even do you lose money.
30 % below the break-even, so weak months and rough input numbers don't push you straight into the red. A value from my practice, not a fixed rule.
- Enquiries
- 4
- Orders
- 1
- Contribution margin
- €900
The starting values are freely chosen example numbers, not industry benchmarks. Put your own figures in and the result becomes yours.
20 minutes, free: I run the numbers with your real data.
How your maximum viable click price comes about
A click price is not a price, it is an investment with an expected return. That is why you cannot read it off an industry table, you can only calculate it backwards: from the money that stays with you after cost of goods and direct costs, back to the individual click. You need four numbers for that, and you already have all four in house: average order value, contribution margin on it, the conversion rate of your website and the closing rate from enquiry to order.
That forms a chain: 100 clicks produce a certain number of enquiries, those produce a certain number of orders, those produce a certain contribution margin. That contribution margin divided by 100 is the value of a single click, and that is exactly where your break-even sits. If you run an online shop, the second to last step drops out: there the order is already the close, so the closing rate stays at 100 percent.
The break-even is not a target, it is the pain threshold: at that price you pay for a click exactly what it brings in. Only above the break-even do you lose money, below it contribution margin stays in the company. How much room you keep below it is your call. The calculator suggests 30 percent so that weaker months, seasonality and rough input numbers don't push you straight into the red. What a click actually costs is still decided in the auction, where competition, Quality Score, location and season all play their part.
Frequently asked questions
Which four numbers does the calculator need?
Multiply your average order value by your contribution margin, by your conversion rate and by your closing rate. A worked example with freely chosen numbers: €3,000 order value, 30 % margin, 4 % conversion rate and 25 % closing rate produce a break-even of €9 per click. Put your own values in and you get your number.
When is my click price too high?
There is no generally good CPC. A good click price is one noticeably below your break-even. The same €4 click can be a good deal for a trades business with a high order value and ruinous for a shop with a €25 basket.
What closing rate do I enter for an online shop?
100 percent. In a shop the order is already the close, there is no second step from enquiry to order. The calculator then works with basket value, contribution margin and conversion rate only.
Why is my actual CPC above the calculated value?
Because the calculator models your economics, not the auction. What a click costs is decided by competition, Quality Score, keyword match types, location and season. If your actual CPC stays above the break-even, the levers are a better conversion rate, a higher closing rate, a higher order value or tighter keywords, not a higher bid.