Google Ads Cost UK: Average Ad Spend and Important Metrics

The average Google Ads cost and budget can vary a lot depending on numerous aspects. One of the most important is the region where your Google Ads account is located and where the business is advertised.

Whether you are performing Google search results pages ads or video ads for YouTube, each kind of action also impacts the final budget and Google Ads spend. It is indispensable to understand these numbers for many reasons, including measuring the performance of your campaign and seeing if you’re spending an optimal amount, for example.

If you’re a company from the UK and are spending on PPC campaigns on Google, make sure to take a look at all the aspects we’ll talk about below. Understanding how Google Ads work in your region and the average cost of the actions can help generate numerous insights into your business’s health and how you can improve your metrics.

Here’s everything you need to know about Google Ads costs in the UK:

Why Google Ads Cost Vary Per Region

There are several reasons why the value of your Google Ads strategy is different for each region. However, three factors impact this calculation the most: Market, Demand, and Audience.

They can be decisive details regarding the cost-per-click of your campaign, its quality score, and, consequently, the overall cost of Google Ads. Here’s why each one of those factors matters when Google Ads operates in different countries:

Market

We know that each country has different companies and industries that supply the population, and the markets can vary depending on what the users need the most. If you sell a product or service with high competition and numerous companies fighting for the same clients, advertising your industry will likely be more expensive, whether you want to gather users for your landing pages or any other objective.

The high competition will impact your average cost per click and also drastically increase your pay-per-click campaign’s budget. The less competitive your industry is, the more likely you’ll be able to create high-quality ads for a lower cost.

Demand

This is not a surprise for anyone. The higher the demand, the more expensive it will be to get an ad position on the results page. Google Ads considers demand to be one of the top three factors that influence price, and one of the things that most impact that is the country where you’re at. 

Different countries have different demands and habits, so understanding Google Ads pricing also means understanding the demand for your product and how it will impact other advertising costs.

Audience

Among all the items we listed, the thing that most varies depending on the country is the habits and behavior of the population. For example, in countries like Japan, the search for skincare and beauty products is very high, impacting the average CPC for this kind of product. Suppose you’re a small business investing in the Google search network. In that case, this becomes an even more expensive investment since you’ll have even bigger ad costs to rank on top of other companies with more money invested in the Google display network or any other space from the platform.

Average Campaign Cost in the UK

Even though it is almost impossible to tell a specific price for advertising in the United Kingdom, there is an average price for marketing actions in the region. This doesn’t mean that it will be the price you’ll pay for your marketing campaign, but it helps you know how much you’ll need to spend to gather more customers or generate more leads, for example.

In the UK, you can expect an average CPC of between £1,22 and £7,27, depending on your industry and the kind of product and service you’re advertising. This brings the monthly cost of a typical Google Ads campaign to between £800 and £25.000.

According to Statistica, in 2023, the industries and services with the highest cost-per-click in the country were insurance, online banking, and marketing, so you can expect that marketing these services will be more expensive than others. The average CPC of an insurance ad can be up to £6,9, causing a huge impact on how much your ads will cost.

But don’t be afraid of spending on your campaigns, regardless of the CPC since Google has an average proportion of 8:1 ROI in the UK, meaning that every dollar you spend on advertisement, generates eight dollars back to your business, being one of the highest in the world. It doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily get that and will depend on how well-executed your campaign is, but if you follow all steps correctly, you’ll surely have high returns.

Main Costs for Google Ads Campaigns

As you know, a Google ad doesn’t have a fixed cost or budget you assign to it. Google Ads lets you assign a daily budget for the ad placement that will be discounted as you reach metrics and numbers thanks to the ad placement, like new leads or conversions. You can also check Google’s guidelines for bidding and budget to check out the main details on how much Google Ads cost overall.

But more than just understanding how much the ads cost, it is also essential to know which details and metrics impact this total price and what you can do to lower the cost of your ad placements. Here are the main ones and what they mean in your dashboard of metrics:

Average CPC

The cost per click of your campaign is one of the most important pieces of information for diagnosing business health and the overall performance of your ad formats. As we mentioned, pay-per-click advertising in Google Ads uses a daily budget system, and for each click your ad gets, the CPC value gets subtracted from the amount invested. 

If you’re in a niche industry or a very competitive market, your average CPC will likely be higher than usual, meaning you’ll need more budget to reach the target audience. Calculating this cost-per-click is very simple, and you only need two pieces of data: The total advertising cost and the number of clicks your digital marketing campaign gathered.

Then you just apply the following formula: CPC = Total Ad Cost / Number of Clicks

The lower your CPC, the more people you can achieve with the same budget. The product or service you sell in the UK can have a different CPC than other countries, so the cost for the ad content will be different than when doing Google ads for Canada, for example.

Keyword Planner and Bidding

Another aspect directly related to the ad rank and how much your campaigns will cost is the keyword research. All your target keywords have different prices depending on their relevance to the ad quality and how easily they can gather leads to click on your ads.

For example, if you have a bookstore, you can select the words you might use to gather more users. The keyword “book” can be cheap and reach lots of users, but numerous other competitors also use it. On the other hand, the term “juvenile fantasy” might be more specific and expensive for each conversion, but it generates the best results for your campaigns.

These words also vary depending on the region you are advertising on. You can bet on the same keywords in the UK and Australia, for example, and the Google Ads cost in Australia can be very different.

Make sure to pay attention to the targeted keywords and evaluate how effective they are for your marketing actions. Along with them, also look at the negative keywords you should avoid. Many tools can help with this task, including Google’s solution, which quickly lets you see the right keywords for your ad and landing page.

DST Fees

Depending on the country where your ad spend is located, you’ll also need to cover a tax called the DST fee. It is a jurisdiction-specific fee that applies to the ads based on your region’s laws and other aspects.

These fees are not that high and won’t drastically change the ad scheduling or drastically increase the final budget of your campaign, but it is vital to know about them. As we mentioned, this also changes depending on your country, and Google automatically calculates them once you select the location in which you reside.

You can also check our article on Google’s DST fees to understand all their aspects and what you can expect from the platform. This way, you can understand all the critical factors, dismissing surprises along the project.

Campaign Type and Platform

You can use several bidding strategies and types of campaigns to advertise your company. These kinds of marketing actions and the ad space you choose are aspects that most affect your cost in the UK and any other region in the world.

That’s why it is important to understand where your audience is located and what kind of action they want to see. For example, YouTube videos might require a higher monthly spend, but they will also generate more ROI for you and your business.

Even though it might look attractive to advertise the cheapest options, especially if you’re a small business, it is often a bad idea and will not help you reach your goals.

To reach the best results possible, advertisers bid on the platforms that are most relevant to the audience and where they are most located. This will depend on your industry and the kind of service or product you offer.

Conduct quality audience research to help you determine the best platforms and ad spaces to help reduce your cost-per-click (CPC) and reach potential customers more optimally. This is directly related to the final budget of your campaign and how much your Google ads will cost.

Aligning the right platform, campaign type, long tail keywords, and all the characteristics of a good campaign will generate a much higher return on your investment and help bring your costs down. Don’t be afraid to spend as much time as you need in this part of the process.

How to Lower Google Ads Cost in the UK

If you want to know how to lower your costs to reach better results for your websites while spending less, here are some quick tips. Make sure to follow them carefully, and you’ll notice a drastic difference in your CPC and other metrics over time.

These tips can be applied in the UK and other countries as well, so whether you’re doing Google ads in UAE or any other region, they can also be applied. Here’s how you can increase your cost-effectiveness:

Keyword and Audience Research

As mentioned before, doing research is an integral part of lowering your costs when doing paid advertising. Two of the more important ones are your keywords and audience. 

Knowing the keywords relevant to your campaign can maximize your results and help generate more leads while spending less. It is directly related to your cost-per-click and will make your efforts rank better on SERPs or any other space you advertise in. You can instantly identify highly competitive keywords to avoid them and better manage your campaign budget, investing it in what matters.

Along with that, we also have audience research, which has a similar role. It helps you find the best place to advertise your company and reach the most potential customers possible. Spending on places where you don’t have many customers will not generate the best return on what you spent, generating a higher cost for you. 

This is even more important in highly competitive industries, where your competitors will carefully plan where to advertise, so make sure to keep an eye on them as well. This way, you can tell which spaces are good for displaying your business and trying to compete for the same clients.

Google’s Tools

There are several ad extensions and tools you can use directly from Google’s console that help you boost your results, whether you’re doing a local search campaign or a PMax effort on all platforms. With tools like listing groups and asset groups, you can specify which of your ads should be displayed and to whom. It helps you to effectively manage your assets and optimize your expenses, also reaching a higher quality score when it comes to the return to your business and results generated.

Not using Google’s powerful resources can increase your average CPCs and is one of the key factors for having a higher cost when doing campaigns. The UK is full of people with different habits, so showing your ads to the right audience will drastically improve your click-through rate and other vital metrics.

Make sure to check Google’s console and the tools it provides for your campaign. It can help a lot with quality scores and plan campaigns in a cost-effective way. Each type of campaign will have different tools you can use, so it is also important to think of their usage based on what you want to achieve.

Hire a Professional PPC Agency

A lot of people see the professional Google Ads agency costs as unnecessary or dispensable. Still, they are the best way to make your business grow at a fast pace and with healthy strategies. By leaving the planning to professionals, you ensure the best results and a strategy entirely focused on your objectives without worrying about assigning these tasks to team members. This way, you ensure your business will run at full capacity, increasing the results.

At GamerSEO, we have the best professionals on the market, with years of experience building quality PPC marketing and helping businesses take a step to the next level. Whether you need full campaign planning or simple ad copy for search ads, our company has years of experience with marketing campaigns on Google and many other PPC platforms to ensure optimal results that make you closer to your objectives. Join us today, and let’s create quality marketing together.

Conclusion on Google Ads Prices in the UK

Using Google Ads can be the perfect solution for gaining visibility and making you closer to your goals, but the cost of Google Ads can vary depending on the region you’re in. Advertising in the UK can have different costs from using Google Ads in Austria or anywhere else, but the audience and their behavior are also different, resulting in this uncertain price. This happens thanks to these and many other factors, like the keyword usage of every country, so stipulating a campaign price in Google can be tricky.

There are several practices and actions that can help reduce the cost of your campaigns, especially when it comes to your average cost-per-click. It is one of the most critical aspects of the marketing strategy when it comes to the total price and budget of the campaign, so make sure to do everything possible to optimize this number.

Now that you know everything you need, it is time to start advertising your business. Make sure to follow all tips, and you’ll notice a drastic decrease in your overall campaign costs.