What is a Good CPC in 2026?
What is a Good CPC in 2026?
So you have just started running ads, or you've been doing it a while without diving too deep into what each metric means and how you can use it and you want to know what your benchmark CPC should be in 2026.
In short TLDR fashion, there isn't a standard benchmark that fits all businesses/industry for CPC that you should be achieving. So many factors are at play here, some out of your control and others within it.
I'll take you through both in the article so that by the end of the post you have a greater understanding and will be able to decipher your data more clearly.
Factors Outside of Our Control
Let's start by looking at the factors that are mostly out of your control when determining a good CPC.
Your Competition
If a competitor enters the market with a large budget overnight this will drive up the auction price for everyone else. A competitor's action will influence the price you are paying to remain in the auction.
Industry Averages
Different industries have vastly different average CPCs. For example, the financial and insurance sectors typically see much higher CPCs due to high lifetime customer value and intense competition, compared to, say, the arts and entertainment sector. The platform you are using also plays a role, as Facebook Ads, Google Search Ads, and LinkedIn Ads all have unique auction dynamics.
Economic Conditions
Broader economic shifts can impact advertising spending. During economic booms, businesses may increase their ad budgets, driving up competition and, consequently, CPCs. Conversely, during downturns, while some businesses cut back (potentially lowering CPCs), others might intensify efforts to capture market share, maintaining or even increasing pressure on the auction.
Seasonality and Time of Year
Demand often fluctuates dramatically based on the calendar. CPCs typically surge during peak retail seasons (like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the run-up to Christmas) when consumer purchasing intent is highest. Outside of these major spikes, even monthly or weekly trends can affect your costs.
Geographic Location
The cost of advertising changes significantly depending on the target region. Highly competitive, wealthy markets (like major metropolitan areas or certain developed countries) often have much higher CPCs than less competitive or less affluent regions.
Factors Within Your Control
Now let's look at the elements you can directly influence to optimize your CPC.
Ad Quality Score/Relevance Score
This is one of the most critical factors. Platforms like Google and Meta reward advertisers whose ads are highly relevant and engaging to the target audience. A high Quality Score (Google) or Relevance Score (Meta) means the platform trusts that your ad will provide a good user experience, and as a result, they charge you less per click. Focus on writing compelling, specific ad copy and designing engaging creative that directly addresses the user's search intent or interests.
Landing Page Experience
Your ad platform evaluates the experience a user will have after clicking your ad. If your landing page loads quickly, provides the information promised in the ad, and is easy to navigate, your Quality Score improves, lowering your effective CPC. A poorly designed or slow landing page will hurt your score and raise your costs.
Targeting Precision
Broad, poorly defined targeting wastes budget on irrelevant clicks. By refining your audience—using specific demographics, interests, keywords, and lookalike audiences—you ensure your ad is seen by people most likely to convert. This increases your Click-Through Rate (CTR) and Conversion Rate, signaling to the platform that your ad is highly relevant, thus driving down your CPC.
Keyword Strategy (Search Ads)
For platforms like Google Ads, the keywords you bid on matter immensely. Highly competitive, generic keywords will always cost more. Utilizing long-tail keywords (more specific, multi-word phrases) often allows you to capture highly motivated users at a lower cost. Constantly refining your negative keyword list is also crucial to avoid paying for clicks from users searching for irrelevant products or services.
Bid Strategy
How you set your bids directly impacts your CPC. Are you using manual bidding, automated strategies like Target CPA, or Maximize Clicks? Automated strategies can be effective but must be monitored closely. Manual bidding gives you full control but requires more active management. Experimenting with different bidding approaches based on your campaign goal is essential for finding the sweet spot between cost and impression share.
Finding Your "Good" CPC Benchmark
Since a standard "good" CPC doesn't exist, your true benchmark must be based on two things:
Your Historical Performance
Track your campaign data over time. Is your CPC improving, worsening, or stabilizing? A "good" CPC is one that is better than your previous best.
Your Business Metrics
The only CPC that truly matters is one that leads to a profitable Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and a strong Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). If you are paying £5 per click but those clicks are turning into sales with a 5:1 ROAS, that's an excellent CPC. If you're paying £0.50 per click but the clicks never convert, that CPC is too high.
Stop fixating on the raw CPC number. Instead, focus on the conversion funnel metrics that follow: CTR, conversion rate, and ultimate profitability.
To help you calculate how different CPCs impact your overall profitability and to set realistic goals based on your revenue targets, check out our CPC Calculator.