CPC (cost per click)
CPC (cost per click) is the cost of one click on an ad: both a payment model and a metric showing the average price of a visit to the page.
In plain words
With pay-per-click, the advertiser pays when a person clicks the ad and lands on the page. Impressions themselves are not paid for, and a click does not yet mean interest in buying.
How it is calculated
CPC = advertising spend / number of clicks.
A hypothetical example: 500 units spent, 1,000 clicks received. CPC is 0.5 units. If 25 of those 1,000 visitors left an application, the lead price is 20 units. The relationship is simple: CPL = CPC / page conversion rate.
Why it matters to an owner
CPC helps you understand what the audience’s attention costs. But decisions cannot be made on it alone. A cheap click from a random audience may convert at zero, while an expensive click from people with a real need may pay off many times over.
A sales lead should know that the price of a click is only the first step. Between the click and the payment stand the page, the application and the conversation with a sales rep. A weak link at any step wipes out the savings on clicks.
Common mistake
Chasing a lower CPC. To make clicks cheaper, teams widen the audience and make the creative clickbait. Clicks go up but applications do not, or people arrive who do not understand what was offered. Watch the price of a lead and a client, and treat CPC as one of the reasons they change.
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