How Much Should You Spend on Google Ads Per Month?

A good budget for Google Ads: key takeaways

• A good budget for Google Ads is between $500 and $40,000 per month.
• This amount is affected by various factors, including your industry and goals.

Google has over 80% of the search engine market share worldwide. You’ll likely reach many prospects by investing in Google Ads for your brand and offerings.

You may be wondering: How much should you spend on Google Ads per month?

This blog post aims to answer this question and go through topics related to Google Ads spending:

• What is a good Google Ads budget per month?
• 3 factors affecting your Google Ads budget
• 4 tips when setting your Google Ads budget
• How to measure the success of your Google Ads campaign

How much should you spend on Google Ads per month?

The recommended monthly spend on Google Ads per month is $500 to $40,000 per month, according to WebFX’s Paid Search Results Lead, Rebekah Leach.

“Ads have gotten a bit more expensive,” Rebekah explains of this new Google Ads budget range.

3 factors affecting your Google Ads budget

Every company’s Google Ads monthly budget varies and is affected by many outside influences. The three primary factors in Google Ads spending are:

1. Industry
2. Goals
3. Market trends

Let’s go through each one:

1. Industry

Your industry plays a big factor in your Google Ads cost per click (CPC) and budget. Some industries have competitive, high-volume keywords with higher CPCs, so you may need to allocate a higher budget.

For example, the average CPC for Google Ads among businesses we surveyed is $0.11 to $0.50. However, some industries have higher CPC than others, including legal at $6.75 and consumer services at $6.40.

For one, the keyword “personal injury attorney in new jersey” garners 6600 searches per month and has a CPC of $12.33 per month as of this writing. Meanwhile, a keyword related to fitness facilities gets only a 110 monthly search volume and a CPC of only $0.84.

2. Goals

Your marketing goals affect your Google Ads budget.

Do you want to reach more prospects with brand awareness paid campaigns or generate leads?

If you want to focus on increasing brand awareness, you need to bid for top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) keywords with higher search volume. Meanwhile, if your goal is to generate leads, you must bid on specific keywords that your prospects use when they’re interested in your offerings.

3. Market trends

Setting your Google Ads budget is not a one-and-done activity.  You need to monitor your campaigns and your keywords’ CPC, as seasonal changes and market shifts may affect your budget.

For example, let’s say you own a travel agency. You may find that during certain months, search volume for some of your keywords may be low. During peak months, these keywords may a surge in search volume.

4 tips when setting your Google Ads budget

Now that you know what affects your Google Ads budget, let’s go through the best practices when setting your Google Ads budget:

Google Ads budget setting best practices

1. Analyze your historical ad spend data
2. Check industry benchmarks for Google Ads spending and performance
3. Use Google’s Keyword Planner to estimate your traffic and cost
4. Use automation tools

1. Analyze your historical ad spend data

Before setting your Google Ads budget, review your past ad spend data and identify trends in your ad spending and results.

Then, measure and evaluate your return on ad spend (ROAS) over time. You can also use tools like Performance Planner to help you review the projected performance of your campaigns.

Our free tool, ROAS Calculator, gives you valuable insights into your ad campaigns’ performance. Simply input your total ad revenue and ad spend, and you’ll get your ROAS.

2. Check industry benchmarks for Google Ads spending and performance

Your industry’s benchmark for Google Ads spending and CPC can inform you of how much your competitors are spending on their campaigns. Look at these benchmarks to estimate the returns you’ll get from your budget.

3. Use Google’s Keyword Planner to estimate your traffic and cost

“Get an idea of the monthly traffic and estimated cost for the keywords you want to target with Google’s Keyword Planner,” Rebekah advises.

You can do this by first computing your daily budget. Divide your monthly budget by 30.4, which accounts for months with 30 and 31 days. Then, divide your daily budget by the average CPC of your target keywords to estimate how many clicks you can expect every day.

“This can help you gauge if the monthly budget is high enough to meet your goals,” Rebekah says.

4. Use automation tools

Consider using Google Ads’ automated bidding tools. Automated bidding efficiently uses budgets, allowing you to make the most of your investment.

You can also automate Google Ads to set higher budgets during periods when demand for your offering peaks. For example, if more people search for your services on weekends, you can set Google Ads to have a higher budget on these dates.

How to measure the success of your Google Ads campaign

Are your Google Ads campaigns driving your intended results? There are various metrics you can look at to measure success, depending on your goals:

• Impressions
• CPC
• Conversion rate
• ROAS

Impressions

Impressions refer to the number of times your ad appeared for your target audience to see. While this metric doesn’t tell you whether your audience performed your desired action, it gives you an idea of the number of times users see your ad.

Monitor your ads’ impressions regularly to ensure that actual users are seeing them.

CPC

Cost per click (CPC) is a Google Ads metric that tells you how much you spend each time a user clicks on your ad. It helps you identify ads and campaigns that drive ROI.

It also lets you compare your campaigns’ performance with the industry average and past campaigns.

Conversion rate

Conversion rate is a metric that tells you the percentage of people who click on your ad and perform the desired action (such as purchasing from you or signing up for your newsletter).

This metric informs you of your campaigns’ ROI. The higher the conversion rate, the better the ads’ performance.

ROAS

Another metric you can look at is your return on ad spend (ROAS), which tells you the revenue you get for every dollar you spend on advertising.

This metric tells you the quality and performance of your campaign. You can measure your ROAS with the help of our ROAS calculator.

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Manage your Google Ads spending with WebFX

Identifying a good budget for Google Ads is important to ensure you’re reaching your target audience and encouraging them to perform your desired action.

If you’re looking to find the answer to the question, “What’s a good Google Ads budget?” consider teaming up with WebFX. We’re a full-service digital marketing agency with over 29 years of experience managing our clients’ Google Ads campaigns to grow their revenue.

Our team will take the time to understand your business, goals, and industry so we can develop an effective paid advertising strategy for you.

Contact us online or call us at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about our Google Ads management services!