Cost per click (CPC)

How it shows up in RankUpside

Each search in Client › Searches carries its volume, cost per click, a 12-month trend and its intent, refreshed monthly. The source label reads "Search volume · estimated" or "Google Ads data", depending on where the number came from. Client reports never name the data supplier.

Cost per click feeds the search traffic value tile: clicks times cost per click, labeled an estimate. See ad-equivalent value.

Where CPC data comes from

Google Ads Keyword Planner shows bid ranges for a search. Keyword data providers estimate cost per click from their own data. Both are averages for a country or region; there's no reliable "city CPC" for a long, local search.

How to use it in a report

• Sort a client's searches by cost per click to see which ones advertisers fight over. Those are usually the buyer searches worth defending.
• Compare a page's top searches with its cost per click before choosing which fix to do first.
• Show it as context next to clicks, never as money the client made.

How to check it yourself

1. Open Google Ads Keyword Planner.
2. Enter the client's top searches and set the country.
3. Read the bid range for each search, and note which searches have no data.

Common mistakes

• Treating CPC as what an organic click earns.
• Counting close variants of one search twice.
• Reading a missing CPC as zero. It means no data, not no value.

Related term: Ad-equivalent value

Ad-equivalent value multiplies each search's clicks by its cost per click.