The short answer
Your monthly Google Ads budget = leads you want ÷ conversion rate × cost per click. For example, 30 leads at a 5% conversion rate and a $6 CPC needs 600 clicks, or $3,600 a month. Then check the cost per customer against what a customer is worth to you.
How to fill in the calculator
- 1
Leads per month
How many enquiries, calls or bookings you want, and can realistically handle.
- 2
Average cost per click
Use your account history, or Keyword Planner's top-of-page bid ranges for your main keywords and area. Our industry cost guides list typical ranges.
- 3
Conversion rate
The share of clicks that become a lead. 3-10% is typical for service businesses; use 5% if you have no data.
- 4
Close rate and customer value
How many leads become customers, and what one customer is worth (a sale, or first-year value for repeat business).
Typical inputs by industry
Starting points if you don't have your own data yet. Your market could be well outside these.
| Industry | Typical CPC (US) | Typical conversion rate |
|---|---|---|
| Legal | $10-$200+ | 5-12% |
| Home services | $10-$45 | 8-20% |
| Dental | $3-$40 | 6-12% |
| B2B SaaS | $5-$50 | 2-6% |
| Ecommerce | $0.40-$3 | 1-4% |
| Real estate | $1.50-$15 | 4-10% |
Why working backwards beats picking a number
A budget picked out of thin air is either too small to produce enough leads to learn from, or bigger than it needs to be. Working back from a target tells you whether the goal is realistic at today's click prices, and what has to change if it isn't.
Often the answer isn't a bigger budget. Raising your conversion rate from 4% to 6% with a better landing page cuts the budget needed for the same leads by a third. That's why we look at the page before we look at bids.