Google Ads conversion rate and cost per conversion (also known as cost per result) are vital data for any business either thinking of starting on Google Ads journey or existing advertiser planning to boost the performance.
Understanding key performance metrics and standard benchmarks is essential for businesses to plan and run Google Ads to maximise their return on investment (ROI).
In this guide, you will learn in detail about conversion rate and cost per conversion benchmark by industry and ways to optimise them to achieve the best possible outcome.
Table of contents:
- What is Google Ads conversion rate?
- Google Ads conversion rates by industry
- Google Ads cost per conversion by industry
- How to increase Google Ads conversion rate & reduce CPA
- FAQs
What is Google Ads conversion rate?
The conversion rate indicates the percentage of website visitors through Google Ads who took a desired action, like purchasing, enquiring or engaging with your content.
So, if 100 people clicked on your ad and 5 of them bought the tote bags, the conversion rate would be 10% (5 conversions/100 clicks*100).
Importance of tracking Google Ads conversion rates
- Evaluating performance: A higher conversion rate signifies that your ads are effectively attracting and being placed to the right audience that is taking the desired action. Comparing your conversion rates against industry benchmarks will help you identify competition and effectiveness.
- Optimisation: Tracking conversion rates helps businesses identify which aspects of the campaign need improvement, like writing better ad copy, keywords management, campaign optimisation & landing page assessment etc.
- Strategic budget allocation: Analysing this PPC metric properly can help business owners make the right data-driven decisions on where to allocate their budget more effectively.
- Scalability: If you have consistently high conversion rates, you can upscale marketing campaigns to target a larger audience.
Google Ads conversion rates by industry
Google Ads conversion rate by industry gives you an insight and benchmark about how the conversion rate varies across different industries and knowing your own benchmark can help you plan better.
The average percentage of potential customers who take a desired action after clicking the ad through AdWords is called the standard Google Ads conversion rate.
What is a good conversion rate for Google ads?
Based on our data analysis and research, a 2%-6% conversion rate for Google Ads is considered good. Google Search Ads and PMAX generally have higher conversion rates than display ads.
The average conversion rate for Google Ads in 2024 is 6.96%. This data is sourced from WordStream.
Generally speaking, if you get a conversion rate of 2% or higher, it is considered as good.
Conversion rate data by industry
Different industries have varying conversion rates.
There are various factors that influence them like:
- Average CPC: This is one of the most important factors impacting the average conversing rate in Google Ads.
- Customer’s Intention: Industries with high intent searches (ex. emergency electricians) typically see a better conversion rate than those with general searches (ex. tote bags).
- Sales Cycle: Industries with perishable goods have shorter sales cycles, resulting in higher conversion rates. Industries with a longer sales cycle (ex., buying a refrigerator) tend to have lower conversion rates.
- Cost of the product: Low-priced items achieve higher conversion rates than the ones that hit the pocket.
- Campaign Quality: A good campaign structure with conversion tracking has the potential to deliver better conversion.
- Landing Page Experience: This is critical not only for Google Ads but for any kind of online advertising.
Here is a list of average conversion rates across various industries. Source: WordStream
| Business Category | Avg. CVR |
| Animals & Pets | 12.03% |
| Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry | 3.33% |
| Arts & Entertainment | 4.22% |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | 5,64% |
| Automotive — For Sale | 6.49% |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | 12.96% |
| Beauty & Personal Care | 8.01% |
| Business Services | 5.78% |
| Career & Employment | 5.63% |
| Dentists & Dental Services | 8.36% |
| Education & Instruction | 7,91% |
| Finance & Insurance | 2,78% |
| Furniture | 2,53% |
| Health & Fitness | 7.40% |
| Home & Home Improvement | 8.62% |
| Industrial & Commercial | 6.84% |
| Personal Services | 8.83% |
| Physicians & Surgeons | 11.08% |
| Real Estate | 2.91% |
| Restaurants & Food | 8.72% |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | 3.49% |
| Sports & Recreation | 5.35% |
| Travel | 5.36% |
Google Ads cost per conversion by industry
What is Google Ads cost per conversion/acquisition/action (CPA)?
Cost-per-conversion data helps you measure the efficiency of your ad spend. For instance, if you spent $500 on your ad campaign and the outcome was 10 conversions, your cost per conversion would be $50 ($500/10).
Importance of CPA
This is one of the most important metrics any business should be tracking not just with Google Ads traffic but with any marketing channels. This is generally an issue for small businesses, many don’t know their average cost per acquisition value and hence they don’t have greater track of their spend or return.
Let’s learn more about this as why it is important.
- Financial Sustainability: Assessing your CPA determines the ROI of your advertising expenditure. A lower cost per conversion means investing less to get more potential customers. This determines the financial efficiency of your ad campaign and helps you make calculated decisions on budget allocation.
- Benchmarking CPA: By comparing your CPA to industry averages, you can gauge your competitiveness and identify optimisation opportunities.
- Adaptability: CPA trends inform you when to adjust your advertising strategies.
- Optimisation: Lower CPAs help you scale your advertising budget further while improving your conversion rates.
Standard Google Ads cost per conversion
The average Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) for Google Ads in 2024 is $66.69. This data and the table below are sourced from WordStream.
Cost per conversion data by industry
Here is a list of the average cost per conversion, or cost per result, across various industries.
| Business Category | Average CPA in USD |
| Animals & Pets | $34.81 |
| Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry | $83.10 |
| Arts & Entertainment | $44.70 |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | $144.03 |
| Automotive — For Sale | $42.95 |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | $27.94 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $48.42 |
| Business Services | $105.64 |
| Career & Employment | $117.92 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $86.49 |
| Education & Instruction | $71.52 |
| Finance & Insurance | $75.94 |
| Furniture | $119.10 |
| Health & Fitness | $61.56 |
| Home & Home Improvement | $82.27 |
| Industrial & Commercial | $77.48 |
| Personal Services | $52.98 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $59.74 |
| Real Estate | $87.36 |
| Restaurants & Food | $29.67 |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | $42.10 |
| Sports & Recreation | $49.90 |
| Travel | $66.02 |
How to increase Google Ads conversion rate & reduce CPA?
Several optimisation initiatives can be taken to boost Google Ads conversion rate and CPA. Check out the list below.
It is essential to identify the correlations between your conversion rate performance metrics before working on improving the conversion rates and reducing the CPA.
- Keyword optimisation: Bidding on selected and long tail keywords is the gest way to optimise the budget to get lower cost per acquisition. If you have a decent budget then you may consider a broader range of keywords including some generics to boost conversion rate but they may increase the CPA also.
- Ad Refinement: Think outside the box. Attention-grabbing headlines and clear call-to-actions increase the likelihood of the lead taking the desired action. The product or service description should be very clear.
- Ad Copy: Multiple ad copy variations could be an added advantage. Google’s Responsive Search Ads offer flexibility in headlines and description variations that are optimised by machine learning.
- Fine-tuning the CTAs: Evaluate the call to action throughout your conversion funnel to persuade every visitor to the landing page to take the desired action.
- User Experience: Ensure the customer’s journey from search to ads to landing page is fully optimised. Gather customer insight data to identify their key touchpoints, pain points, and drop-off points. Accordingly, add offers to your top or middle funnel.
- Landing Pages: A trustworthy, user-friendly landing page encourages conversion.
- A/B Testing: Conduct A/B tests to identify high-performing elements of the ads. Implement successful variations to improve conversion rates.
- Target Audience: Refine your audience targeting based on demographics, interests, and behavioural patterns to make traffic more likely to convert. Implement remarketing strategies to re-engage the warm or cold traffic.
- Bidding Strategies: Automated bidding strategies can maximize conversions but in some cases, manual CPC works really well, for example, branding campaigns.
- Timing: Identify peak conversion times and adjust your ad scheduling accordingly when the target audience is most active.
- Trust and Credibility: Building a strong reputation for the brand is very essential. Secure transactions, customer testimonials, and timely responses to customer queries are very important to building a trustworthy landing page. This, in turn, increases the likelihood of conversion.
- Ad Funnel: A cohesive funnel ensures that, right from awareness to final conversion, every stage of the funnel flows seamlessly with tailored messages and a smooth user experience, guiding customers towards a long-term relationship with the brand.
Visit the dedicated page on how to increase Google Ads conversion where you will learn in detail.
FAQs
What is a good conversion rate for Google Ads?
A 2%-6% conversion rate is considered good for Google Ads. For some industries, you can achieve a significantly high conversion rate due to factors like less competition or high demand. This is the average good conversion rate for Google Ads.
Why is my Google Ads conversion rate bad?
It could be poor campaign design and implementation or landing page design experience. Many factors contribute to having a positive conversion rate from Google Ads, specifics can only be discussed after assessing the campaign.
Why is my cost per conversion so high in Google Ads?
If you are not in a very competitive niche then you shouldn’t have a very high cost per conversion value. It’s worth checking the campaign design, type and bidding structure along with the landing page experience to asses the possible reasons for this.
How to lower the cost per conversion in Google Ads?
If you want to lower your cost per conversion in Google Ads then create well-planned campaigns with compelling ad copy, working conversion tracking and highly optimised landing page design.
Which is better, conversion or conversion value?
If you are in an eCommerce space then the ultimate goal could be the conversion value but for campaigns to generate leads where no value is attached conversion is a metric to consider.
Is a 2%, 5%, or 7% conversion rate good?
Yes. As discussed above an average 2%-6% conversion rate is considered as a good conversion rate for Google Ads.
Is a 20%, 30% or 40% conversion rate good?
Definitely. In some industries, you can really get a very high conversion rate. A 20% – $40% conversion rate is definitely a very good number. It’s best to compare with industry standards to ensure you get within that range.
