Why your cost per click keeps going up, and what you can actually do about it
You can't control the market. You can control what you bid on, where you show and what happens after the click.
If it feels like Google Ads clicks cost more than they used to, you're not imagining it. Lots of UK businesses say the same.
Some of it you can't control. Some of it you can. Let's split the two.
What you can't control
More competition. Every business that starts advertising for the same searches as you pushes the price up. It's an auction.
Lead generation firms. In a lot of local trades, you're not just bidding against other tradespeople. You're bidding against companies that collect enquiries and sell them on. They can afford to pay a lot per click because they're selling the lead to several people.
Google's automation. Automated bidding is very good at spending your budget. It's not always so good at spending it carefully.
What you can control
What you bid on. Broad keywords mean you're competing for loads of searches, some of them expensive and useless. Tighter keywords and a solid negative keyword list mean you only pay to compete for the searches that matter.
Where and when you show. If you only work within 20 miles, don't pay for clicks from 50 miles away. If nobody answers the phone after 6pm, think hard about running ads after 6pm.
How relevant you are. Google rewards ads that match the search and pages that match the ad. Better relevance can mean paying less for the same position. A generic ad sending everyone to your homepage is paying a tax.
What happens after the click. This is the big one.
Cost per click is the wrong number to watch
Here's the thing. You don't actually care what a click costs. You care what a customer costs.
If your clicks go from £2 to £3 but twice as many of them turn into enquiries, you're better off. If your clicks drop to £1 but none of them ever ring, you're worse off.
So watch cost per lead. Better still, watch cost per customer. That means good tracking, a page that turns visitors into enquiries, and someone who answers the phone.
The numbers have to add up. A higher cost per click is fine if they still do.