“How much should I spend on Google Ads?” is one of the most common questions we hear. The honest answer is that it depends — on your industry, your location, your competition, and what a customer is worth to you. But that doesn't mean you have to guess. You can work out a sensible starting budget with some simple math.
Start with what a customer is worth
Before thinking about ad spend, work out the average value of a new customer to your business — ideally over their lifetime, not just their first purchase. This tells you how much you can afford to pay to acquire one.
Work backwards from your goal
Decide how many new customers or leads you want each month. Then use these three numbers:
- Estimated cost per click (CPC) in your industry and area
- Expected conversion rate from click to lead
- Expected close rate from lead to customer
A simple worked example
Using illustrative figures: if clicks in your market cost around $3, about 1 in 20 visitors becomes a lead, and you want 30 leads a month, you'd need roughly 600 clicks — or about $1,800 per month. Your own numbers will differ, but the method stays the same.
Allow for a learning period
New campaigns need time and data to optimize. Expect the first one to three months to involve testing keywords, ads, and landing pages before performance stabilizes.
Spend smarter, not just more
A bigger budget won't fix a poorly structured campaign. Before increasing spend, make sure you have:
- Tight keyword targeting focused on buying intent
- A strong negative keyword list to block irrelevant searches
- Landing pages that match the ad and make it easy to convert
- Conversion tracking so you know exactly what each lead costs
Review and scale what works
Once you know your real cost per lead and cost per customer, budgeting becomes much easier: increase spend on campaigns that are profitable and cut the ones that aren't.
Our Google Ads management ties every campaign to a real cost-per-lead target. If you'd like to know whether your current budget is working, a free Google Ads audit is a good place to start.
Need help with this?
Stop guessing with your ad budget.
Campaigns that put you in front of ready-to-buy customers today.