If you use Google AdSense on your website, you must have battled the issue of low revenue from clicks your visitors make on the ads. Sometimes just one click can make you significant money and sometimes several clicks may fail to yield even half a dollar! And you keep on wondering why AdSense CPC is so low. CPC is the Cost Per Click, that is the revenue you earn from one click made by the visitor. There could be several other reasons behind low CPC including Google penalizing your blog or website by slapping a manual or algorithmic penalty.
Let’s first look at some data regarding low CPC. If you are getting low CPC, you might identify with this data! We have collected this data from a randomly chosen seven client websites and we are presenting an average here.
Low CPC in January 2016
Most of the AdSense users usually begin January with a dropping CPC rate. All seven of the websites were affected with low CPC.
- Total websites: 7
- Total Pageviews: 2.1 million
- CPC: $0.11
- Impression RPM: $1.23
- Page RPM: $2.78
- CTR: 1.12%
Experts generally attribute low CPC in January to the low remaining budget after spending binge during holiday period of December.
Low CPC in February 2016
In February, only one the seven sample websites picked up and the pickup was really sharp. So, we decided to exclude this website from the following results to avoid skewed data.
- Total websites: 6
- Total Pageviews: 1.2 million
- CPC: $0.11
- Impression RPM: $1.29
- Page RPM: $2.62
- CTR: 1.23%
As you can see, average CPC remained same in February also. Many people believe that advertisers tend to spend less in the first quarter of the year because they have already utilized most of their budget in the last quarter of the previous year.
Low CPC in March 2016
The CPC of the excluded website dropped. So, we are giving here the average of all seven sample website.
- Total websites: 7
- Total Pageviews: 2.0 million
- CPC: $0.10
- Impression RPM: $1.39
- Page RPM: $2.99
- CTR: 1.37%
March is the last month of the financial year -therefore budget available for spending remains at its lowest. As we can see, CPC dropped significantly in the month of March.
Low AdSense CPC can kill your blog!
Low CPC in April 2016
A hope for rise in CPC begins when April starts. It is the first month of the new financial year. So, advertisers have their fresh budget allocated for advertisements.
- Total Websites: 7
- Total Pageviews: 2.2 million
- CPC: $0.09
- Impression RPM: $1.14
- Page RPM: $2.23
- CTR: 1.22%
But hopes were smashed and the overall CPC dropped even further in April.
Now that we have some idea what we are dealing with, let us try to understand reasons behind low CPC.
You should analyze your AdSense control panel and you’ll find the CPC rate for various the ad units you have got. Lets see what are points that determine CPC.
The first and foremost factor that determines CPC rate is keywords. Some keywords may bring you dollars and some will fetch just a few cents. For those who are not initiated, let me explain what are the keywords in this context. Well, keywords are the words and phrases which appear on your webpage which Google picks up and display ads based upon these keywords. For example, if you have written a review about the new camera you’ve bought –probably the most important keyword on that page will be “camera” and Google will try to show ads from camera manufacturers or other related businesses.
The second factor that affects CPC is how much money advertisers are paying for a keyword. Competition among advertisers grow as the number of advertisers willing to buy a keyword go up. Consequently the bid amount also tend to go up and you get high CPC.
These tips will help you using Google AdSense in much smarter way.Placement of ads is another important factor. If you’ve 5 ad spaces on your page –there is high probability that the ad with highest CPC will be served in the first space. The CPC decreases towards the bottom of the page. So, if clicks are coming from the 4th of five ad spaces –it is likely that you’ll get a low CPC.
THIS POST BELONGS TO OUR GOOGLE ADSENSE BIBLE (a must read for AdSense success aspirants)
Ad types can also affect CPC. Some ad types perform better than others. The foundation of this argument is that Google wants to make money. So, it will invariably push ads with higher bids. Lets say the highest bidder has only an image based advertisement. Now, if you are forcing Google to show ONLY text ads in your space you’ll lose the ad with highest bid and will have to make do with the ads having lower bids. So, it is better to put fewer restrictions on your ad spaces.
One more little known factor is the season! Yes, advertisers tend to place low bids during the holidays and weekends. So, if your CPC is low during these times –don’t worry, it’s just seasonal! Highest bids usually come during the work hours of the day and work days during the week.
Just like time, advertisers can also target certain geographical regions. This is something you don’t have much control on. If the high bidders have chosen to show their ads only in, say, Europe and if most of your visitors are from Asia –it is unlikely that you’ll get good CPC.
Advertisers are also allowed to select ad spaces. For example, an advertiser might say something like “I want to show my ad ‘towards the top of the page’ ” –and if your page has ad placement only towards the bottom of the page –you might lose that advertiser.
These are some of the reasons why your website is attracting low AdSense CPC. Low CPC is a very significant cause of low Google AdSense revenue. If you have carefully read the article, by now you do have an understanig of how CPC is determined! Don’t you? :-)
All the best!
KEDAR CHAUBEY says
May 2, 2019 at 5:27 amMy Adsense CPC is 0.01
ANAND says
June 1, 2018 at 10:22 amVery informative post. Thanks for sharing. How to know which keyword high cpc ?
Excel Ajah says
June 7, 2017 at 8:51 amThanks for this insight, I think I have forced text and also placed the ads at the lowest part of the site but with this information, I do know where to make changes. Thanks
Khurram Ali says
January 15, 2017 at 1:39 amReally Really Thanks Lalit Kumar
The article is awesome the research is great
My website most of visitors belongs to Gulf countries I am facing the issue of low cpc from starting of this new year..In dec the cpc is whooping high..Now i understand how sessions were also effecting cpc
The first and newest thing i get from your awesome article
Karmpal says
August 2, 2016 at 5:18 pmThanks for sharing such a great article dude. :) I have one question left in my mind, is it safe to block ad categories ? As many people are saying it wont effect your CPC. :(
Lalit Kumar says
August 3, 2016 at 11:16 amHi Karmpal, I don’t believe blocking certain ad categories will improve your CPC. You may think about blocking only those ads that do not gel with your content. For example, if you’re writing about vegetarianism -then you might want to block ads from non-vegetarian outlets like KFC.
Anil Dhawan says
June 20, 2016 at 4:50 pmHi Lalit,
Great article and have lot to increase a knowledge of newbie like me. :P
Just have few question and would like to connect with you to discuss further. If you don’t mind, can we connect.
Mayank Pandey says
April 21, 2016 at 1:33 amHi,
I just wanted to know how much stuff i have to add to my website to achieve a minimum of 10 to 20 cents per click, at least. Also if u can tell what keywords i should focus on.
Lalit Kumar says
April 21, 2016 at 10:29 amUnfortunately there is no real answer to either of your questions.
surendra rsdp says
April 9, 2016 at 4:22 pmI am a Hindi blogger. My February to March 2016 CPC is 0.10$ . But now in April CPC is 0.05$. How to solve?
Lalit Kumar says
April 9, 2016 at 7:19 pmThere is nothing to solve in it. CPC varies from time to time. You should look into the problem if your CPC falls over a period of several months (e.g. six months or more)
Padmanabh Daga says
March 17, 2016 at 10:50 pmLalit Sir,
Brilliant stuff.
Thank you for helping others with your tips and tricks.
Lalit Kumar says
March 18, 2016 at 3:01 pmHappy to help :-) Hope you find more useful things on TechWelkin!
Magda says
March 9, 2016 at 9:19 amHi I am learning a lot with your blog! Can you please check my blog and tell me how to improve the AdSense ads, maybe the placement? my ctr most of the time is low 1% or less, and other question you say that search organic is better for AdSense maybe to get high cpc, to get that a backlinks work is necessary and write good content almost every day?
Lalit Kumar says
March 9, 2016 at 12:17 pmYou need to produce more and better content. Your blog does not have enough traffic.
kid4 says
September 29, 2015 at 7:14 amI’ve got even lower CPC (it’s in euros, but more or less the same as $), e.g. yesterday:
Page views: 7,487
Clicks: 301
Earnings: €1.97
That means less than 1 cent per click!
How is that possible?
Thanks
Lalit Kumar says
September 29, 2015 at 8:07 amIf Google deems a click as invalid, it will not pay you for that click. So, if you have higher number of clicks —it does not always mean that you will earn proportionately. Actually, earning only about 2 dollars for 300 clicks should worry you. You need to ensure that you’re not violating any Google AdSense policy. Such violation could be marking clicks as invalid.
henrykene says
September 23, 2015 at 12:44 pmThanks for this particular idea you gave. It will really help a lot of bloggers in different niches…
roxy says
May 20, 2015 at 11:22 amI hv reached 1670 views in 7 days but my estimated earning is still 0 $ . Can u help me in this?
Lalit Kumar says
May 21, 2015 at 8:13 amRoxy, 1670 AdSense views are too little to make any money. Focus on producing more and better content.
mahesh says
January 3, 2015 at 5:27 amHello , i am mahesh i am posting art ( drawing & painting speed up videos ) videos on my youtube channel..daily iam getting 600 to 800 clicks per day…my CPC is between $0.03 to $0.05 …is it ok for art channel..? Please help me ..how to increase my cpc…i am confused… Atleast i expecting $0.10 to $0.20 enough :)
Thank you :)
Lalit Kumar says
January 3, 2015 at 7:28 amMahesh, we can not really do much about increasing CPC. It is automatically decided by Google. Type of content, quality of content and overall trust in your YouTube channel are big determining factors in the CPC you get. So, the best this you can do to increase your CPC is to keep on producing good and useful content. With time, CPC will improve (I am saying this from my experience!)
Techhowdy says
December 20, 2014 at 9:31 amGreat post. How to find low cost CPC advertisers? Any tool available?
Thanks,
Lalit Kumar says
December 22, 2014 at 10:35 amThere is no such tool available. It is not actually possible to find out which advertiser if paying how much. But if you really want to, you can restrict low paying niches. That would restrict the entire category of advertisers irrespective of how much CPC they will offer. I visited your blog. And my suggestion would be not to indulge in these niche blocking tactics. Just focus on writing interesting and useful stuff. You’ll do fine.
Nitin Chauhan says
February 27, 2014 at 8:21 amI just want to know whether posting so many links everyday on social networking sites would put my blog in danger? Because i get traffic from facebook pages.
Lalit Kumar says
February 27, 2014 at 10:59 amHi Nitin, rest assured. There is no real danger in putting links on Social Media channels and getting traffic from there. Keep blogging good stuff!
Adsense lover says
November 23, 2013 at 12:28 amHow to detect which one is lower cpc ad? Thanks
Lalit Kumar says
November 23, 2013 at 3:06 amYou can not really detect that. But some of the advertisers like Google, Blogspot, network with religious messages often give low CPC ads. CPC is anyway lower in ads originating from Asian countries.
Jim Green says
April 21, 2013 at 2:45 pmWith regard to ad types, I have tried every possible Adsense ad variation: text/image, image only, and text only. I finally settled on text ads because most of the image ads are totally irrelevant, which I spend way too much time blocking.
Any opinion on why that is? Could it be that the image ads I see are not the same as the ones my visitors see?
Lalit Kumar says
November 23, 2013 at 3:10 amJim: There is high probability that you and your visitors see different ads because AdSense ads are not only contextual but also depends on the interest of the visitor and his/her geographical location. Different people have different experience to share regarding text, image and text/image ads. In my opinion, it is indeed best to let Google decide which ads to display -because in that case Google will be able to show the highest CPC ad available. Also, image ads may increase your CTR.
Lalit Kumar says
February 24, 2013 at 5:26 amPractically, I don’t think Google will block your account (unless it detects that you are copying stuff)
But copying content and putting it on your site will not take you anywhere anyway!
harpreet says
February 14, 2013 at 8:04 amGreat Guide sir … salute u..:)
Sir i was apply my blog for AdSense but they reject me for copyright materiel.After that i make new adsense acoount for youtube monetization. maybe YouTube monetization account is called hosted account.after that i add blogger to this hosted account.Now im using hosted adsense for blogger.Ads is show properly.Now problem was that can u tell me that goggle AdSense WILL PAY ME because im using AdSense on rejected site(for copyright metiral).
Silver Moon says
November 24, 2012 at 10:14 amI get low earnings on saturdays and sundays.
You have mentioned that
“Yes, advertisers tend to place low bids during the holidays and weekends”
can you provide more information and some good source confirming this ?
Nisha says
October 1, 2012 at 9:59 amHmmm! Have been wondering why 211 clicks from the month of September gave me less than $20. Now I get it.
Thanks for the article.
SLPPl says
September 8, 2012 at 2:30 pmThanks for your information dude.. My CPC is low during this season. i tried change the content. but is not getting high.
Anonymous says
June 1, 2012 at 10:00 amThanks for the info. Couldn’t figure out why my one site has a CPC of $0.09 and the other has a CPC of $0.57. I guess I shouldn’t complain hearing about $0.03 CPC’s.
Lalit Kumar says
June 2, 2012 at 2:01 amHi, DigitalBlacksmith,
CPC depends on a lot of factors. Some of those I have described in this article. I guess, the art of increasing CPC lies in balancing the above given factors in a way so as to the outcome becomes the best.
Rekha says
May 30, 2012 at 6:29 amFor a week my CPC is only $0.03 soo sad..
@himanshudureja
Your CPC is far better than me.
Lalit Kumar says
June 2, 2012 at 2:03 amHello Rekha,
As I said the article, CPC also depends a lot on what you write about. If your content does not attract high CPC contextual ads -then you’ll have to make peace with low CPC. But then, if you’ll keep producing good content (on whatever subject), other factors will step in and they might increase your CPC.
All the best!
A. says
April 24, 2012 at 1:29 amgreat explanation for those new to adsense, i have carefully read everything and i was most surprised about the seasonal theory behind cpc!
thanks again
Lalit Kumar says
June 2, 2012 at 2:04 amYou’re welcome, A :-)
Anonymous says
April 23, 2012 at 5:16 pmThanks for tips~~ I will try implement them, i AM FACING VERY LOW Cpc OR AROUND $ 0.14 . hOW MUCH IS AVERAGE?
Lalit Kumar says
June 2, 2012 at 2:05 amHimanshu, there no “average CPC”… everyone gets a CPC depending upon the factors listed above. But if you have to know, I would say, your CPC looks like average CPC in India.
Arun rana says
January 17, 2012 at 12:29 pmcan u tell me how we can trace cpc of individual ads in adsence
Lalit Kumar says
June 2, 2012 at 2:06 amPlease elaborate your question.
Mayank Mishra says
October 29, 2011 at 6:12 pmThis article is definitely awesome. Get to know some more info regarding Adsense.
Thanks for this one. Wd definitely love to get some more insights regarding adsense in future.