Cost per click (CPC)
Cost per click is what you pay for each click on your ad, calculated by dividing your ad spend by the number of clicks in the same period. It rises when impression prices get more expensive or when your ad loses its appeal. It's the price of one visitor reaching your page, not the price of an order and not proof of profit.
Also calledCPCclick costcost per clickclick priceper-click expense
The formula
Cost per click = Ad spend ÷ Number of clicks
- Ad spend: what you paid the platform in the same period when clicks were counted.
- Number of clicks: clicks that opened your page; some reports also count clicks on the image or page name.
- Direct relationship: Cost per click = Cost per thousand impressions ÷ (1,000 × Click-through rate as decimal).
Worked example
When is a cheap click an expensive order?
- 1A store in Morocco: ad spend 4,000 MAD, clicks 2,000.
- 2Cost per click = 4,000 ÷ 2,000 = 2 MAD.
- 3Of 2,000 visitors 80 submitted an order form, a 4% conversion rate.
- 4Confirmation rate 60% → 48 confirmed orders; delivery rate 75% → 36 delivered orders.
- 5Cost per delivered order = 4,000 ÷ 36 ≈ 111 MAD.
Takeaway: A 2-MAD click looks cheap, but every order that actually arrived cost 111 MAD—and that second number is what decides your profit.
What it means in practice
Cost per click buys you a visitor, not a customer. Between the click and money in hand there are four leaks: the landing page, form submission, confirmation call, delivery and payment collection. Improving any one of those four cuts your cost per order without touching your click price at all.
There's one right way to lower cost per click: raise your click-through rate. An ad that stops the scroll and makes a clear promise gets more clicks from the same impressions, which automatically lowers click price. Bidding on cheaper audiences lowers price too, but often brings visitors who don't order.
Compare cost per click within the same product, same platform, and same week. Comparing it between a 1,500 DZD product and a 9,000 DZD product is meaningless: the expensive product can support a much higher click price because the margin per order covers it.
Common mistakes
- Judging your campaign by click price alone, and killing a campaign with a high cost per click when it's the only one producing delivered orders.
- Mixing up "clicks" and "link clicks" in your report, which gives you a lower cost per click than reality.
- Lowering cost per click by targeting a very broad audience, which tanks the price but raises fake orders and bad numbers.
- Measuring click price on a slow landing page: the visitor leaves before load completes, you pay for the click and lose the visit.
Questions and answers
What's a good cost per click in Algeria or Morocco?
There's no number that works for everyone, and any number quoted without context is misleading. Your acceptable cost per click comes from your margin: figure out how many delivered orders a thousand clicks give you, then how much advertising spend each order can take before your profit disappears.
Why is my cost per click higher than everyone else's?
Because click price is the product of two things: the bid price in your audience's auction and your ad's click-through rate. A crowded audience or an ad that doesn't grab attention will push the number up. Try new creative before you change your targeting.
Do I pay for every click even if my page doesn't load?
Usually yes. The platform counts the click at the tap, but whether the visitor actually arrives depends on your page speed and their connection. A slow page means paid clicks with no visits—a gap you'll see between the platform's report and your store's analytics.
Is it better to pay per click or per impression?
In cash-on-delivery campaigns the space is usually bought per impression, and cost per click emerges as a result, not an option. Focus on what you actually control: making the first two seconds of your ad stop the scroll, stating your promise clearly, and keeping your order form page fast.