CPC (Cost Per Click)

Cost per click, written as CPC, is the price an advertiser is charged each time a user clicks one of their paid ads. The dominant CPC platforms for Calgary home services are Google Ads (Search, Performance Max, and Local Service Ads as a hybrid) and Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram). On each platform, the CPC is the output of a real-time auction: advertisers bid against each other for the impression, and the platform charges the winner a price somewhere between the second-place bid and their own ceiling.

CPC is not a flat rate. It varies along three axes. First, intent — a keyword like "emergency roofer Calgary" carries a CPC of $15 to $30 because the searcher is actively in pain and is going to call somebody that day. A keyword like "roofing tips" might cost $1 to $3 because the searcher is reading rather than buying. Second, competition — a tightly contested category like Calgary HVAC during a January cold snap can spike CPCs above $50 as every contractor in the city bids up. Third, quality score and conversion data — Google rewards advertisers with strong landing pages and high historical click-through rates with discounted CPCs against their headline bid.

For Calgary home-service contractors, indicative CPC ranges on Google Search Ads in 2026 are: roofing $12 to $30, HVAC $10 to $28 (spikes to $50+ during cold snaps), junk removal $5 to $25, plumbing $15 to $40, lawn care $4 to $12, painters $5 to $15. Meta Ads CPCs are typically 50% to 80% lower on the same audiences because the user is scrolling rather than searching, but the conversion rate is also materially lower so the cost per lead does not always follow.

CPC is the unit the platform charges, but it is rarely the unit a contractor should optimize. The downstream metric is cost per lead — how many clicks converted into a real phone call or form fill — and below that, customer acquisition cost. A campaign with a $5 CPC and a 1% conversion rate produces a $500 CPL and is worse than a campaign with a $20 CPC and a 10% conversion rate (CPL $200). Operators who optimize CPC in isolation routinely chase cheap clicks into low-intent audiences and end up paying more per booked job.

The structural difference between CPC channels and door hangers is the pricing unit. CPC is auction-priced and competitive — every additional advertiser in the auction raises the price for everyone, which is why a Calgary HVAC company's January CPC can be triple what the same keyword cost in July. Door hangers are paid per door, not per click, so the unit cost does not move with competitive heat. This is the entire reason door hangers tend to outperform paid search on CPL during peak season for impulse-driven trades like junk removal and seasonal lawn care: the auction-driven channel has gotten more expensive, and the per-door channel has not.

CPC should not be confused with CPM (cost per thousand impressions, used in awareness campaigns) or CPA (cost per acquisition, which is the close-of-funnel version of CPL).