CPC

CPC stands for cost-per-click: the price an advertiser pays for one click on an ad, most often in Google Ads. The price forms in a running auction where advertisers bid on individual keywords, so it moves with competition. The more buyers there are for a click, the more it costs.

CPC belongs to the advertising world, but the number is one of the more useful reference points in SEO. A high CPC reveals that other companies make money on exactly those clicks. A keyword advertisers pay dearly for almost always carries commercial search intent, and that makes CPC a common prioritization signal in keyword research: of two keywords with the same volume, the one with the higher click price is usually the more commercially valuable.

CPC also puts a figure on the value of organic traffic. A site ranking organically on keywords others pay a premium for can calculate what those visits would have cost as ads, and the value then sits in the same currency as the rest of the marketing budget.

The spread is wide. Insurance and lending keywords carry high click prices, because a single click can end in a customer with substantial lifetime value. A query like "what is a CMS" costs close to nothing, since the intent behind it is curiosity. Both kinds have a place in a strategy, with different roles.