How Much Should You Spend on Google Ads? Find Out Before You Spend.
Stop guessing at your advertising budget. Use our free Google Ads Budget & Lead Calculator to estimate the monthly spend, potential leads, and cost per lead for your business.
Free to use · No obligation · Results shown instantly
Monthly advertising budget
Example using hypothetical inputs, not a forecast for your business.
YOUR FREE PLANNING CALCULATOR
Build a Smarter Google Ads Budget
Choose your industry, enter a budget or lead goal, and adjust the assumptions to see a practical range of outcomes. Your results are estimates, not guarantees.
Free Google Ads Budget & Lead Calculator
How much should your business spend on Google Ads? Estimate potential leads, cost per lead, and the monthly budget you need — using current industry benchmarks and assumptions you can adjust.
Tell us about your business
Wider targeting usually means more competition for clicks.
What do you want to figure out?
A lead is a tracked phone call, form fill, or inquiry.
Review your assumptions
Pre-filled from current industry benchmarks — change any number to match your business. Better inputs mean a better estimate.
Used to estimate ROI after ad spend.
These are planning adjustments applied to your cost per click, not published benchmarks.
Your estimate is ready — unlock your results
Enter your name and email to view your personalized estimates instantly.
Your estimated results
Want to turn these estimates into a plan?
Estimates are a starting point. Our team will review your goals, market and website, and show you what a Google Ads campaign could realistically do for your business.
Book a Free Google Ads Strategy Call →How this is calculated & sources
- The math. Clicks = budget ÷ effective CPC. Leads = clicks × click-to-lead rate. Customers = leads × close rate. Cost per lead = effective CPC ÷ click-to-lead rate. Revenue = customers × average value. ROAS = revenue ÷ ad spend. Net profit = revenue × margin − ad spend. In goal modes the calculator works backwards to the budget required.
- Effective CPC = your CPC × location factor (local 1.00, regional 1.15, national 1.35) × optional seasonality and competition adjustments. Location and adjustment factors are planning assumptions, not published benchmarks.
- Cautious / Expected / Optimistic. Cautious assumes CPC +20%, conversion rate −20%, close rate −10%. Optimistic assumes CPC −15%, conversion rate +15%, close rate +10%. Expected uses your numbers as entered.
- Minimum budget guide. We show the spend expected to produce about 10 leads a month. This is a planning rule of thumb so results are less random month to month; it is not a Google requirement.
- CPC and click-to-lead rates come from the WordStream / LocaliQ 2026 Google Ads Benchmarks (median figures from 13,474 U.S. search campaigns, Apr 2025–Mar 2026). Mapping: Real Estate → Real Estate; HVAC & Plumber → Home & Home Improvement; Consultant → Business Services; Educator → Education & Instruction; Health Care → Physicians & Surgeons or Dentists & Dental Services; Retail → Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts; Artist & Writer → Arts & Entertainment; Other / Nonprofit → all-industry average.
- HVAC and plumbing close rates and job values reflect ranges reported by Contractor Magazine (plumbing 30–45% lead-to-job, HVAC 25–40%). HVAC cost-per-lead of roughly $104 blended is consistent with SearchLight Digital data (Jan 2026).
- Close rates, sale values and margins for all other industries, and the nonprofit defaults, are illustrative starting points — not benchmark data. Replace them with your own numbers.
Estimates only — not guaranteed results. Actual Google Ads performance depends on your market, competition, ads, landing page, offer, tracking and sales process. Figures exclude agency or management fees. © McIntosh Marketing.
READY FOR THE NEXT STEP?
Know Your Numbers. Then Build a Better Campaign.
Get expert help connecting your budget to targeting, landing pages, conversion tracking, and qualified leads.