# Cost per click

> Why CPC is the most useful number in organic keyword research even when you never run an ad, and where the proxy breaks down.

Source: https://netweft.com/glossary/cost-per-click
Updated: 2026-03-05

**The average amount advertisers pay for one click on a paid result for a keyword. In organic research it is used as a proxy for commercial intent: advertisers rarely bid on terms that do not convert.**

CPC is an advertising number that earns its place in organic research for one
reason: somebody is spending real money on it, repeatedly, which is evidence
that clicks on that query turn into something.

It is the cheapest available signal of commercial intent, and it is usually
better than reading the query and guessing.

**Where the proxy holds.** A high CPC with modest volume almost always means a
term with buying intent in a market with a real budget. Those are the terms
worth building a page for even when the volume looks unexciting.

**Where it breaks.** CPC is also inflated by competition among advertisers who
are all wrong, by brand bidding, and by markets where a single click is worth a
great deal regardless of conversion rate — insurance and legal being the
familiar examples. And a CPC of zero means nobody is bidding, which is
occasionally an opportunity and more often a signal that nothing on the other
side of the click is worth money.

[netweft's keyword research](/features/keyword-research) reports CPC alongside
[volume](/glossary/search-volume), competition and
[difficulty](/glossary/keyword-difficulty) for every researched keyword, because
none of the four is useful on its own.