Cost per lead (CPL)
Cost per lead is your total ad spend divided by the number of genuine enquiries it produced.
Spend $1,200 in a month and get 20 enquiries, and your cost per lead is $60.
It only means something if the denominator is real, which is where most reported numbers come apart.
Counting a phone-number tap as an enquiry inflates the count, because a tap doesn't prove the call connected or that anyone spoke.
Counting the same person twice does the same thing, which is why a conversion action should count 1 per click rather than every time.
The number you want next to it is what a job is worth, because $60 a lead is excellent for a roof restoration and poor for a $90 callout.
What this means for you
Cost per lead is the number to hold an ads account to, and it's the one I report on. Ask any agency how they define a lead before you compare their figure to anyone else's.
This one sits under Google Ads management.
Want to know how this looks on your account?
I'll look at what you've got and tell you where it stands, in the same plain terms.
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