The short answer
In 30 seconds
In the accounts we manage, a lead from Google search cost between €5 and €116 in 2026, depending on the sector. Urgent services such as pest control sit low (around €17). Big, considered purchases such as luxury property sit high (over €100). A cost per lead is not good or bad on its own: it is good if it stays below what a customer is worth to you, multiplied by how many leads you close.
The numbers by sector
Search campaigns managed by Payoff Marketing, 1 April to 30 September 2026. A "lead" is whatever each account counts as a conversion: a form, a call or a message.
| Sector | Avg. cost per click | Cost per lead | What explains it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tourism experiences (foreign customers) | €1.29 | ~€5 | Simple booking requests, high intent |
| Pest control | €2.57 | ~€17 | Expensive click, but 15% of clickers get in touch |
| Solar panels | €1.24–1.29 | €20–24 | Two different accounts, very similar results |
| Heat pumps | €1.21 | ~€95 | Low search volume, long decision |
| Luxury real estate | €0.46 | ~€116 | Cheap click, few people leave their details |
Rounded figures. Cost per lead = total spend ÷ recorded conversions. Excludes management fees.
Look at luxury real estate: the cheapest click in the table and the most expensive lead. Cost per click on its own tells you very little.
Why the range is so wide
- Urgency. Someone with cockroaches in the kitchen calls today. Someone thinking about a heat pump asks for three quotes and decides next month.
- Size of the purchase. The more expensive the purchase, the more people research before handing over their details.
- Competition. High-margin sectors attract more advertisers, which pushes up the auction.
- Season. Pest control in summer, heating in winter, solar in spring.
- The landing page. The factor you control most. The same campaign can produce twice the leads with a page that answers the obvious questions and asks only for what is needed.
Search vs Performance Max
In the same accounts, Performance Max recorded much cheaper leads than search:
| Sector | Search | Performance Max |
|---|---|---|
| Luxury real estate | ~€116 | ~€55 |
| Heat pumps | ~€95 | ~€6 |
| Solar panels | €20–24 | €4–9 |
Before moving everything to Performance Max, ask how many of those leads became customers. Performance Max shows ads on YouTube, Gmail and partner sites, and it is very good at finding people who fill in forms. That is not the same as finding people who buy, and you only see the difference if you match leads to sales.
Your maximum cost per lead
- What a customer is worth: average revenue from a new customer, including repeat business.
- Close rate: out of ten leads, how many become customers.
- Acquisition share: the percentage of that revenue you are willing to spend to win the customer.
Example, pest control: a treatment brings in €150 on average. The company closes half its leads, so each lead is worth €75 in expected revenue. If it is willing to spend 25% of revenue on acquisition, the maximum cost per lead is €18.75. At a real €17, the campaign pays, with little room to spare. Raising the close rate from 50% to 60% is worth more than any ad optimisation.
How to bring it down
- Clean the search terms. Negative keywords for jobs, courses, do-it-yourself and shopping searches. In Portugal that means reading the search terms report in Portuguese every week.
- One page per service, in the language of the ad.
- A short form: name, phone, and the problem.
- Answer fast. It does not lower the cost per lead, but it lowers the cost per customer, which is what matters.
- Tell Google who bought. Importing offline conversions makes bidding look for buyers, not form-fillers.
Is your cost per lead higher than it should be? We compare your account with the numbers for your sector and show you, in English, where the margin is. Request a free audit →