PPC Budget Template & Calculator
Plan your Google Ads budget with confidence. Use our interactive calculator to project results, then download the complete spreadsheet template for ongoing budget management.
How much should I budget for Google Ads?
Most UK businesses should budget £3,000-£10,000 per month for Google Ads to generate meaningful data and results. Your ideal budget depends on your industry's average CPC (ranging from £0.50 to £9+), target cost per acquisition, and growth goals. Use the 70/20/10 rule: allocate 70% to proven campaigns, 20% to scaling opportunities, and 10% to testing.
How Much Should You Spend on Google Ads?
Projected Results
These projections are based on industry averages. Your actual results will vary based on account optimization, competition, and seasonality.
Recommended Budget Allocation
Budget Best Practices
The 70/20/10 Rule
Allocate 70% to proven performers, 20% to scaling opportunities, 10% to testing
Never put all eggs in one basket, but don't spread too thin either
Daily Budget = Monthly / 30.4
Google uses 30.4 days as the average month for daily budget calculations
Your monthly spend can be up to 2x daily budget on any given day
Start Small, Scale Fast
Begin with conservative budgets to gather data, then scale winners aggressively
Increase budgets by 20% at a time to avoid resetting learning phase
Reserve 15% for Opportunities
Keep budget in reserve for seasonal opportunities and quick wins
Competitor going dark? New product launch? Be ready to capitalize
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PPC Budget FAQ
How much should I budget for Google Ads in 2026?
Most UK businesses should budget £3,000-£10,000 per month for Google Ads to generate enough data for smart bidding to work and enough traffic to judge results. The right number depends on your industry's average CPC (£0.50-£9+), your target cost per acquisition, and how quickly you want to scale. E-commerce typically needs less per conversion than B2B lead generation.
How do I calculate my Google Ads ROI?
Google Ads ROI = ((Revenue from Ads - Ad Spend) / Ad Spend) × 100. For example, £5,000 spent generating £20,000 in revenue gives a 300% ROI. For accurate numbers, subtract your true cost of goods sold and overhead from revenue before calculating — the reported revenue in Ads is gross, not net margin.
What is the 70/20/10 rule for PPC budgets?
Allocate 70% of budget to proven, best-performing campaigns, 20% to scaling campaigns that are showing early traction, and 10% to testing new keywords, creatives, or channels. This structure protects revenue while still funding growth experiments.
Should I use a shared budget or individual campaign budgets?
Use individual budgets for brand, non-brand, and top-performing campaigns so they're never starved by lower-priority campaigns. Shared budgets work best for a cluster of similar campaigns at the same priority — for example, 3-5 geographic variants of the same offer. Avoid a single account-wide shared budget: high performers lose to low performers on bid auctions.
How often should I adjust my Google Ads budget?
Review budget pacing weekly, make small adjustments (±10-20%) every 2-4 weeks based on performance, and run a full budget reallocation quarterly. Avoid changing budgets more than once per week on smart bidding campaigns — each change resets the learning phase and can temporarily hurt performance.