PPC Conversion Rates 2026: Stop Comparing to Averages (Do This Instead)

At PPC.io, we've managed paid ad campaigns for dozens of clients across multiple industries.

Here's what I've learned: Many agencies waste hours comparing client conversion rates to "industry averages."

And it's completely backwards.

A SaaS company with a 9.5% conversion rate might be haemorrhaging money while an ecommerce store at 2% could be printing cash.

The difference? One has a $49/month product with a $200 customer acquisition cost. The other has a $5,000 lifetime value with a $100 CAC.

In this guide, I'm going to show you why industry benchmarks can be misleading, what you should actually track instead, and the exact framework we use at PPC.io to diagnose conversion rate problems in under 10 minutes.

Why Industry Benchmarks Are Misleading (And What to Track Instead)

Before we dive into the numbers, you need to understand why comparing your conversion rate to industry averages is like comparing restaurant profit margins without knowing if one sells $8 burgers and the other sells $200 steaks.

Here are three problems with industry benchmarks:

Problem #1: Different conversion goals distort everything

Two SaaS companies can both have "9.5% conversion rates" while being completely different businesses.

Company A counts only:

• Direct paid signups (2-4% conversion rate)

Company B counts:

• Free trial signups (15-20%)
• Demo requests (8-12%)
• Direct paid signups (2-4%)
• Blended average: ~12%

When you see "SaaS industry average: 9.5%", it's blending these completely different tracking methodologies.

The same thing happens in ecommerce. One store only tracks completed purchases (2%). Another tracks add-to-carts, email signups, AND purchases (8% blended). Both show up as "ecommerce" in industry benchmarks.

This is why comparing your conversion rate to industry averages is broken. You don't know what they're actually measuring.

Problem #2: Account structure matters more than you think

Two accounts in the same industry can have wildly different conversion rates based purely on structure:

• Branded vs non-branded campaigns (branded converts 3-5x higher)
• High-intent bottom-funnel vs discovery top-funnel campaigns
• Single product vs 10,000 SKU catalogs

I've seen two similar businesses in the same city with wildly different conversion rates. The difference? One was running mostly branded search, the other was heavily focused on competitive keywords.

Problem #3: Margin matters more than rate

This is the big one that nobody talks about.

A law firm with a 9% conversion rate on $6.75 CPC clicks might be losing money if their average case value is only $3,000.

Meanwhile, an ecommerce store with a 2% conversion rate on $1.16 CPC clicks could be wildly profitable with strong margins and high repeat purchase rates.

Your conversion rate means nothing without knowing your unit economics.

The PPC.io Conversion Rate Diagnostic Framework

Instead of asking "Is my 3.2% conversion rate good?",  ask these three questions instead:

Question 1: Is my cost per acquisition below my target CPA?

Your actual CPA = (Total Ad Spend / Total Conversions)

Your target CPA should be based on your unit economics. Here's the simple formula to use:

If your actual CPA is $45 and your target is $50, your conversion rate is irrelevant - you're profitable.

If your actual CPA is $110 and your target is $50, you have a problem - regardless of whether you're "above industry average."

Question 2: Am I improving month over month?

A 2% conversion rate improving 10% monthly beats a stagnant 5% conversion rate.

Here's what to track:

• Month-over-month conversion rate change
• Rolling 90-day conversion rate trend
• Campaign-level conversion rate by funnel stage

We've worked on accounts that started below their "industry average" but after consistent optimization, they ended up well above it. The first month's low rate was fine because we knew where it was headed.

Question 3: Are my high-intent campaigns converting at 2-3x my discovery campaigns?

This is the secret diagnostic that reveals whether you actually have a conversion rate problem.

Your branded search campaigns should convert at 15-25%. Your competitor comparison campaigns should convert at 8-12%. Your broad discovery campaigns might only convert at 2-4%.

If ALL your campaigns are converting at 2-3%, you don't have a conversion rate problem - you have a targeting or offer problem.

If your branded campaigns are at 3% while your discovery campaigns are also at 3%, you have a landing page or conversion funnel problem.

How to calculate your PPC conversion rate?

PPC conversion rate refers to the percentage of users or visitors who take a desired conversion action after clicking on your PPC ad. Here's a super simple formula:

(Number of PPC Conversions / Number of Clicks) x 100 = Conversion Rate %

So if you’re running PPC ads for your Ecommerce store and get 1,000 clicks to your website and 50 of them end up making a purchase, then your conversion rate is 5%. 

(50 purchases / 1,000 visitors) x 100 = 5%

This means that 5% of the users who clicked on your ad ended up purchasing from your online store.

As a general benchmark, 2 to 5% is often considered the average conversion rate for many industries. 

⚠️ Important: This calculation only shows click-to-conversion rate. It doesn't account for view-through conversions, assisted conversions, or offline conversions that started with your ads.

For a complete picture, you should also track:

• Cost per conversion = Total spend / conversions
• Conversion value = Total revenue / conversions
• ROAS = Revenue / Ad spend

I've seen clients obsess over increasing conversion rate, only to realize their cost per conversion went up significantly because they started bidding on broader, more expensive keywords.

Your conversion rate is one metric. Don't optimize it in isolation.

PPC Conversion Rates By Industry

Here's the data everyone wants to see - but with the context nobody else provides.

These numbers come from averaging 20+ industry studies including WordStream, Unbounce, and proprietary data from PPC.io clients. But remember what we discussed above: these are starting points, not success targets.

👉 Use these benchmarks to:

• Understand what's possible in your industry
• Identify if you're drastically underperforming (like 0.8% when the average is 6%)
• Set realistic expectations for new campaigns

❌ Don't use these benchmarks to:

• Judge whether your campaigns are profitable (use CPA and ROAS instead)
• Compare your blended account rate to industry averages (account structure matters too much)
• Make bid adjustments or optimization decisions

Let's dive into the average conversion rates by industry, from Google search ads specifically.

1. Agency: 6.05%
2. Animals & Pets: 16.3%
3. Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry: 2.59%
4. Arts & Entertainment: 4.47%
5. Attorneys & Legal Services: 9.27%
6. Automotive — For Sale: 5.72%
7. Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts: 12.61%
8. B2B Services: 3.5%
9. B2B Tech: 1.7%
10. B2B eCommerce: 3.2%
11. B2C eCommerce: 8.25%
12. Beauty & Personal Care: 7.94%
13. Business Services: 6.8%
14. Career & Employment: 4.21%
15. Cosmetics: 2.3% (Note: This was specific to one source)
16. Dentists & Dental Services: 10.4%
17. Education & Instruction: 9.61%
18. Events & Leisure: 12.9%
19. Family Support: 9.0%
20. Finance & Insurance: 6.47%
21. Furniture: 2.91%
22. Health & Fitness: 11.0%
23. Healthcare: 6.5%
24. Home & Home Improvement: 10.22%
25. Industrial & Commercial: 8.64%
26. Media & Entertainment: 18.1%
27. Personal Services: 9.61%
28. Physicians & Surgeons: 16.13%
29. Professional Services: 9.3%
30. Real Estate: 4.36%
31. Restaurants & Food: 10.05%
32. Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts: 5.20%
33. Software as a Service: 9.5%
34. Sports & Recreation: 5.94%
35. Travel: 7.54%

High vs. Medium vs. Low Conversion Rate Industries

Based on the available data, we've placed each industry into a category based on a conversion rate threshold.

Low PPC Conversion Rate Industries (Below 3%) :

• B2C Ecommerce (Blended): 2.00%
• Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry: 2.585%
• Automotive: 2.00%
• B2B Tech: 1.70%
• Cosmetic and Dental: 2.30%
• Furniture: 2.91%

Medium PPC Conversion Rate Industries (Between 3% and 8%):

• Agency: 6.05%
• Arts & Entertainment: 4.465%
• Automotive — For Sale: 5.72%
• B2B Services: 3.50%
• B2B eCommerce: 3.20%
• Beauty & Personal Care: 7.94%
• Business Services: 6.80%
• Career & Employment: 4.21%
• Finance & Insurance: 6.47%
• Financial: 4.30%
• Healthcare: 6.50%
• Industrial: 5.60%
• Legal: 7.90%
• Real Estate: 4.36%
• Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts: 5.195%
• Sports & Recreation: 5.94%
• Travel: 7.54%

High PPC Conversion Rate Industries (Above 8%):

• Animals & Pets: 16.30%
• Attorneys & Legal Services: 9.27%
• Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts: 12.61%
• B2C eCommerce: 8.25%
• Dentists & Dental Services: 10.40%
• Education & Instruction: 9.61%
• Events & Leisure: 12.90%
• Family Support: 9.00%
• Health & Fitness: 10.99%
• Home & Home Improvement: 10.22%
• Industrial & Commercial: 8.64%
• Media & Entertainment: 18.10%
• Personal Services: 9.61%
• Physicians & Surgeons: 16.13%
• Professional Services: 9.30%
• Restaurants & Food: 10.05%
• Software as a Service (SaaS): 9.5%

PPC Conversion Rates By Platform

Your conversion rate varies dramatically by platform because user intent is completely different.

Someone searching "emergency plumber near me" on Google (high intent, immediate need) converts at 15-20%.

That same person scrolling Instagram and seeing a plumbing ad (low intent, passive browsing) converts at 0.5-1%.

Here's what to expect from each platform:

Google

• Average Conversion Rate (Search Network): 8.2%
• Average Conversion Rate (Google Display Network, GDN): Varies by industry but generally lower than 1%. 
• Google Shopping Conversion Rate: 1.91%, but varies significantly by industry.
• Strengths: Keyword-based searches with incredibly high-intent! Most effective for direct searches related to products or services.
• Recommended For: All industries, particularly those where there's a well established search volume.

Bing (Microsoft Ads)

• Average Conversion Rate: 7.6% 
• Strengths: Lower cost per click than Google (approx 33%), an older and more affluent user base.
• Recommended For: Industries with longer sales cycles or targeting older demographics.

We love Bing because it has such an affluent user base, and accounts for a ton of desktop users as well.

Facebook & Instagram

We're counting both Facebook & Instagram here, because they fall under Meta advertising, and your ads will be displayed to both platforms equally - The platform displays ads depending on where it thinks it will drive the most conversions.

• Average Conversion Rate: Overall average is around 9.21
• Cost Per Conversion: Typically lower for industries like Education, Fitness & Ecommerce.
• Strengths: Incredible for "Discovery" and raising awareness of new products.
• Recommended For: Businesses looking to leveraeg Meta's incredible targeting options to find customers that wouldn't have otherwise known about your product. 

Twitter

• Average Conversion Rate: 0.9% 
• Strengths: Real-time engagement and lots of opinions & tactics shared there.
• Recommended For: Brands with strong voices, good educational content, time-sensitive promotions.

YouTube

• Average Conversion Rate: 0.5% 
• Strengths: Large audience & video ads highly engaging.
• Recommended For: Products or services that benefit from storytelling, those that have budget to invest in video production! 

YouTube in our opinion represents a massive opportunity for low-cost ads.

Pinterest

• Average Conversion Rate: 1.5%
• Strengths: Large audience, predominantly female, wealthy.
• Recommended For: Certain types of product categories e.g. homeware can thrive on Pinterest! 

TikTok

• Average Conversion Rate: 1.1%
• Strengths: Large, very young Gen-Z audience. Growing platform! Great targeting.
• Recommended For: Most DTC brands have success with discovery on TikTok. You do need to have strong creatives in place to succeed here though.

Reddit

• Average Conversion Rate: 2-3% (data is inconclusive) 
• Strengths: Monstrous audience, highly niche-specific targeting based on Subreddits.
• Recommended For: Brands that are able to craft content that fit neatly in, and large brands looking to expand reach to more platforms.

5 Quick Wins to Improve Your PPC Conversion Rate

Now that you understand why your conversion rate is what it is, here are the highest-ROI improvements we've implemented at PPC.io.

Each of these can move the needle 15-30% within 30-60 days.

1. Fix Your Message Match Problem

80% of low-converting campaigns have a disconnect between ad copy and landing page.

If your ad says "Get 50% Off" but your landing page says "Premium Quality Products," you've broken the promise. People bounce immediately.

Quick fix: Your landing page headline should match your ad headline almost word-for-word. Your ad's value proposition should be the first thing visible above the fold.

📖 Deep dive: How to audit and fix landing page conversion problems

2. Separate Branded and Non-Branded Campaigns

Your branded search campaigns (people searching your company name) convert at 15-25%. Your non-branded campaigns convert at 2-8%.

When you blend them together, you can't optimize either properly.

Quick fix: Split branded and non-branded into separate campaigns. Use different landing pages for each. Branded traffic can go to your homepage. Non-branded needs dedicated landing pages.

This also reveals your true acquisition cost - branded is cheap, non-branded is expensive. You need to know the difference.

3. Implement Conversion-Focused Remarketing

Only 2-4% of first-time visitors convert. Remarketing lets you reach the other 96%.

According to WebFX research, remarketing can improve campaign efficiency by 400%.

Quick fix: Set up a basic remarketing campaign targeting people who visited your site in the last 30 days but didn't convert. Start with a 50% smaller budget than your main campaigns.

📖 Deep dive: Complete PPC remarketing guide

4. Run Campaign-Level A/B Tests (Not Ad-Level)

Most people test ad copy. That's fine, but it's not where the big wins are.

The biggest conversion rate improvements come from testing:

• Different landing pages (20-40% lift potential)
• Different offers (30-60% lift potential)
• Different bidding strategies (15-30% lift potential)

Quick fix: Create two identical campaigns with different landing pages. Run them for 2-4 weeks with equal budget. The winner becomes your new control.

📖 Deep dive: How to properly A/B test PPC campaigns

5. Implement Lead Nurturing (Even for Ecommerce)

Most businesses stop at the conversion. That's leaving money on the table.

Someone who fills out a form but doesn't book a call? Follow up via email and SMS.

Someone who adds to cart but doesn't purchase? Send them abandoned cart emails.

Someone who purchases? Bring them back with post-purchase sequences.

Quick fix: Set up a 3-email sequence for people who convert but don't complete the next step. Most email platforms can do this automatically.

📖 Deep dive: PPC.io lead nurturing services

When to Ignore Your Conversion Rate Entirely

Here's something nobody else will tell you: sometimes conversion rate is the wrong metric to optimize.

Scenario 1: Long B2B Sales Cycles

If your average deal takes 6-12 months to close, your conversion rate won't tell you anything useful for 6-12 months.

Instead, track:

• MQL to SQL conversion rate
• SQL to opportunity rate
• Opportunity to close rate

Your PPC conversion rate (click to MQL) is just the first domino.

Scenario 2: High-Ticket Products ($10K+)

Nobody buys a $50K product from a PPC ad. Your conversion rate will be terrible - maybe 0.5-1%.

But if that 1% turns into $500K in revenue, who cares?

What matters: Cost per qualified lead and lead-to-close rate. Not conversion rate.

Scenario 3: Brand Awareness Campaigns

If you're running YouTube or Display campaigns for brand awareness, conversion rate is irrelevant.

You're paying for impressions and views, not conversions.

What matters: Brand lift, search volume increase for your brand name, and assisted conversions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good PPC conversion rate?

A "good" PPC conversion rate is one where your cost per acquisition is below your target CPA. Industry averages range from 2-10%, but a 2% conversion rate can be excellent if your margins support it, while a 10% rate can be unprofitable if your unit economics don't work.

Why is my PPC conversion rate so low?

The most common causes are: (1) ad-to-landing page message mismatch, (2) targeting too broad an audience, (3) weak offer or value proposition, (4) slow landing page load times, or (5) complicated conversion process. Start by checking your message match first.

How do I calculate my target CPA?

Target CPA = (Customer Lifetime Value × Acceptable CAC %) - Fulfillment Costs. For example, if your LTV is $500, you're willing to spend 20% on acquisition, and fulfillment costs $50, your target CPA is $50.

Should I track conversion rate by campaign or account-level?

Both. Account-level conversion rate tells you overall health, but campaign-level reveals where problems are. Your branded campaigns should convert at 15-25%, non-branded at 4-8%, and discovery at 1-3%. If all three are at 2%, you have a fundamental landing page or offer problem.

How long does it take to improve PPC conversion rate?

Quick fixes like message match can show results in 7-14 days. Bigger changes like new landing pages need 30-60 days to gather statistically significant data. Plan for 90 days of consistent testing to see meaningful, sustained improvements.