What is revenue per click (RPC)?
Revenue per click (RPC) is the average revenue generated by each click to your site. It is the revenue-side counterpart to CPC (cost per click) — together they tell you whether clicks are worth buying.
RPC = Revenue ÷ Clicks
$12,000 in revenue from 4,000 clicks → RPC = $12,000 ÷ 4,000 = $3.00 per click.
How to calculate RPC (step by step)
- Attribute revenue to the traffic source — GA4, ad platform pixel, or UTM-tagged campaigns.
- Count total clicks from the same source and date range.
- Divide revenue by clicks — that's RPC.
- Compare RPC to CPC — enter your CPC to see the per-click gap instantly.
Worked example: comparing RPC across channels
A brand running ads on three channels with the same monthly budget. Which channel is most efficient?
| Channel | Spend | CPC | Clicks | Revenue | RPC | RPC − CPC | |---|---|---|---|:---:|---:|---:|---:| | Google Search | $5,000 | $2.00 | 2,500 | $13,750 | $5.50 | +$3.50 | | Meta (Facebook/IG) | $3,000 | $0.80 | 3,750 | $7,875 | $2.10 | +$1.30 | | TikTok | $2,000 | $0.40 | 5,000 | $4,000 | $0.80 | +$0.40 |
Google Search has the highest CPC but also the highest RPC — and the largest per-click gap. TikTok has the cheapest clicks but the lowest RPC. All three are RPC-positive, but allocating more budget to Google (up to the point where marginal RPC drops) would likely yield the best return. RPC makes this trade-off visible.
What if RPC drops?
If conversion rate falls (seasonality, broken landing page, competitor promo), RPC may drop below CPC. At RPC $0.75 and CPC $0.80, each click loses $0.05 in revenue before product cost. The fix: diagnose conversion rate, check CTR to ensure quality traffic, or shift budget to channels where RPC > CPC holds.
RPC vs. CPC — the profit test
If RPC > CPC, each click brings in more revenue than it cost — before product margin. If RPC < CPC, you are losing money on traffic before cost of goods. Enter your CPC in this calculator to see the gap instantly. For true profitability, also factor in gross margin and conversion rate.
How RPC connects to ROAS
ROAS = revenue ÷ ad spend. RPC and CPC decompose the same story at the click level: if RPC is $3 and CPC is $1, you are earning $3 revenue per $1 click (3x ROAS at the click level). Use the ROAS calculator for campaign totals and RPC for diagnosing whether clicks themselves are valuable.
How to improve RPC
Raise AOV with bundles and upsells, improve conversion rate so more clicks buy, and send traffic to higher-intent keywords and audiences. Higher RPC means you can afford a higher CPC and still stay profitable — which often unlocks more volume in ad auctions.