What does a lead really cost me?
Add up what you spend to get the phone ringing, then divide by the calls and forms it brings in. See what each new customer costs, and what your free Google Maps leads save you.
Agency or freelancer fees, lead sites, directories, tools. Leave out your own time.
Not sure? We'll set up call and form tracking so every lead shows where it came from.
Get tracking set up →per lead, across all 60 calls and forms
You spend $2,300 a month. At 35% of leads becoming jobs, that's 21 jobs and $13,650 in work.
21 leads a month cost you nothing in ads.
Buying those at your paid rate would cost about $1,238 a month. Showing up in more places on the map is the cheapest way to bring your average down.
Your numbers stay in your browser.
How it's calculated
cost per lead = everything you spend ÷ every call and form
cost per paid lead = everything you spend ÷ leads not from your Maps listing
cost per customer = everything you spend ÷ leads that became jobs
back for every $1 = work from those jobs ÷ what you spent
With your numbers: $2,300 ÷ 60 = $38 a lead. $2,300 ÷ 39 paid leads = $59. $2,300 ÷ 21 jobs = $110 a customer. The return counts the first job only, not repeat work.
The three calculators work together:1. Leads you need2. What a lead costs3. Your budget
Your cheapest leads come from the map
Google shows three businesses on the map for most local searches, and nobody pays per click to be one of them. Every place you move into that three brings calls you'd otherwise buy through ads. The free scan shows exactly which places those are.
Top 3 · 17 4–10 · 20 11–20 · 21 Not there · 23
Why cost per lead isn't the whole answer
A $40 lead that never books costs more than a $120 lead that becomes a $3,000 job. That's why the calculator takes you through to cost per customer and what comes back.
The other trap is counting only the leads an ad platform reports. Calls straight from your Google listing, people who saw an ad and rang later, and word of mouth all land on the same phone. Count them all, or your real cost looks worse than it is.
Know where every lead comes from
These sums are only as good as your lead count. We set up tracking on your website and Google profile so every call tap and form is counted by source, and the numbers show up next to your map.
Compare paid leads with paid leads
Google Ads and Meta report their own cost per lead, counting only the leads they can see. Use the "per lead you paid for" figure above to compare like with like, and the all-in figure to judge your marketing as a whole.
How Am I found? helps
See the gaps
Every Sunday we search Google Maps from 81 places around you and show where you're top 3 and who beats you where you're not.
Fix what moves you
A short fix list in plain English, quick wins first: categories, reviews, photos, posts.
Spend where it counts
Where you already own the map, you can turn ads down there and spend where you can't.
Plans from $75 a month per location. Start with the free scan.
Questions
What is a good cost per lead for a local business?
It depends on what a job is worth. A lead can be dear and still a bargain if one in three becomes a $5,000 job. Look at cost per new customer and the return per $1: if the return is well over 1, your leads are paying for themselves.
What's the difference between cost per lead and cost per customer?
Cost per lead counts every call and form. Cost per customer (often called CAC) only counts the ones that became paying jobs, so it's always higher and closer to what growth really costs you.
Should I include my agency fee?
Yes. Anything you pay so that leads come in belongs in the total: agency or freelancer fees, lead sites and listing tools. Leave out your own time unless you pay someone else for it.
How do I count my leads accurately?
Use call tracking and form tracking so every lead records where it came from. If you're guessing today, we can set it up for you, and the counts then show up in your Am I found? dashboard.
Do leads from Google Maps really cost nothing?
There's no charge per click on your map listing. It still takes work to rank there (reviews, photos, the right categories), which is what Am I found? helps you do.