Google Ads in Albania: costs per click, the sectors that earn and how not to waste the budget
In Albania a Google click costs a fraction of Italy, and whoever searches “dentist Tiranë” or “hotel Sarandë” wants to buy. It is the fastest channel to get clients, and the easiest to waste money on without method.
What a click costs
It depends on competition and language. Albanian searches for local services (plumber, air conditioning, lawyer, dentist): from a few cents to a few euros. Italian and English searches by foreigners (hotel, villa, dentist): more, because foreign advertisers compete too. High-value searches (real estate for foreigners, clinics): the most expensive, but one enquiry is worth thousands of euros. In any case, a fraction of Italy.
The minimum budget
For a local service business: a modest monthly budget is enough to see enquiries. For hotels in season and real estate for foreigners: more, concentrated in the right months. The rule: start small for two weeks, measure cost per enquiry, increase only where it pays. A big budget without measurement is the fastest way to say “Ads does not work”.
The highest-return sectors
Private healthcare (dentists, aesthetic clinics, labs): high-value enquiries and low competition. Real estate for foreigners: higher cost per click, enquiries worth big commissions. Tourism (hotels, apartments) in season. Urgent home services (plumber, electrician, air conditioning). Professional services (lawyer, accountant). Driving schools and courses. Whoever sells something people search for on Google earns.
The sectors where Ads works less
Consumer products without search (clothing shops: Meta is better). Businesses without a site or with a bad one. Very low-margin services. Businesses that do not answer the phone. For these, the budget goes to clicks with no return.
Campaign structure
One campaign per language (Albanian, Italian, English) and per service. Precise search groups (“dentist Tiranë”, “impiant dentar Tiranë”, “dentista Albania”). Negative keywords (free, jobs, courses, wikipedia). Ads with the benefit and the call. A campaign on your name to defend against competitors and portals. A single “all together” campaign wastes.
The landing page
The click goes to the service page, not the home: what you offer, for whom, the price or “price from”, photos, reviews, a visible form and WhatsApp, in the ad’s language. The wrong page loses half the clicks. A page slow on mobile loses a third before opening.
Measurement
Conversions: forms, WhatsApp and phone clicks, bookings from the engine. Every month: clicks, enquiries, cost per enquiry, qualified enquiries, clients. If an enquiry costs 8 euros and a client is worth 200, the campaign earns. Without measurement, you know neither whether it earns nor where to stop.
Season
Hotels: April-June and September, a pause in August. Real estate for foreigners: January-April and September-October. Clinics: all year with peaks in January and September. Home services: summer for air conditioning, winter for heating. The budget follows the season; the same campaign all year spends in dead months.
The mistakes that burn half the budget
Generic searches (“Albania”, “Tirana”). No negative keywords. Clicks to the home page. An Albanian-only page for Italian ads. No measured conversions. The same budget all year. A campaign left alone for months. An unanswered phone. The account in the agency’s name. Judging after a week.
Google Ads and SEO
Ads brings immediately; SEO brings after six months and stays. Whoever does both, after a year reduces Ads and keeps enquiries. Ads also shows which searches convert: valuable information for SEO. Whoever does only Ads pays forever for every client.
Example: an aesthetic clinic in Tirana
An Albanian campaign on treatments (botox, filler, laser) with a landing page per treatment and a “from” price, an Italian campaign for aesthetic tourism, a name campaign. A modest monthly budget. After two months: low cost per enquiry, 60 enquiries a month, one in three becomes a patient, 20% from Italy. Ad cost per patient: a fraction of the treatment value.
What management costs
A fixed monthly fee (not a percentage of budget, which pushes to spend more). The account in your name, the budget from your card directly to Google. A monthly report. A three-month minimum contract: less does not allow optimisation. Whoever manages Ads must show a client report before you sign.
How to start
Analysis: what your clients search for, what it costs, who advertises today. Landing pages for the main services. A first small-budget campaign for two weeks. Measurement. Increase where it pays. After three months, the budget is split with the numbers in hand.
Indicative costs per click by sector
Home services in Albanian (plumber, electrician, air conditioning, cleaning): the lowest band. Professional services in Albanian (lawyer, accountant, notary): slightly higher. Healthcare in Albanian (dentist, clinic): medium. Tourism in Italian and English (hotel, apartment, excursion): medium-high, especially in season. Real estate in Italian and German (villa, apartment for sale): the highest band, but with enquiries worth thousands of euros. Clinics for medical tourism in Italian: high, high-value. The figures change every month with competition: the only way to know them for your sector is a two-week test campaign. In any case, the cost per enquiry must be a fraction of the client’s value.
Frequently asked questions
How much budget to start?
Modest, for two weeks, to measure cost per enquiry. Increase only where it pays.
Does Ads bring clients immediately?
Clicks yes; enquiries within days if the landing page is good.
Who owns the account?
You. The budget from your card directly to Google.
Ads or SEO?
Both: Ads now, SEO for next year.