What is Pay-Per-Click Advertising?

Pay per click advertising is a results-oriented approach to digital advertising.  You only pay for what you use.

Search engines return a list of web sites relevant to a person's keyword search. A high ranking in the free (organic) search results is an exceptionally valuable achievement.  With tens of thousands of web sites all competing for a keyword phrase ranking, it is difficult to rank highly for multiple keyword phrases.  Pay per click allows you to get your web site listed on the results pages of an almost limitless number of keyword phrases. The highest bidder for a phrase gets the top spot.

Advertisers have to target the right type of searcher or consumer with the right keywords.  The advertiser pays a rate specified for every visitor who clicks through from the search engine site to the advertiser’s web site.  Each unique keyword phrase (e.g. digital cameras) has its own bid price. The advertiser sets a budget and puts money in an account with a credit card.  A website is readied to receive the clicks from search engine traffic.

When a consumer uses a keyword in a search engine the sponsored listing appears at the top of the page ready to be clicked. If clicked, the consumer is directed to the advertiser’s website and a fee is paid for the “click” or consumer response.
                                   
Ten Benefits of Pay-Per-Click Advertising

1. Ability to Research.  Advertisers quickly learn what people are searching for, which search terms generated the most clicks, and - most importantly - which search terms converted the best into leads;

2. Affordable for small businesses as well as large. PPC can create a level playing field for small and large businesses.  Advertising for a small business might be right above or below a large business or national chain.

3. Branding. Pay-per-click advertising places an advertiser's name at the top of a search engine.  It's creates brand awareness through repetition.

4. Control Over Results. Website traffic could be directed to a very specific landing page (or set of pages) that can be fine-tuned to increase the conversion rate;

5. Flexible Budget. Depending on how much an advertiser wants to invest and what kind of sales or leads are desired, the advertiser can set a budget of any size.

6. Focus on a targeted audience. PPC creates the ability to target users in the exact area or demographic.  It's all based on keywords. Advertisers are pre-qualifying customers before they ever land on a website.

7. Gain a national audience. Even small companies can benefit from exposure to the 80% of Internet users who utilize search engines to find things.  A small company can gain a national audience by being competitive in a keyword category.

8. Immediate results. Research, set up and implementation of pay-per-click campaigns can happen in just a few days time, as opposed to natural rankings which can take weeks or months to gain a ranking.

9. Pay-as-you-go. Search engines don’t charge a fee to place or run an ad. Advertisers only pay for the users that click on the ad.

10. Real-time tracking. With PPC you can track the effectiveness of various keywords and phrases, which ads generate the most traffic, conversion rates, and much more. And unlike a printed piece or mailer, there’s no lag time to know if an ad is working.

Mark Jensen is a marketer and promoter of Pulse Marketing, home of the Website pScore.  Visit Pulse Marketing at www.pulsemarketing.com.