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SEO & Web Article - Pay per Click (PPC)

PPC (Pay per Click)

Pay Per Click (PPC) is an online web marketing and advertising strategy, whereby the advertiser does not pay a fixed fee to place an ad, but instead pays a certain amount of money each time someone clicks on their ad and is consequently taken to their website.

The PPC model is sometimes being associated with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). However, in our opinion, PPC is not an SEO tool, or at least not an organic one, but belongs rather into the category of SEM (Search Engine Marketing).

PPC ads will show up on the web pages of all sites that agree to host these ads, whereby such ads (in order to increase their targeting efficiency) will usually appear on pages that are topically related or associated with the theme of the particular PPC ad. Every visitor to any such theme-relevant page will see the ad and can, if interested, click on it.

In the world of Google, the advertisers' PPC campaigns are called AdWords, while the websites hosting those ads are called AdSense customers. Other large business solutions providers, too, such as Yahoo! and MSN, provide comparable business concepts.

In PPC the advertiser can choose the keywords, search terms or phrases she wants the website to be associated with when a search is performed.

Due to intense competition for the placement of PPC ads, advertisers have to bid for placing the keywords of their choice. The highest bidder for a given keyword will get premium placement.

Prices for PPC terms will change depending on market conditions, i.e.: every time an advertiser decides how much she is willing to pay each time someone clicks on the search result, and whether or not to outbid other advertisers.

Prices for PPC ads can range from a few cents per click for less competitive terms, for keywords in small markets, or for long-tail keywords, up to several dollars per click for highly desired words (usually short popular words) or for large or affluent markets.

The potential disadvantage of PPC is that the advertiser often pays for random clicks, or for clicks by users who are just browsing. Costs can add up very quickly.

The major advantage of PPC is that users who actually open a PPC ad are usually already interested in the topic of that ad, and therefore more likely to proceed further, either by ordering immediately, or at least by continuing to browse the target website and making contact.

PPC is a very sophisticated tool which requires thorough keyword research, analysis, and reporting, and, when well executed, can be an effective SEM (Search Engine Marketing) strategy.

However, in spite of its undoubted upside, PPC is not necessarily the optimal marketing weapon for every scenario and should be used only selectively. In particular, CPC (Cost per Click), and ROI (Return on Investment) considerations should be carefully weighed. As well, not every industry or business category is suitable for the PPC approach.

For more information about our SEO and Web consulting services, or an absolutely free web site analysis and SEO consultation, we encourage you to contact us. Our SEO Montreal consultants will be pleased to help.

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