A brief Pay Per Click definition is: PPC is a type of sponsored online advertising that is used on a wide range of websites, including search engines, where the advertiser only pays if a web user clicks on their ad. Hence the title, ‘pay per click.’
When our clients ask us to define Pay Per Click, we tell them that PPC is a very cost-effective means to get their site noticed by their target audience while our other Internet marketing strategies are gradually helping their site achieve their natural ranking potential.
In a way, PPC advertising works like a silent auction. Advertisers place bids on keywords or phrases that they think their target audience would type in a search field when they are looking for specific goods or services. When a web user types a search query into the field of a search engine that matches the advertiser’s keyword list or visits a web page with content that correlates to the keywords or phrases chosen by the advertiser, the PPC ad may be displayed on the page. In search engines, a PPC ad is generally just above or to the right of the search results where they can be easily seen. On other kinds of websites, the ad will be placed in the location that the site designer has determined will be the most advantageous to his site and the advertiser.
To differentiate PPC ads from the natural search results displayed on a page, search engines will often place PPC ads under “Sponsored Ads” or “Sponsored Links” which also makes them easier to notice on a page that is crowded with text and other items competing for a web user’s attention.
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