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A Basic Overview of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

For website owners and developers of all types, the goal is a successful website, one that receives lots of traffic from visitors, and conversion of visitors to customers. Often this goal is achieved, at least in the beginning, through a well planned and executed search engine optimization campaign. Pay per click advertising (also known as ppc advertising) can be an effective addition to an SEO plan, but the key to using ppc search engines successfully is understanding how pay per click advertising works.

PPC is an Internet advertising model where advertisers create ads to be displayed on a host's website, and then pay the host each time their ad is clicked. Typically, pay per click search engines require advertisers to bid for position in an auction like system, with the top bidder receiving the top listing on the paid listing results page. This is called your ppc ranking, and for the major ppc search engines, the top four bids receive the most exposure across their search partner networks, and therefore the most clicks.

With this in mind, a good position to bid for would be the third or fourth position. This reduces overall cost, yet assures that your ad is still in the top four positions and will still receive the maximum exposure. Bids average between .25 cents and $2.00 dollars per click, and the amount you pay your host depends on the amount of clicks your ad receives. A nice feature of pay per click advertising is that you only pay for actual visitors who click through to your website.

While there are over three hundred ppc programs on the Internet, the top ten have an estimated 90% reach across the Internet. When choosing a ppc program to host your advertisements, it's a good idea not to "put all of your eggs in one basket". Choose one or two off the top ten list, in order to reach as many people as possible across different audiences while still keeping your ppc campaign cost effective.

PPC advertisements are different than banners, in that they don't display pictures and graphics. PPC ads are textual, and displays factual information about the website. They are displayed at the top of the search results page, as well as to the right of the results, when a user types a keyword or keyword phrase into a search engine. Here is an example of a ppc ad you might create if you sold handmade baby clothing:

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Handmade Baby Clothing
High quality, handmade baby clothing.
Sizes newborn to 2T. Secure ordering.
www.HandmadeBabyClothing.com
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You'll want to focus on the best targeted title and text possible, especially if you are bidding for the second through the fourth positions. A user is likely to scan through the top four advertisement before clicking on one, and is likely to click on the one with the best text. This means that being in the top position doesn't always guarantee you the most clicks - title and text are equally as important. The click through rate is still quite high for ads in the second through fourth positions, and having a good title and persuasive text can increase that rate.

PPC advertising offers a number of benefits. PPC search engines offer you the ability to control how much you spend on advertising, as well as your ranking in search results. PPC offers instant visibility and traffic, which is ideal for new website owners looking for fast exposure, and with most ppc search engines, ads can be active in just a few days. In addition, they are great for beginners, as they don't require a lot of technical knowledge to set up - although a basic understanding of pay per click search engines is a good idea.

PPC campaigns are also helpful for more than just generating traffic. Running a pay per click campaign can help you improve your search engine optimization plan, by helping you find out if you are targeting the right keywords. Use the same keywords in your pay per click ads that you are focusing on in your SEO plan, and if the traffic isn't what you are looking for, then you might want to try out other keywords that have better conversion rates.

The key to running a successful ppc campaign is understanding the basics. While this article provides a good overview of the basics, it's important to seek advice from other website owners who have run successful pay per click campaigns. Oftentimes, their advice will prove invaluable, as it is based in real life experience, not just on research.