What is pay per click (PPC)?

Pay per click (PPC), also known as pay per bid or paid listings is a service provided by companies including Overture, Google, Looksmart and Espotting. The pay per click service allows advertisers to pay for the traffic delivered from the search engine. Unlike paying for inclusion in a search engine or directory, with PPC the advertiser pays every time a user clicks on their search listing. The most common format uses a bidding system where advertisers can bid for position in the results. As with normal search engine listings a high return is only realised if top rankings are achieved.

Pay per click results are distributed through various search engines and partner sites around the web. For example when bidding for top positions at Overture you are bidding for top positions on MSN, Yahoo, Lycos, Alta Vista and Info Space. The distribution partners of the various PPC systems provide the real value of the service.

Although pay per click can be a very costly strategy if it is not thoroughly researched, the benefits of a well planned and executed PPC campaign can be huge. Pay per click provides the ultimate channel for reaching your target customers. Unlike more traditional means of mass marketing, pay per click puts your products and services in front of the people who are actively seeking them out.

Pay per click marketing is not only about selecting the correct keywords to bid for, it is also about the optimisation of your "one shot" message that gets to the consumer through your listing. If this message is carefully crafted the searcher is more likely to want to click on the listing.

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