PPC stands for "Pay-Per-Click". Pay-Per-Click is an advertising model where businesses pay an agreed upon amount, each time their advertisement is "clicked", not each time their ad is displayed.

Business owners typically setup a PPC campaign with one, or several of the various search engines defining how much they are willing to spend for each click-through that they receive.

Companies select keywords, keyword phrases, keyword groups, or categories in which they want their advertisements to appear. Those willing to spend the most money for a relevant advertisement will generally be listed first.

Benefits to PPC
When you setup a PPC campaign you can control the traffic. While a new website takes time to rank well in search engines, with PPC you can turn the traffic on and off. With PPC you can create almost instant traffic.

Another benefit to PPC listings is the opportunities for international exposure. Organic search listings vary in different geographical regions. With PPC you control where you are seen.

Tracking PPC
In order to determine how effective a PPC campaign is, it is important to install tracking code on your website and use tracking software. This will provide you with information such as your cost per click, ad relevance, click through rate, and daily budget and the order on which the ads appear is based on a number of factors.

The Goal of PPC
A successful PPC campaign should be targeted not too narrowly and not too broadly. Direct the user to a relevant landing page that has a direct relationship to the keyword or phrase contained in their search and in your ad. This will insure a higher Click-Through-Rate and more Conversions.