PPC Advertising
A term used as an abbreviation to Pay Per Click advertising and also called CPC advertising or Cost Per Click Advertising.
This format is growing at a crazy rate at the moment and one company has the overall share of PPC advertising around the world - Google.
The basics of pay per click are:
You write ads, based on relevant keywords for your business - these are displayed on search results pages and websites within that network. If someone types in a keyword/phrase relevant to your business and that matches your advert criteria, your ad will then show on the page. If someone clicks on your ad, you will be charged a fee based on the cost per click value you set for that advert. Therefore, it is important to make the advert clear, so to avoid wasted clicks from people who misunderstood your message.
Before setting up a ppc campaign, you should consider what your competition is doing and how much you want to pay for your campaign. The more you pay per click the higher your advert will appear on search results and websites. However, don't be drawn into a 'Top spot' war just for the reasons of getting one up on the competition. The trick with PPC advertising is to get as many good quality clicks as you can, in the position you are happy with and at a price you can afford.
If you don't want to set up your account and do the campaign yourself, you could take on the services of a pay per click search marketing company or one that offers a ppc management service. These companies will usually set up your account, look at the competition, write your ads, set a budget and do the whole thing as per your instructions. Companies offering these Media Buying Services can save you a great deal of time and effort, but make sure you provide them with the necessary tools to research your competition.
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