By A10 Digital. Published .
PPC stands for pay-per-click. It is a form of online advertising where you pay each time someone clicks your advert, not each time it is shown. The best known example is Google Ads, where adverts appear above the normal search results.
How does PPC work?
You choose the searches you want your advert to appear for, write the advert, and set a budget. When someone makes one of those searches, Google runs an instant auction between the advertisers who want that click. The winners’ adverts are shown. If the person clicks yours, you pay.
The cost per click is not fixed. It depends on how many businesses want the same search and how relevant Google judges your advert and page to be. A well-run account can pay less per click than a competitor bidding more.
Where do PPC adverts appear?
- Search adverts. Text adverts at the top of Google’s results.
- Shopping adverts. Product pictures and prices, for businesses that sell online.
- Display adverts. Banners on other websites.
- Social adverts. Paid posts on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
What is the difference between PPC and SEO?
PPC buys you a place at the top for as long as you pay. SEO earns you a place in the normal results, which takes longer and does not stop when the budget does. Most businesses benefit from both: PPC for enquiries now, SEO for visibility that does not depend on the budget.
What does PPC management involve?
Someone has to choose the searches, exclude the wasteful ones, write and test the adverts, and check that clicks become enquiries. Left alone, an account drifts towards spending more for less. That ongoing attention is what PPC management means.
When is PPC the right choice?
When you need enquiries sooner than SEO can deliver them, when you are testing demand for a new service, or when the searches that matter to you are too competitive to win quickly any other way. It is the wrong choice if your website cannot turn a visit into an enquiry, because you will be paying for clicks that go nowhere.
Related service: Google Ads management from A10 Digital.