What is Pay Per Click?

Posted by Jimmy Franklin

May 28, 2009

by Jimmy Franklin

When somebody asks me what I do for a living they usually stop me when I mention pay per click or PPC. What is it? Well lets touch on some of the basic terms and ideas behind it. This should definitely get you started on your way.

You know when you enter a keyword or phrase into a search engine like Google, Yahoo, or MSN and you get back a page of results. Well lets dissect that page. On the very top and right hand side are ads. These are pay per click ads. The left or middle results are organic or free search results based on what the engine determines relevant to your search.

These ads are being paid for to show up by multiple different advertisers. Here is the catch though. The advertiser only pays for the ad when somebody actually clicks on it. So they are only paying for the click. Their bidding on what the click is worth to them and then get charged only when someone clicks on their ad.

So to go deeper, when do those ads show up? Well the advertiser first determines who he wants those ads to appear to. This is his market. Who he is selling to. He will build whats called a keyword list with possibly hundreds of keywords or phrases that someone might enter into the search engine when looking for his product.

The advertiser will enter the list of keywords they want their ad to show up for. They then bid on what that keyword or phrase is worth to them. For instance they may bid low on a broad keyword like “shoes” But bid more on a more specific phrase like “red high top shoes” The thought here is that a more specific phrase means the searcher is closer to buying.

So simply put (It goes deeper) the more you bid on a keyword the high you will show in the advertising results. This is scientifically proven to get more clicks, or a better click through rate. The goal is to get the people who are close to buying to click your ad. They then will get sent to you website in hopes for a sale. Remember we only pay when someone actually clicks on the ad and not the impression, which is how many times the ad shows.

Basically PPC allows for the advertiser to only pay for a very targeted group of people. Instead of using say a billboard where you have people of all ages and interests driving by, a PPC advertiser only pays when someone searches using a keyword or phrase they specify and actually clicks on the ad.

Pay per click advertising is the most efficient way of driving laser targeted traffic to your site. The problem is if you don’t know what you are doing you can spend a lot of money very fast! I have been using a new program that has helped me dramatically. Comes with videos, step by steps docs, and even software to help you make money with your PPC ads. Check it out. Google Secret Loophole.

About the Author:

Jimmy Franklin has been helping people with pay per click for over a year. Feel free to email him or check his site on Pay Per Click Advertising or the software he recommends Google Secret Loophole

traffic analysis