Pay per Click (PPC) is a promotion method offered by Search Engines in which an advertiser pays for each click on their advert. PPC adverts can be displayed on Search Engine results pages and content websites.

Search engine result pages are the result pages where a user has searched for a specific keyword and is delivered a page listing relevant PPC adverts that sit alongside the Organic Search results. Content targeting refers to PPC adverts being displayed on content pages.

PPC adverts are most often displayed at the top, bottom and right-hand side of the SERPs. The position of the advert on the page is determined by a bidding system.

Though bidding higher amounts of money will normally result in a higher position, some Search Engines consider several aspects in the ranking of adverts. Google, for example uses a “Quality Score” which considers the click-through rate (CTR) of your advert as well as the relevance of your ad text to both the keywords and your website’s landing page. The “Quality Score” also helps Google determine your cost per click (CPC). The less relevant your advert and landing page are, the more you will have to pay to display that advert in a high position.

The bidding price for the keyword is also highly variable. General keywords like “car rental” are more expensive and will generate more impressions than a specific keyword phrase like “cheap rental car in cape town”. As more and more companies adopt PPC marketing, keyword bidding prices are increasing and advert positioning is becoming more competitive. Therefore it is important to focus your budget on attracting the right type of people to your site by outlining a clear PPC strategy.

Tags: pay-per-click

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 5:26 am and is filed under PPC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.