In a print medium, either a newspaper or periodical, a business will pay a flat rate for the advertisment it opts to purchase. In most cases they can only request where the advertisement will appear, unless they wish to pay a premium price to guarantee a more prominent spot. But with traditional print advertising, there are few ways to gauge how many people even saw the advertisement, must less took action upon seeing it. The advertiser will pay the same rate whether or not the ad is effective.

In electronic advertising, either on television or radio, a company will pay to have their advertisement aired. Television advertising costs more than radio advertising, as a rule.

Larger radio stations can charge more than smaller stations because of the size of their leadership.  Advertisers may try to match their advertisements to the station’s format (talk, country, Top 40, etc.), but must then consider other factors, such as when the advertisement is aired, producing their advertisement, etc. But, just like print advertising, the advertiser will pay regardless of whether the ad was an effective tool.

None of those factors matter in pay per click advertising. The company only pays for the advertisement if their ad is clicked and viewed by the interested party. The advertiser will pay a cost per click amount, a rate that will either be a fixed rate or a rate that is established by bidding for keywords and keyword phrases that are commonly used and relevant to the target market.

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In the next article, we will discuss how PPC allows you to track the true effectiveness of your advertising efforts!

The core of our business is pay per click advertising, otherwise known as SEM (Search Engine Marketing), or PPC advertising.

So..what is Pay Per Click?  Pay per click advertising is a way many companies use to generate leads and opportunities for their business. This form of marketing is done over the internet and allows a business to target their advertising dollars to the particular niche that would be interested in securing their specific goods and services.

Companies who use pay per click advertising pay only for visitors who view their advertisements, which are generally posted on a search engine’s results page. Pay per click advertising allows a business to hone in on their target market and pay only for the ads that go to interested customers.

Pay per click advertising is different from traditional means of advertising. An advertiser only pays when their ad is clicked. Generally speaking, this means the searcher is looking for the type of information or services that are offered by the advertiser. There may be a few errant or curious clicks recorded during a pay per click campaign, but most of the ads are opened by an interested party. This is quite different from traditional forms of advertising.

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Our next article will delve into what makes pay per click so attractive to businesses that are mindful of the bottom line for their advertising budget….