Pay Per Click is a form of advertising where the advertisers pay only when a user clicks on the displayed advertisement and consequently visits the advertiser's site. This is advantageous to the advertiser because he can control his advertising spends. The advertiser pays only when an internet user clicks on the ad, not when the ad is only displayed. The Cost Per Click of this advertising model starts from between 0.05 US dollars up to 0.50 US dollars and can be as much as 70 US dollars a click in some markets. With the larger network operators, like Google AdWords, the Cost Per Click is generally higher in similar markets.



The bottom line with Pay Per Click advertising is that its success is dependent on the advertising keywords chosen by the advertiser. The chosen keywords have to strike a fine balance. Employing more commonly used keywords in their usual placements may mean more advertising competition, although this could also translate to more views in the event that the advertisement has impressed the majority of the target audience over the competition.

On the other hand, applying less known keywords means less competition over other advertisers, but this could also mean less visits or clicks on the ad. But, as more users discover the relevance of these keywords, the competition will increase. Although, until this happens advertiser can enjoying the undivided attention, and may well be reaping profits in the end. Of course ideal as it may sound, this case is not always simple. A longer amount of time may be needed before traffic actually starts to build up in Pay Per Click. And by the time traffic actually starts to increase, more competitors may enter the market with their own ads giving users a wider base for their choices.

Pay Per Click advertising is a convenient tool for marketing products and services to the target audience. The Cost Per Click set-up allows the advertiser to plan his advertising spending, and to pay for an advertisement only when a user has clicked on the ad. More clicks will mean more costs, and the advertiser has to make certain that these costs will soon be turned into profits for his website.

Another advantage with this form of advertising, when used optimally, is that your goods or service are advertised to a highly targeted audience. When a user searches on a keyword on the search engine, the higher ranked sites would naturally show up. The sponsored links on the same page would list the various advertised sites, and if the user finds something relevant on these ads, he may click on them instead of going through higher-ranked sites on the web. Conversely, when the user does not find anything of substance on the webpage of the ad, he may easily abandon the site and find something else. The Pay Per Click ad must work hand in hand with the web page itself. A careless advertisement will not attract potential clicks; while a careless webpage, though having drawn in some visits could very easily lose the users? interests and therefore waist your money.