SEM Times (Issue 4): What is PPC?

Dear Reader,

It is the time to answer the next question: "What is PPC?"

PPC stands for Pay Per Click. It is one of the fastest growing Online Marketing or to be precise Online Advertising techniques. As mentioned earlier, it is an SEM (Search Engine Marketing) strategy.

Through PPC, you drive traffic (i.e. potential customers) to your shop (i.e. your website) by paying to Search Engines. The ads shown at the right column on the Google (when you search for a keyword) are the ones which are part of PPC advertisement on Google. For e.g., if you search for 'hotels in goa'on Google, you will see (atleast shown currently while I am writing this) an ad by www.makemytrip.com. It is also called Google Adwords. Here is how it works:

1. You pay to Search Engines to display your ads
2. You choose the key words for which you want to display your ads
3. When someone searches for the selected keywords, your ad is being shown
4. For each click made on your ad, you pay Google a fee (since you pay when someone clicks, it is called Pay Per Click)

















If for a same keyword, there are multiple advertisers, depending upon the amount you bid (to be paid to google for every click) and some other factors like performance of your ad (i.e. how many people who sees your ad clicks), your ad will be ranked from the top to bottom. If the number of advertisers are too many, your ad may be displayed on 2nd or further pages shown on search.

Google can also display your ad on other websites (who’ve subscribed to google) relevant to your topic. You can choose to take advantage of this service as well.

I hope this educates you about PPC. As always, your inputs are welcome and encouraged!

Will talk about eMail Marketing in the next issue.

Happy Learning!
SEM Times