By Desmond Mantor © 2006

Pay-Per-Position or Pay-Per-Click or simply PPC advertising is an option of increasing site traffic, just like search engine optimization.

PPC is based on a very simple premise. Typically, people type in a keyword into a search engine and get a list of most relevant sites displayed. The additional sites listed in a small panel on the side of the search results are the ones that are using PPC advertising.

The site owner has agreed to pay a specified amount to the search engine, every time a web surfer clicks one of these pay-per-click sites. The salient advantages of using PPC advertising are discussed below:

You get instant traffic routed to your site and since the advertising was relevant to the searched keywords, you can count on genuinely interested visitors who are seeking the kind of products, information or services that you offer. This implies that your chances of converting these visitors into customers are already high.

Search engine optimization also routes people to the site, and it seemingly does that for free. But you are forgetting the cost in terms of money and time that it takes to develop a website that can perform great in search engines. On the other hand, PPC advertising instantly routes traffic to your site at a cost.

PPC advertising also gives you complete control over your advertising budget. Basically, PPC advertisers bid on keywords. For instance, if you owned a motorcycle parts website, then you might bid $.10 on the keyword "hog parts". That means you are willing to pay the search engine a dime every time someone clicks on your site.

If your budget was 50 dollars for the month, then 500 people could click onto your site before it disappeared from the rankings screen. The only catch is that you have to be the highest bidder to get the keyword. So, you do have to decide how much it is worth having targeted traffic visiting your site before placing a bid.

You get data and feedback from the PPC advertising so you can fine tune your website strategy. Search engines that offer PPC services will send you the information regarding the visitors to your site that can help you refine your website and keyword usage.

For instance, if you find that you are getting visitors but they leave your site without buying anything, then obviously you need to refine your website. Also, if you find out that certain pages on your website get more hits, then you can decide to place more links and ads on these pages.

And does PPC advertising have any downsides? Really, none at all! In fact, it's quite a marketing coup to have your website listed on the first page of any search results based on a keyword that you bid and won.

And you get instant access to a target customer base, which is directed to your site. Plus, your advertising budget is entirely within your control and you get exactly what you are paying for. Not to mention, the adjustments you can make to your website to increase profitability based on the feedback provided.