| Per Click advertising (PPC) is a very cost-effective | | | | multitude of sites, including social media, but the three |
| way for businesses of any size to market their | | | | largest are Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search |
| products online. Regardless of the number of times | | | | Marketing and Microsoft adCenter, all of which price |
| your ad appears on screen, you only pay when | | | | their service on a bid basis, vs. a flat-rate CPC model. |
| someone actually clicks on it. Imagine running an ad in | | | | In a bid-based system, the advertiser sets or |
| the New York Times and paying nothing for it to | | | | bids the maximum amount he is willing to pay |
| appear, but instead paying only when an interested | | | | per click, which is then compared to his |
| customer calls you. This levels the playing field and | | | | competitors’ bids. Generally, the business with |
| puts this type of online marketing within reach of nearly | | | | the highest bid is listed at the top of the sponsored |
| any business of any size in any location. The rate you | | | | links. Conversely, in the flat-rate model the CPC is |
| pay is called Cost Per Click (CPC). | | | | determined in advance by the site’s publisher. |
| One of the strongest advantages of Pay Per Click | | | | Social media sites, including Facebook, LinkedIn and |
| advertising is that the ads appear only to users who | | | | most of the blogging sites offer Pay Per Click |
| are interested, based on criteria that you establish up | | | | advertising. Micro-blogging mega site Twitter recently |
| front. If you sell equipment for cross-country skiing you | | | | entered the market as well. Unlike PPC ads on search |
| could set up a PPC ad on one of the search engines | | | | engines, social media ads are targeted to specific |
| to appear when someone uses the phrase cross | | | | demographics, as determined by the advertiser. You |
| country ski equipment. In addition to your website | | | | could instruct Facebook to display your ad to anyone |
| being listed at the top of the indexed list because of its | | | | who has listed skiing as an interest, or to everyone |
| expertly executed search engine optimization, your | | | | who likes your page or any page related in any |
| company will be listed on the side as a sponsored | | | | way to skiing. Your ad will appear on the right side of |
| link. You pay only if the searcher clicks on your link. | | | | the Facebook page and you’ll pay only when |
| Pay Per Click advertising is available through a | | | | someone clicks on it. |