PPC – Pay per Click, as the name implies, is a method where advertisers pay for every click on their advertisement. Many of you might be aware how PPC works. You will write a compelling ad blending right keywords in the content, bid the price for the desired slots and placements on the search engines and pay whenever someone clicks on the ad.

SEO is an Internet Marketing strategy. Therefore, like any other marketing strategies, you need to put in lots of efforts to reach to the top of the search engine ranking. It is a continuous process where you need to adopt various on-page and off-page SEO tactics such as link building, directory submissions, creating high-quality stuff for your web pages, adding Meta tags and using right keyword phrases to ensure high PageRank.

PPC is the fastest and sure shot way to generate instant traffic whereas SEO is a slow approach, as the results can not be seen overnight. Although SEO is a time consuming method, but over the long run, SEO helps in achieving better organic Search Rankings.

PPC is relatively a costlier affair as compared to Search Engine Optimization process. Despite PPC being a costly proposition, you have full control on your budgets, advertisements and keyword phrases. Although you can not predict the outcome of the campaigns, (I mean the conversion rate) but you can always change the modus operandi by changing your ads, keywords, landing page and placements to ensure higher conversions.

Summing up:

PPC and SEO both the methods have its own plus and minus points. PPC is the fastest route to gaining huge traffic to your site. Choice of PPC over SEO is like time versus money. In addition, most important – you should keep in mind the ultimate goals of your business.

1. PPC is a form of advertising used on search engines and ad networks, where the advertiser pays the host for every click generated on the ad. Pay per Click advertising means paying the advertisers typically through AdWords delivery system of Google, Yahoo, MSN, BidVertiser or AdBrite for each click generated on the ad link.
2. When you search any keywords on Google, you can find PPC ads on the top or on the right hand side of the search results – known as ‘Sponsored Links‘. In-Content ad links appear in an inside page on the website.
3. Price for PPC ads primarily depends upon the keywords and the demand for a specific Keyword.
4. Broader the keyword, more people bid for these ads. Top slots go to the highest bidders.
5. You should select the right keyword and bid high to get a better position of your ad on the search results.
6. If you have a limited budget on PPC, you should not aim to place your ad in #1 slot on Google AdWords.
7. Keep in mind that for some of the keywords, rates could be as high as several dollars per click.
8. If you are just starting your PPC campaign, you should ideally restrict your budget to $0.5 per click or even lower.
9. Once your campaign runs for few days, you can analyze the data to find out the actual conversion rate to bid again for higher position.
10. If you are not sure about how much you will end up paying on PPC campaign, you can set a daily or monthly budget.
11. Besides the keywords, catchy title and compelling content for the advertisement is also a very important factor while going for PPC campaigns.

Free Resources:

• Google Adwords Made Easy – Recommended Free eBook. Learn the Google Adwords system. Simple, Fool-Proof Strategies, You Can Use Right Away For Adwords Success. Download it For FREE.

Google AdWords FREE Credit Coupons:

• $50 Free Google Adwords Coupon – Sign up for Google AdWords and receive $50* worth of targeted advertising. (by Google Analytics Expires on 6/31/2009).
• $50 Free Google Adwords Coupon – Sign up for Google AdWords and receive $50* worth of targeted advertising. (Special offer for Visa Business Card Holders. Only for advertisers whose VISA credit card billing address is in the United States. Expires on December 31st, 2006).
• Euro 50 Coupon – For Europeans Advertisers.
• £30 Free Google Adwords Coupon – For UK or Ireland Advertisers.

Yahoo! Search Marketing (YSM) FREE Credit Coupons:

• $75 Yahoo Search Marketing Coupon (International)
• $50 Yahoo Search Marketing Coupon (International)
• $100 Yahoo Search Marketing Coupon (US only)
• $75 Yahoo Search Marketing Coupon (US only)

Note: I don’t know when all the coupon links will be expired, so pls make sure that the credit value above the sign up button (at the right hand side) is there before you apply. YSM required you to initial credit $30 to your account (by Paypal or CC) to activate the account and get the free credit. Normally take 2-3 days before the free credit available in your account.