PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
PPC is an online advertising model where advertisers pay a fee each time someone clicks their ad, commonly used on search engines like Google and social media platforms.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is a digital advertising model where you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad. Unlike traditional advertising where you pay for impressions (views), PPC ensures you're paying for measurable actions that bring people to your website. Google Ads is the most well-known PPC platform, allowing businesses to bid on keywords so their ads appear at the top of search results.
When someone searches for "best accounting software," the sponsored results at the top are PPC ads. Advertisers bid on that keyword, and Google charges them only when a user clicks. PPC works on an auction system.
In practice
- A local plumber spends $500/month on Google Ads targeting "emergency plumber [city]" and generates an average of 25 calls per month, with each job worth $200-$500
- An e-commerce store's Google Shopping campaigns generate a 6:1 return on ad spend, meaning they earn $6 in revenue for every $1 spent on ads
- A SaaS company bids on competitor brand names, capturing users who are actively looking for alternatives and converting them at 8% (vs. 2% for generic keywords)
- A dental practice runs PPC ads for "teeth whitening near me" only during business hours when staff can answer the phone, maximizing the value of each click
Not sure how this applies to you?
A senior engineer walks your site, your search presence and the way enquiries reach you, then writes down the three things worth fixing first. You keep the document either way.