Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
An online advertising model where advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked, essentially buying visits to their site rather than earning them organically.
Pay-per-click is an advertising model where you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad. Google Ads is the most well-known PPC platform, but Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and Microsoft Advertising all use variations of this model. The appeal is straightforward: instead of paying for exposure regardless of results, you pay only when someone shows enough interest to click through to your website.
PPC advertising gives small businesses something organic marketing can’t: immediate visibility. While SEO takes months to build momentum, a well-structured PPC campaign can put your business at the top of Google search results within hours. This makes PPC particularly valuable for new businesses that need customers now, seasonal promotions with tight timelines, or competitive industries where organic rankings are difficult to achieve quickly.
The economics of PPC depend on your industry, competition, and how well you optimize your campaigns. You set a daily budget and bid on keywords relevant to your business. Google’s auction system determines which ads appear and in what order based on your bid amount and quality score (a measure of how relevant and useful your ad and landing page are). Better quality scores can actually lower your cost per click while improving your ad position.
Success with PPC requires ongoing management. Monitor your campaigns regularly, pause underperforming keywords, refine your targeting, test different ad copy, and optimize your landing pages. Many small businesses waste money on PPC by setting up campaigns and forgetting about them. The businesses that get the best return treat PPC as an active process, not a set-it-and-forget-it channel.