In plain English
It's like a billboard you only pay for when someone actually pulls over to come in.
Used in a sentence
“PPC brings leads in from the first week, while SEO builds up over the coming months.”
“We tried PPC once, but without tracking we couldn't tell whether any of it worked.”
In detail
PPC covers search ads on Google and Bing, and many social and display ads too. You choose who to reach (searches, locations, audiences), set a budget, write ads and send them to a page. The platform runs an auction for each search or view, and you're charged when someone clicks.
PPC's strength is control and speed: you can appear for exactly the searches you want, in the towns you serve, from day one. Its weakness is that it stops the moment the budget does. Well-run PPC depends on tight targeting, relevant landing pages and conversion tracking. See Google Ads vs Meta Ads.
Why it matters for your business
PPC can put you in front of ready-to-buy customers straight away, as long as it's tracked and targeted well.
- Leads from the first week
- Precise control of who sees it
- Stops when the budget stops
Easy to mix up
PPC isn't the same as SEO. PPC buys a spot in the results; SEO earns one. Ads stop with the budget; rankings keep working.
Related terms
CPC, Landing page and ROAS. Or browse the whole glossary.
