Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is a digital advertising model where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. It’s a strategy used to drive traffic to websites by paying for targeted ad placements, often through search engines and social media platforms.

Semrush contributor Hava Salsi has published ‘What Is PPC? A Starter Guide to Pay-Per-Click Marketing’.

Salsi says, “PPC is a type of advertising that involves paying for each click on your ads and is most commonly associated with ads that appear in search engines.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a practice that involves making improvements to increase your site’s visibility in search engines’ organic (unpaid) results.

They both fall under the umbrella of search engine marketing (SEM),assuming you’re talking about PPC search ads.

But there are some major differences between SEO and PPC. Like:

  • The time it takes to see results: With PPC, your ads appear once the campaign is live. But SEO takes time to build up organic rankings and achieve long-term visibility.
  • The goal: PPC is effective for quick, short-term results. And SEO is geared toward sustainable, long-term traffic.
  • Your targeting options: PPC allows specific audience targeting (like based on search terms, audience demographics, and audience online behaviors). But SEO doesn’t target users directly beyond keywords.”

What Is PPC? A Starter Guide to Pay-Per-Click Marketing

Semrush

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