PPC — Pay-Per-Click

Pay-Per-Click — an ad model where you pay only when someone clicks your ad.

What it means

PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click. It is a way of advertising online where you pay only when someone actually clicks your ad. If people see your ad but nobody clicks, you usually pay nothing.

Popular PPC platforms include Google Search, Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and LinkedIn.

How it works

You pick the keywords or audience you want to reach, write your ad and set a budget. When someone searches or scrolls, the platform runs a quick auction to decide which ads to show and in what order.

You do not always pay your maximum bid. The price you actually pay for each click is called the cost per click.

Total ad cost = number of clicks × average cost per click (CPC)

A simple example

A coaching institute in Kota wants more enquiries for its JEE batch. It runs Google Search ads on keywords like "JEE coaching in Kota" with a daily budget of ₹1,000.

In one day, the ad is shown 2,000 times and gets 50 clicks at an average of ₹20 each. The institute pays ₹1,000 for those 50 visits, not for the 2,000 views. If 5 visitors fill the enquiry form, each lead cost ₹200.

Why it matters

PPC gives quick results. Unlike SEO, which can take months, a PPC ad can bring visitors to your website the same day it goes live. You can also measure almost everything: clicks, cost, leads and sales.

Because you pay per click, relevant ads and landing pages that convert matter a lot. A click that leads nowhere is wasted money.

Beginner tips

• Start with a small daily budget and a handful of tightly related keywords.
• Send clicks to a focused landing page, not just your homepage.
• Set up conversion tracking before launch so you know which clicks become leads.
• Common mistake: judging PPC only by clicks. Always check the cost per lead or sale.

Related: CPC, Landing page, Organic vs Paid