Pay Per Click (PPC) – You will only pay when a user clicks on you advertisement. PPC listings are referred to as 'Sponsored Links' on Google.com, 'Sponsored Results' on Yahoo.com and 'Sponsored Sites' on MSN.com.

These listings are extremely desirable as they are usually the first links a user sees when searching online. Many affiliates find that PPC advertising helps them achieve their desired amount of web traffic to their site since you have the ability to pick keywords for which your ad will appear and specify the highest amount you want to pay for each click.

Pay Per Click (PPC) enables website owners to display (advertise) their website and ad text on the same page that natural (organic) search results are shown – typically at the top and right of the page of a web page.

Users surf the web by searching for key terms or phrases, about the information they’re researching (keywords). Someone looking for an office supply vendor, for example, may search for the keyword 'office supplies'.

Using the example above, let’s say there are 10 vendors who sell office supplies and have online PPC campaigns. Ads from all 10 vendors will display on the search result page for the user to see. Better placement of your ad means that’s more users will see it and likely click on it to go to your site. The idea is to get the best ad placement resulting in more traffic for the least cost to the advertiser.

How much you spend on PPC listings is entirely up to you and based on your marketing goals. PPC campaigns are a great way to drive targeted traffic to your site because you pay only for the clicks (not how often your ad is shown). This provides exposure, while allowing you to control the amount you want to spend on your marketing campaign.

Remember, to determine the success of any advertising program you must look to see if it brings you profitable results. Are you getting profitable sales and/or does it meet your overall marketing goals? Tracking the performance of campaign(s) will help you guarantee the most possible return on your advertising investment. Conversion tracking is offered through the account tools within each campaign. Reviewing this information helps you determine your budget and CPC bids. In addition, conversion tracking will identify ads and keywords that are not profitable by receiving untargeted traffic. This will help you optimize your campaigns!

For more information on using search engines to drive free traffic to your website, click here.

Creating and maintaining a PPC account is not technically difficult. There are various search engines that offer this service. The 3 most popular ones are Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing and MSN Ad Center but there are numerous others. Each one has a unique set of terms and conditions which you should familiarize yourself with before creating an account. Once you select the search engine(s) you want to work with and activate an account you will be able to take full advantage of the tools they offer to create, track and manage your campaigns.

• Google AdWords Account Setup Instructions
• Yahoo Search Marketing Account Setup Instruction
• MSN Ad Center Account Setup Instructions

After you familiarize yourself to the features of your new account administration interface, you will have to determine the best way to organize your account. Organization from the start is paramount to an effective campaign. It will take some time to do this effectively but the reward will be well worth it. Think about words a person would use when trying to find your type of product and/or service. Through keyword tools, explore how much traffic your keywords receive and estimated costs when choosing your words which will help you maximize your budget. You also want to make sure your text ad stands out and the person searching looks at your test ad vs. any other text ads that appear. Ask yourself, 'What will make my text ad stand out against my competitors text ad?'.