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Whether we pull up Google to find a place to eat lunch or perform a Yahoo! search to get the scoop on a celebrity’s nose job, most of us search the Internet daily. But have you ever thought about how these search engines find and categorize their information? For example, if you type the phrase “Local Botox Injections” into your favorite search engine, why will one medspa’s website be featured on the first page while another reputable medspa’s website will be relegated to page 10?
There is an art and science to achieving prime placement on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). It takes strategy and often a financial investment of some sort. This is where Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC) comes in. PPC advertising is a form of paid advertising, but it differs from the traditional model used by newspapers, magazines and television markets.
The PPC advertising model is used to direct Internet traffic to specific websites or landing pages through targeted Internet promotions. To place a PPC ad on a search engine results page, advertisers bid on keywords and phrases that are relevant to their target markets. These monetary bids are one of the main factors that determine if your advertisement will appear on the first page of specific search results and where on the page the ad will be located. Typically, PPC ads appear in a highlighted box at the top of a Search Engine Results Page or along the side of the page. When someone clicks on your ad, they are directed to your website landing page and you are charged a specified amount.

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