The details of how pay per click advertising works is based on the type of pay per click advertising that you use. However, there are some basics. First, pay per click advertising is based off of key words.

When you start a pay per click marketing campaign you choose key words or phrases that describe your web site, products, and/or services. This should already be done through your initial web site development and search engine optimization techniques. If you do not already have a list of appropriate key words and phrases, you need to develop an exhaustive list now.

The key words that you choose to use in your pay per click advertising are important. Not only are these the key words and phrases that people search for to find your web site and advertising, but they are also what is used to determine the amount you pay for each click that you receive.

When you begin to go through your list of possible key words and phrases, you will find that some of them are much more expensive than others.



Key words are bid on by internet marketers through the pay per click program. The winning bid receives top placement of their ad. The lower bids receive lower, and therefore less prominent, placement. Each program is different, however, so the amount that you pay per click on one program may not be the same amount that you pay on another program.





When you have bid on your key words and written your pay per click ad, it will go live. This may be live placement on a search engine, directory, or other web site. When visitors to those places click on your ad, you receive targeted traffic and pay the amount that you bid.

Most pay per click programs allow you to set limits on your spending. This is to protect you from going way over your marketing budget in the event that you launch a popular ad or key word advertisement. When you reach that spending limit you will not get any more clicks from you ad until you add funds to the account or raise your spending limit.