The role of Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising does have a history that is worth sharing. In the beginning it was relatively inexpensive to have laser-focused advertising in a PPC model that not only delivered potential customers to your site, but could be had for a relatively small amount of capital. Affordability was a hallmark of the early days of PPC advertising and many site owners viewed the method as a goldmine in positive advertising.

PPC advertising that could be purchased for less than a quarter a click can now cost at least ten times that much.

Add to this scenario a significant amount of click fraud (a scenario where individuals intentionally click on PPC advertising to drain the advertising budget for a competing business – these individuals have no intention of making a purchase from any PPC advertising they click) and you have a situation where there are becoming fewer methods that are actually working to make PPC a desirable method of online advertising.

If your business is already doing well through solid Search Engine Optimization (SEO) methods then the use of PPC can simply be a way to show your results in the search engine first in many keyword specific categories through the use of ‘sponsored links’ advertising.

Essentially what has happened is those who have the deepest pockets have bid beyond the ability of most start up online business owners. By doing so they ensure that the startup has a hard time developing their business through PPC advertising.
This has the rippling effect of making it much harder for competition to enter the world of ecommerce. Some may call this a monopoly while others may view it as simple business sense.

This is one of the primary reasons I stress the use of keyword rich knowledge-based content for your website – not to the exclusion of all else, but as a primary component to solid SEO strategy.

While PPC advertising can help you with results right now they will not promise long-term results because they are only sending targeted advertising at your expense. Once you can no longer afford PPC they will no longer send people your direction.

However, these same directories and search engines will rank your site well if you have backlinks and a well-rounded Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy in place. That strategy is based on both networking and a solid understanding of keyword placement for optimum website exposure.

Many people don’t look at keyword SEO strategies because they believe it limits their web design creativity. In the end, however, business owners must ask themselves how important a beautiful site is if there are no visitors to enjoy it.

In my opinion PPC advertising is not the salvation of online business, but it was a good idea that has degenerated to a monopoly of the highest bidder. This isn’t a bad scenario if you have a cushion of advertising dollars you have no other use for, but if you don’t – think, rethink and think again about keyword rich content and SEO.