subject: Pay Per Action Vs. Pay Per Click Ads [print this page] If youre one of the numerous online businessmen who have largely benefited from pay-per-click ads, then you would benefit even more if you sign up for pay-per-action advertisements.
Youre probably tired of paying advertising fees for those ads that dont really generate sales for you, or even come close to a sale. Or worse, you may not know just how many fraudulent clicks on your ads youre paying for. Developers of the pay per click program are aware of these disadvantages; thats why a new online advertising idea has surfaced.
To be able to make sound comparisons between the two advertising programs, lets first check how each one really works. The pay per click system has been already utilized by millions of online businessmen and website owners even before the pay per action system has reached its final developing stage. Its no secret that the pay per click system has been successful in driving more sales for the advertisers and at the same time, giving publishers an opportunity to earn by allotting a space in their websites for advertisements.
The pay per click programs works by having advertisements posted in the publishers website. For every time an internet user whos browsing through that website clicks on the advertisement links, the advertisers pay the website owner. Of course, advertiser doesnt directly pay the publisher but the payment goes through the program developer first, depending on what pay per click service was used such as Yahoos Overture or Googles Adwords.
Depending on what service and keyword is used, every click could be worth from $0.01 up to $0.50. If an advertiser wants his ad or website link shown on the search results when an internet user searches on specific keywords, he needs to bid on that keyword.
For example, there are several online business which probably sell car accessories. If youre one of them and you want to get your ad on top of everybody elses, you would have to outbid other advertisers on the keyword car accessories. The highest bidder usually gets the top spot for that specific keyword searches. Popular search keywords are likely to cost more.
The downside of this pay per click model is that it is prone to click frauds, which happens when website owners or publishers abuse the program by clicking on the links themselves so they could generate more income. Although companies such as Google and Yahoo, providing the pay per click service may have come out of ways to detect such click frauds, it would be better if such abuse can be terminated, or significantly minimized.
In addition, although the pay per click system is helpful in driving traffic to your website, it doesnt necessarily mean that you have generated more sales. What happens most of the time is that an internet user may have just come across your website but leaves in a matter of seconds. That means that you also paid for advertising fees even if the internet user driven to your website is purely uninterested in your products. Wouldnt it be great if you only pay for every interested customer?
With the pay per action model, these two flaws in the pay per click system have been addressed. The only difference between the two advertising models is that you only pay for every action made by a customer. Of course, you get to specify what action that would be. It could be subscribing to your newsletter, asking a question or even purchasing a product.
The pay per click advertising strategy ensures that as an advertiser, youre only paying for every interested customer thats driven into your website. This largely minimizes fraudulent clicks since its far more difficult to subscribe to your newsletter or ask a query compared to just clicking on the ads. Or you could also specify that youre only willing to pay for advertising fees if the click leads to a sale, then you have maximized your advertisement budget.
With the pay-per-action ads, advertising has been made more beneficial in terms of the client or advertisers perspective. As an advertiser, you can expect more value for your money. Pay per action ads promise to be able to give you more than what pay per click ads can do. They can drive real potential customers to your website.
