When you’re just starting out in the pay-per-click (PPC) arena there are some very important terms you need to know and understand. Since we are going to be talking about these terms a lot in more advanced PPC posts in the future we thought it would be a good idea to write a referance that we will be able to link back to to help those who may not be as search savvy.
The following are the basic terms that are used every day in the PPC world:
Impression- When an ad displays on a search engine results page, but the advertiser does not click on the ad that would link off the results page.
Clicks- Well, a click is a click. Please don’t use the term, “hit” that is so 1998
Click Through Rate- The number of clicks divided by the number of impressions will result in the Click Through Rate also know as the CTR
Cost Per Click- The amount search engines charge for a click off the results page and onto the Landing Page. Cost per click is set at the Keyword level and is often referred to as CPC.
Keyword- What is typed into the search query and what is search marketers bid on in PPC buying interface such as Google’s Adwords
Quality Score- A system used by Google to help determine the price of keywords. Google will reward advertisers with lower a CPC and higher position on a results page when Keywords have high a CTR and strong relevancy to the search query.
Landing Page- Where advertisers decide to send traffic when a user clicks on an ad. The landing page does not have to be the home page.
