Cost Per Click (CPC)

Cost Per Click (CPC) refers to how much you pay each "Clickthrough" your ads generate (each time someone clicks on your ad online). CPC is used in association with a Pay Per Click advertising pricing model. With Pay Per Click (PPC), instead of paying every time your ad is displayed (for each "Impression"), you only pay when interested parties click on the ad to learn more about your business or the services you offer.

You can opt for a Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing campaign from hundreds of online advertising services, including Google AdWords. Most ad services allow you to set a budget based on a monthly, weekly, daily, or hourly basis. The actual Cost Per Click (CPC) should be clearly stated before the ad campaign begins.

The PPC ads will be displayed by search engines usually to the right or above the search results. When a person clicks on your ad and is directed to your landing page, you are charged a set amount (the Cost Per Click). Your ad may display hundreds or even thousands of times for each time it is clicked, and the advantage of PPC advertising is that you aren't charged unless someone checks you out immediately by clicking on the link to your landing page.

Many PPC models do not charge for repeat clicks (when a person goes back to the same ad and clicks on it again), but some may. To be sure, check with your ad company (such as Google AdWords, LeapFrog Interactive, etc.).

Although some people think that Cost Per Click (CPC) and Pay Per Click (PPC) mean the same thing, they don't. Cost Per Click refers specifically to the price that you pay in association with the Pay Per Click online advertising pricing system. So, the Cost Per Click refers to a specific monetary amount (say, $.06 per click, or $4.00, or whatever), whereas Pay Per Click refers in more general terms to this particular form of online advertising.