First Page on the Search Engines...

Search Engines that offer Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising are offering advertisers a place for your ad to appear on the search results page for search terms entered by searchers.  This ad then is displayed at no cost until the ad is clicked and a visit is meade to the website attached to the ad.  Therefore the name Pay Per Click.

Pay Per Click advertising gives you the chance to appear on the first page of the search engines.  The most popular PPC search engine is Google; their PPC advertising program is called AdWords. The next most popular search engines are Yahoo!, Bing, and Ask. Other search engines also offer PPC advertising opportunities.  Here is a link to Top 20 Website and Search Engines.

Pay Per Click listings are the prime real-estate of search engines and directories. These search engine listings appear before the natural listings for relevant searches (sometimes even in an area at the top of the page); and are commonly the first links that potential customers will see when they receive they search results.

Creating and maintaining a pay per click advertising campaign requires strategy and expertise, and above all, it requires vigilence.

1. The majority of internet searchers are just gathering information and aren't ready to buy.  You want to avoid displaying your ad to the tire-kickers.  Keyword Research (and expertise!) are important so that relevant keywords that are commercially oriented can be used.
2. You must choose keywords that are aligned with the themes and topics of your website.  Search engine advertisers rate the quality of your ad using relevence to your website and numerous other factors, and the better quality your ad, the better your prices can be.
3. Your advertisements must be monitored daily in order to maintain your ad position.  Existing competitors for the keywords may raise bid prices or new advertisers using your keywords can require adjustments to your advertisements.