How A Pay Per Click Program Works

People using affiliate programs to earn income from the Internet are familiar with the term Pay Per Click. Pay per click affiliate programs is considered model web advertising programs, as they offer a win-win situation to all the participants of the programs. Lets look at how pay per click programs work.

As you are aware that advertisement on mediums, such as print and television is an expensive proposition and businesses are required to shell out humongous sums of dollars to advertisers. The business owners have to pay the advertisers for the duration of the time the ad is played on the television or exposed to potential customers. The advertisers have an unfair advantage in that they stand to gain, even if the advertisement proves ineffective or the medium used is ineffective. This means the business owner risks loosing his dollars and not gaining any business.

Pay per click eliminates this risk and the business owner has to only pay for advertisement that generates business and hence his income. This is very similar to the concept of giving commission. You pay only if the job is done. This has come as a boon, and companies can now plan their ad spend more productively. Companies can now advertise without being worried, if they are spending wisely or not.

So what is in there for the affiliates?

Well affiliates stand to generate some income, even if the company that advertises does not get business from those who click on the ads. Every time an advertisement is clicked, the affiliates stand to gain some income. All that is required is the person visiting your site clicks on the link provided by the company.

There are different types of pay per click affiliate programs:

Keyword PPC - Web directories and search engines generally use this type of program. In this system different companies bid for certain keywords. The companies generally try and guess what keywords the public is going to type, when looking for certain information. Whenever a person types in a keyword the search engine displays the search results, along with a few sponsored links in a separate area. If the person searching for information clicks on the sponsored link the advertising company pays the search engine. Today companies offering to optimize contents for keyword searches are doing roaring business. However, the down side is that some advertisers increase keyword density.
Content PPC - This type of program is made for webmasters and publishers. In this type of program different types of advertisements are displayed, which are sensitive to the contents of the page. For example, if you are discussing a particular book on a blog, then the advertisements displayed on the blog will be of the book under discussion. This type of affiliate programs has a potential to generate good income, if you have fresh and relevant content. You need to provide engaging content that will fire the visitors' need to seek more information about the topic. The visitor is then tempted to click the links on the web page.
Shopping engines - Certain sites offer the customer to shop smart by allowing comparing products and services offered by competing companies. The sites profess that the result displayed are natural and random. However, it is a known fact that those companies who bid highest are listed at the top. Such programs rely on the fact that the layman will generally think that the top listed companies are the best. So, the first product displayed has an unfair advantage over the rest.