Ok, so you have a web site and you have a product that you believe in. But, how exactly does that translate into relevant page views and increased sales? Pay per click advertising is nothing new but the way in which we use it changes almost daily.

Unlike other forms of advertising – either on or offline – PPC is 100% accountable, instantly measurable and wholly flexible. Rather than invest heavily in a print advert that once published is fixed forever, pay per click ads can be edited, activated, paused, deleted and re-targeted at any time.

In 2008, it is estimated that small to medium sized businesses will become the biggest investors in pay per click advertising in its many dynamic formats. That alone should have you rushing to open a PPC campaign in the next twelve months if only to avoid being left standing while competitors whiz along the information superhighway.

The most compelling argument in favour of opening or expanding your pay per click account however has to be that it is a level playing field that empowers smaller businesses to compete against behemoth corporations with multi-million pound marketing budgets.

Rather then being left floundering as larger companies snap up expensive advertising space, even a small budget can do justice to a huge idea. By setting a monthly maximum you only pay for what you can afford and can stop the ads at any time should your circumstances change. Equally, if the PPC starts the cash tills trilling, the budget can be topped up instantly.

For smaller companies, pay per click advertising on the Google AdWords or Yahoo Panama platforms gives instant exposure. By bidding on only relevant keywords, it also gives instant access to targeted leads. While print and television advertising means you pay even for those readers who pass straight over your ad, pay per click is designed around the idea that you only pay for the clicks you receive.

Another great bonus of online advertising is that it makes the most of the net’s best feature – flexibility. Adverts can be changed, rewritten and added to at any time. That means seasonal messages, special offers and end of line sales are published instantly, allowing you to react quickly to market shifts and consumer purchase habits.

Learn more about pay per click advertising and account optimisation by browsing Top Position’s archive of PPC how-to articles.