Pay Per Click (PPC) Glossary

  • Pay Per Click (PPC): An advertising model where payment is based on the number of clicks on an ad.

  • Cost Per Click (CPC): The price paid by an advertiser for a single click on their ad.

  • Click-Through Rate (CTR): The ratio of users who click on an ad to the number of total users who view the ad.

  • Ad Impressions: The number of times an ad is displayed, regardless of clicks.

  • Quality Score: A rating of the quality and relevance of both your keywords and PPC ads.

  • Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors who take a desired action after clicking on an ad.

  • Ad Rank: A metric that combines your bid amount with your Quality Score to determine your ad's position.

  • Keyword: Words or phrases relevant to your products and service, used to show your ads on search engine results.

  • Negative Keywords: Keywords that prevent your ad from being triggered by certain word or phrase searches.

  • Landing Page: The webpage where people are taken after they click on your ad.

  • Ad Extensions: Additional information about your business that can be part of your PPC ad.

  • Bid Strategy: The approach you use to set bids for your ads based on your performance goals.

  • Remarketing: A feature that lets you customize your display ads campaign for people who have previously visited your site.

  • Display Network: Websites where your Google Ads can appear, including Google sites and other non-search websites.

  • Search Network: Google search sites and non-Google websites that show Google search results where your ads can appear.

  • Ad Copy: The text of your PPC ad, including headlines and description lines.

  • Ad Group: A collection of one or more ads that share similar targets.

  • Bidding: The process of setting the amount you're willing to pay for each click on your ad.

  • Campaign: A set of ad groups (ads, keywords, and bids) that share a budget, location setting, and other settings.

  • Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): The price you pay for each action a user takes (like a purchase or signup).

  • Dayparting: The practice of scheduling your ads to appear to target audiences at specific times or on specific days.

  • Geo-Targeting: Showing ads to users based on their geographic location.

  • Impression Share: The number of impressions you've received divided by the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive.

  • Landing Page Optimization (LPO): The process of improving elements on a website to increase conversions.

  • Match Types: Settings for keywords that control which searches trigger your ads to appear.

  • Pay Per Impression (PPI): An advertising model where you pay based on how many times your ad is shown.

  • Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): The amount of revenue earned for every dollar spent on advertising.

  • Search Engine Marketing (SEM): A form of marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages.

  • View-Through Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who view an ad (but don't click) and later visit your website.

  • Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI): A feature where your ad text automatically updates to include your keyword.