Pay Per Click Search Engines (PPC) are not the panacea they are made out to be. While they do work under the right circumstances they are not always the best solution.

Overture the biggest and most well known PPC charges a minimum of 10 cents per click, Google Adwords charges a minimum of 5 cents per click. Popular keywords and keyword phrases can cost significantly more. You can pay $5, $10 or even $20 for certain keywords. When you use a PPC like overture your listing appears under a heading like Sponsored Results. Most Buyers don't buy from the first web site they go to. They will visit several web sites before they make a Buy decision. They may click on your link more then 1 time via the PPC before they make they decide to buy, Hopefully from you (You pay for each click from that very same visitor).

People who are searching for a product or service via a Search engine are ready willing and able buyers. Typical conversion rates for search engine visitors are 3% and more. So for every 100 Search engine visitors 3 Sales will result. So if the average sale for a web page is $50 then on average 100 Search engine visits would equate to $150 in Sales. 10,000 Search Engine visitors would equal 15,000 in sales. Of course some web sites convert better and other web sites convert worse.

The Better Alternative to PPC is to archive a High Page Rank in Google, Yahoo or MSN and have people find your web page via a Natural Search Request (Not a Sponsored Listing). Of course if you had the knowledge to get visitors via Natural Search Requests you wouldn't be considering the PPC Option. What if you could hirer an Expert and Pay just 7.5 Cents per Visitor, Not Click and be guaranteed 10,000 visitors would that be better alternative.

It really goes back to cost per sale. If you have a conversion rate of 3% and you are paying $7,50 for 100 Visitors then your cost per sale is $2.50. If you average Profit per sale is greater then $2.50 then this is probably a great deal for you. If you do not have a Good Feel for your conversion rate then be a little more consecrative when calculating your own cost per sale.