# What is PPC – Pay Per Click?

What is PPC – Pay Per Click? An advertising model where payment occurs only on click. Includes Google Ads, Meta Ads.

## How it works in practice

PPC is the 'faucet' — you control when it's on and off. The moment you turn it off, traffic stops. That's why PPC alone without SEO isn't a long-term strategy.

## Related metrics

- SEO — PPC and SEO together give maximum coverage
- Quality Score — poor Quality Score means expensive PPC
- CPC — PPC is the framework, CPC is the price
- Landing Page — PPC without a dedicated landing page wastes budget

## Common misconception

'PPC is expensive.' PPC that returns a ROAS of 4 on a 30% margin is profitable. Managing it without weekly oversight burns 30-40% of the budget.

## How to fix it

Is budget running out fast? (1) Search Terms Report — remove irrelevant terms, (2) Match Type — Broad Match eats budget, (3) Negative Keywords — at least 50 to start.

## Real-world example

A shoe store: Broad Match on 'shoes' sent 60% of spend to irrelevant queries. Exact Match on specific products saved $2,200/month, and ROAS went from 1.8 to 3.9.

## Where to start

A weekly 30-minute audit: Search Terms, Quality Scores, Negative Keywords.

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Category: Marketing · From the [Jimmy OS KPI Glossary](https://jimmy-os.com/glossary/kpi.md) · Source page: https://jimmy-os.com/glossary/kpi/ppc-pay-per-click