Ecommerce Solution - Pay Per Impression vs. Pay Per Click

You may have heard the terms pay-per-impression and pay-per-click, but what do they really mean and what kind of ecommerce solution do they offer you, the advertiser?

Pay-per-impression means that when you have your advertisement on a website, every time your ad is shown to a web surfer you pay a commission to the hosting site.

Pay-per-click advertising means that in order for you to owe a commission, a person must not only be presented the opportunity to look at your advertisement, but they must also actually click on the ad and be directed to the website you have linked to it.

So now that you know the difference between these two ecommerce solutions, how do you choose which form of payment is right for your ad?

The main thing to consider when choosing between a pay-per-impression and a pay-per-click ecommerce solution is how narrowly defined your target audience is compared to the website you are advertising on. In other words, are your products or services targeted to an audience with very specific interests and online demographics, or would just about anyone who visits the site be a potential customer for the product or service you sell?

If your target audience is very specific, then a good ecommerce solution strategy for you is to advertise on the websites your potential customers will likely visit. For example, if you were a sporting goods supplier focusing mainly on soccer equipment, then you would want to put advertising on websites that draw the interest of soccer players and enthusiasts. When you put an ad on a site like this, then there is a good chance the person who sees your ad already has an interest in your product. If this were true, then a pay-per-impression ecommerce solution would work well for your business. By paying for each time your ad is shown rather than per click, the website hosting your ad will likely be motivated to show it as many times as possible to its visitors.

If your target customer base is very wide and very general, then a pay per click payment plan may be the best ecommerce solution for your business. If you only have to pay when someone clicks on your ad, then your budget will allow you to present the advertisement to more internet users without going broke. If only 1 in every 100 people who visit a site may be interested in your business, then for every 10 potential customers you will have to have your ad shown 1000 times. With pay-per-click you can advertise on general websites, knowing that only the interested people who click on your ad will produce a charge.

Pay-per-impression and pay-per-click advertising are both great ecommerce solutions for online businesses. They each offer a way for you to pay for advertising gauged by the traffic a hosting site will receive. Once you’ve defined your customer base, you will be prepared to make the choice of which option is right for you.