Pay per click is actually a form of advertising but it accomplishes results similar to search engine optimisation. With pay per click campaigns, you bid on search words to determine your ranking. Your ranking depends on how much you are willing to spend for each key phrase you bid on and in turn for each lead to your business. Normally, the more you are willing to spend on a bid, the higher you can rank in the search engines and directories. (This is not exactly true with Google Adwords since they also take other factors into consideration.) You only pay when someone actually clicks on your advert - hence the "Pay Per Click".
SEO is a more permanent form of optimising your website without paying for your rank position. Both Pay Per Click and SEO will allow you to obtain high rankings. Pay Per click is more imediate and flexible - SEO gives longer lasting results.
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