Pay-per-click and pay-per-call advertising are two common methods of online advertising. While relatively similar in their design, there are significant differences between the two. Although both only cost advertisers money when a consumer actually clicks on their advertisement, pay-per-click directs the person to a website, whereas pay-per-call connects them directly with a representative from that company. Both of these advertising methods have pros and cons associated with them, and it is important to understand these in order to determine which one is going to better suit your business needs.

Why Pay-Per-Click is Better. With pay-per-click advertising, the cost per click is significantly less than it is with pay-per-call. If you manage to win the bidding war for a more specialized, niche keyword, the cost per click can seem like quite a steal. Pay-per-click advertisements afford you the freedom of updating your ads whenever you please. This is especially important if your company is part of an always-changing market because you can react to these changes immediately. Your advertising campaign is relatively limited with pay-per-call advertising, mainly because advertisers are forced to identify their company with a preset list of categories. Unless your company falls definitively into one of these categories, it is difficult to have to decide where to put it.

Why Pay-Per-Call is Better. Despite having a much higher price per click, pay-per-call is much more effective in its conversion rate. Since consumers are typically much closer to purchasing something if they are willing to make a phone call, pay-per-call advertising hones in on people who are likely going to generate business in the near future. Whereas pay-per-click advertising drives traffic to the advertiser's website, pay-per-call advertising puts the consumer in direct contact with a company representative. This has many advantages because of its personal touch and human interaction. Sales representatives can address concerns and make a sales pitch right there over the phone in an attempt to land the business, as opposed to relying on a website to generate business. Pay-per-call advertising allows businesses to determine and track conversion rates from these ads more accurately.

It is much more difficult to clarify whether generated traffic from pay-per-click ads resulted in conversions. There are definite pros and cons associated with both pay-per-click and pay-per-call methods of advertising. Realizing and understanding these will help you decide which method is going to be most effective for your business. Some of the main things to consider regarding these online advertising methods are cost, flexibility and conversion rate.