Pay per click are the sponsored ads shown at the top and bottom of Google search results. These are paid ads shown by Google for clients using its Adwords services. You decide what key search term you wish your ad to be shown for and then Google will display it when a user searches with the same phrase. You pay every time a user clicks on your ad. Where you appear in the sponsored results depends on how much you bid to pay per click compared to the competition, and to some extent the relevance of your site to the phrase you target. This is basically like other advertising and can work well for businesses, driving traffic to their website. However, it is possible to waste a lot of money if not done properly and like all advertising, once you stop paying you have nothing left. SEO (search engine optimisation) is about increasing your website ranking in the 'natural' or 'organic' search results on Google for your key marketing phrases. It requires a combination of a well optimised website (see above) and promotion of your website online across the internet for the key marketing terms you target. There are no easy solutions to this and Google constantly changes the way it indexes websites too. However, often local businesses can do very well, picking up business for search terms related to their business in their local area. It takes a lot of effort on a regular basis to achieve good rankings and this what Activ SEO is doing for many of its clients with a monthly SEO service. Approximately 40% of users never click on the sponsored links\\ads on Google; preferring to trust the natural search results. Unlike Google Adwords, SEO is more of an investment in your website, as all the information that is published on your business on the internet stays there working long after you may have stopped your SEO efforts. You can read more about our approach to SEO. SEO can be a confusing topic so please contact us if you would like to know more.