There are two different ways one can pay for clicks in AdWords when setting up an account. One is to pre-pay and the other is to post-pay. But which is better? Here are their definitions:
- Post-pay allows you to pay only after you accrue costs for advertising activity. If you pay by credit or debit card, your ads run almost immediately after you submit valid billing information. If you pay by direct debit, you may be required to submit a debit authorization before your ads can run. We then set an initial US$50 account credit limit. Google charges you after 30 days or when you reach your initial credit limit of $50, whichever comes first.
- Pre-pay allows you to pay in advance of receiving any activity. As you accrue advertising charges, we deduct the cost from your prepaid balance. Your ads run almost immediately after we receive your payment. Your ads continue to run as long as there are adequate funds in your account, so be sure to regularly check your account balance. To help you keep your account balance up-to-date, we’ll email you when your funds run low and when your balance draws down to zero. The minimum amount for pre-pay is $10.00.
I personally believe the post-pay is the better option of the two. With pre-pay, as the AdWords post said, you have to continually watch your account and be sure to add funds when they are low. Forgetting to add funds to your account may result in your ads being turned off; and no one can afford that!
