Google AdWords For Dummies, 3rd Edition 3rd Edition

A few years ago at an airport, I got a call from Howie Jacobson. "Hey Perry, the people who publish the 'Dummies' books asked me to write an AdWords book and I said yes. Um, I hope that's okay."I'd taught him AdWords early on, and he didn't wanna tick me off by competing with my own books."No problem, Howie. I just want to make sure all the people in the AdWords cartel are my friends."Howie is a very good friend of mine and I'm proud of him and his book. I also know his co-authors, Joel and Kristie. The three of them run the online marketing firm Vitruvian. Allow me to tell you about Howie's book.The first thing I like about this book is the cartoons. AdWords has gone from being a glamorous "bright shiny object" for make-money-fast types (deservedly so) to being quite a complex undertaking for large accounts.The result is that about half the AdWords books and courses out there are dreadfully boring. They read like computer manuals. It's a shame to do that to AdWords because it's a game for people who understand people, just as much as it's a game for people who do spreadsheets. Howie's occasional humor is appreciated. You might want to use some humor in your AdWords career, as well.And unless you want to drill down into your AdWords campaigns with Excel pivot tables and mind-numbing detail, this book contains all the basic information you need to build a large and successful campaign.My favorite chapter is The Ten (or so) Top AdWords Mistakes. Success in AdWords is largely about having layers of refinement that most other advertisers don't bother with. This tells you what the 10 most important layers are. If you already spend significant dinero on AdWords and want an instant improvement, this chapter will pay for your book a dozen times over.And the case studies in the following chapter highlight different dimensions of thinking that you need to solve different kinds of problems. The advantage Howie & company have over most people is, they've worked in dozens of different industries, where click behavior varies widely from one to another. This chapter is bound to show you something you'd never notice on your own.One last thing: Howie's modesty - to the point of checking in with me before he went and wrote the first edition of this book - tells you something about him. He under-promises, over delivers, and treats readers, vendors and customers with respect.When you're laying down your cash to grow a business, that's a big deal. Howie respects your dollar and that's what makes him a worthy teacher.Excellent job, Howie. A top pick.

I was such a huge fan of the first edition of this book, and recommended it to all my clients. It might be that this one is slightly better, if only because Howie is funnier when he has two straightmen / co-authors. Seriously, this book is a MUST for anyone trying to sell a single thing on the internet. I wish I had read this before I gave Google any of my money. I would have given them about half of what I did the first year. (Sigh.)Just read it and do everything they say.

This book hasn't been updated in about 10 years, (which is why I gave four stars and not five) and a lot of the nomenclature has changed in Google AdWords, for example it's now called Google Ads. The screenshots, in the book, are for software that has been updated and the screenshots do not correspond to the new version of the software that Google Ads has created. That being said, all the conceptual aspects of Google Ads remains the same, learning to put together Campaigns, Ads, Keywords and Landing Pages. Learning the differences between Exact, Phrase Match and Broad Match methods of using keywords to deliver qualified traffic, is still very much relevant. Learning how to use The Google Ads Editor (free download) to quickly clone your Campaign so you can test other aspects of search are all still needed.So, if you can deal with the obsolete screen shots, there is a TON of relevant information in this book on how to use Google Ads. It's essentially direct mail marketing, that is highly measurable with better ROI. I had primarily been a SEO natural search person, but this book will show you there is still a lot more traffic out there you can capitalize on.The best thing the authors of this book could do is come one with a new edition, with the screenshots that reflect the current version of Google Ads. Other than that the book is spot on.

Once I got this book and started working through it, I was surprised to learn that the company behind it is one of the best in the industry. Very knowledgeable, very clear, and takes a complicated topic and makes it attainable. This is definitely the starting point for anyone about to do an ad words campaign on their own!Is also a great purchase for anyone that wants to hire a consultant, or purchase a product from someone doing Adwords campaigns for you!

Lots of examples to help one understand and set up your Google Ads

Maybe I need a " 'Google AdWords for Dummies' for Dummies". Instead of beginning with a simple general overview of Adwords for someone who has never used it and has one simple ad they wish to place, this book assumes you are going to start with multiple ads in several ad groups within several campaigns, and want to immediately begin measuring your click through rate against the cost per click. Ugh! I'm having to read every section a couple times to glean what advice applies to Mr Beginner like me. I gather from all the other reviews that folks familiar with advertising, marketing and AdWords find this a useful tool. But it's a pretty slow slog for a dummy like me.

This is one of the best PPC books I have read - and I've read a lot of them. I got it at the library and decided it was so good that I had to have my own copy for reference.I have to face the fact that my problem with "Dummies" books can get in the way. Most are far too "cute". This one had tendencies that way but they were under control.

First two chapters really helped me get a scope of the process. I had no clue and wasn't about to throw money in the game until I better understood it.