Definitive Guide To Google Adwords Review
Definitive Guide To Google AdWords Website
Rating: 9/10
Let me start off by mentioning that The Definitive Guide To Google AdWords is the most analytic web marketing guide that I’ve ever read. If you’re looking for a step-by-step process, this book will give it to you. I’m guessing that the document is so structured because of Perry’s engineering background:)
After reading Chris Carpenter’s Google Cash, I was amazed about the concept of making money without having a website. It was a short book about how Chris was able to make over $30,000 a month using Google AdWords. For those of you not familiar with AdWords, it’s the most popular Pay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing system. You make a small ad and have it associated with a bunch of keywords.
So after reading Chris’ book, that’s what I did - create a few targeted ads in AdWords with a list of a bunch of keywords. I haven’t read the book for sometime, but it was lacking. After I ran my campaigns ignorantly, I lost a few hundred dollars.
I ended up contacting Google and they told me that my ads weren’t so targeted. I was thinking, if people were interested in xxxxx, then they would be interested in xxxxx. Although that strategy might work in Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly known as Overture), it didn’t apply in AdWords. Actually, Google will penalize you if you don’t target your ads.
So then, I got smarter (as I thought). I started to use highly targeted keywords in my massive list. …and I lost more money. (does this sound familiar?)
Keep in mind that this was during a time when AdWords was kind of new. I didn’t even know who Perry Marshall was at the time…although Chris did offer an interview where Jonathan Mizel interviewed Perry…which I neglected for some time. A few months after losing money and not making enough profit, I listened to the interview. I didn’t want to give up on Chris’ idea since I witnessed many others doing quite well with it. Then I realized that Perry was the master of Google AdWords.
Wanting to know more, I got Perry’s Definitive Guide To Google AdWords eBook.
Here’s a few things that I got out of it:
- Little known tweaks to boost the effectiveness and reduce the costs of my campaigns
- Examples of ads to learn from
- Getting instant traffic to my websites
Tweaking AdWords Campaigns
This isn’t as simple as it sounds. Most experienced advertisers know that they should continuously test and track their campaigns. Google AdWords, in itself, has many tools to do this. Perry’s book shows you ways to use these tools and magnify your results. After reading the book, I realized that having a massive keyword lists in 1 campaign was a big mistake.
Google provides various ways to enter your keywords, various ways to make your ads, and various ways to organize your ads. Even though Google has a guide on how to do all of this, Perry’s book explains the most effective approaches which he has found through his many hours of testing.
Examples of Ads
Learning by example is one of the easiest ways to learn. Perry goes through several case studies to show how small changes can dramatically change your results. One tip that I would never have thought of myself is rearranging the lines of the ad itself. Just doing that can change your response rate significantly.
Getting Instant Traffic
One of the great things about AdWords is that you can get instant traffic. If you’re using Yahoo Search Marketing (AKA Overture), you have to wait for your ads to get approved. Once you set up an ad, your ad gets approved electronically and is shown right a way.
In the past, I mostly relied on free search engine results. I used search engine optimization (SEO) to improve my rankings. Although SEO is still a big part of my marketing strategy, I don’t rely on it as much as I used to.
Even though people can get instant traffic using AdWords, it’s still not easy doing it alone. There’s 2 ways to get instant traffic: waste a lot of money by paying for expensive ads or create effective campaigns. Even though I was using AdWords after I read Google Cash, I wasn’t bringing in enough traffic.
For the traffic I did receive, I was overspending. I didn’t have any idea about Google’s concept of click through rates (CTR). If you create effective ads, Google rewards you by reducing your costs.
The Definitive Guide To Google AdWords gives you strategies to create more effective AdWords ads.
After learning and implementing Perry’s strategies, I was able to reduce the costs of my campaigns. It was like being in a black hole and seeing the light.
Now, I’m still not a pro at Google AdWords. Even though I am now profiting from AdWords, instead of handing my money over to Google, I still have not had huge success from it.
As with many things in life, you learn by experience. You improve with practice. In order to practice with AdWords, you have to be willing to spend your money. In this case, it really takes money to make money.
So here’s some advice: start out small!
Once you get results, you can reinvest a portion of your profits into your advertising.
Learn more about Perry Marshall’s Definitive Guide To Google AdWords.