"Building Your Business with Google for Dummies" Goes Beyond the Basics

I recently had a friend who was new to Internet marketing ask me to explain
the basics of search engine optimization and promotion to him. I started by
explaining the importance of Google to an online marketing strategy – particularly
AdWords and search engine optimization. After about 10 minutes, however, I
realized that explaining the world of search engine marketing in summary form
was almost impossible.

Emphasizing the importance of Google as a starting point to any campaign,
I handed him Brad Hill’s Building Your Business with Google for Dummies,
and told him it would probably serve him better to read it rather than listen
to me. A few days later he e-mailed me with thanks, and said the book provided
the introduction he needed – thus saving me a lot of talking, and ensuring
he didn’t miss the important things I would likely forget.

Not just for dummies

As the title implies, Building Your Business with Google for Dummies is a
guide to partnering with Google to grow a business. The book is split into
five major sections:

• Meeting the Other Side of Google: An introduction to the search engine,
  the PageRank concept, SEO tactics and incorporating Google search into your
  site.


• Creating and Managing an AdWords Campaign: A major component of the
  book, this
  is a thorough guide to setting up and properly executing a successful AdWords
  campaign.


• Creating Site Revenue with AdSense: A comprehensive overview of
  the AdSense program, and how businesses can profit from it.


• Google Business
  for the Larger Company: Getting into and optimizing for Froogle, Google Catalogs,
  and making use of Google’s Premium Services (such
  as dedicated AdWords representatives and custom web search).


• The Part of
  Tens: SEO resources and tips from Internet marketing professionals.
  
  

In a sense, Building Your Business is almost overly
comprehensive – because so much ground is covered, it is unlikely that
all of the information provided in the book will be used at once. A business
trying to work out an overall SEO strategy is unlikely to try and get listed
in Froogle and sign up for AdSense at the same time. And by the time a company
is ready to do so, some elements of those programs might change – although
the overall strategies and approaches described in the book will almost certainly
still be relevant.

Each section of the book begins with
a high-level overview of the service to be discussed before delving into extensive
detail. For example, the book not only provides step-by-step instructions to
establishing an AdWords account, but also explains the ins and outs of copywriting,
reporting and ongoing campaign management strategies. Each section is written
in a concise, easy-to-understand fashion that has become one of the staple
features of books in the For Dummies series, and Hill writes in a relaxed,
confident fashion that will put even the most novice user at ease.

Building Your Business focuses a fair bit on mechanics
as opposed to strategy in order to get novice users acquainted with the way
complex systems like AdWords work. However, Hill does not avoid strategy issues
either, which will likely be the most interesting component of the book for
intermediate and advanced search marketers. Issues like in-depth keyword research
and conversion tracking are covered in detail, and there is an entire chapter
of advice from established search engine marketers. What’s more, the
book was written in consultation with Google, making it one of the few definitive
sources of third-party information about Google that is endorsed by the company
itself.

Google veterans will ultimately find parts of this book to be elementary,
making the purchase decision for them a difficult one. Because the book
is
heavily focused on mechanical, step-by-step procedures aimed at helping companies
get set up, there is a fair amount of
familiar reading. But for someone like my esteemed associate, in desperate
need of a comprehensive introduction to Google, the decision to buy this book
is a no-brainer. Building Your Business tackles the
complex monster of profiting from Google’s services in an easy-to-understand,
informative manner, and will save beginners a great deal of time and frustration.

Adam Eisner is a Toronto-based Internet marketing professional. When the planets align, he writes features and reviews for Traffick.com.