"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.