Your Google Game Plan for Success: Increasing Your Web Presence with Google AdWords, Analytics and Website Optimizer

Google AdWords can be a powerful addition to your marketing strategy, but a confusing one. Teixeira's book is a good introduction to AdWords, but overwhelms with details and underwhelms with strategy. He does, however, a good job leading us step-by-step through AdWords as a software platform. The book does not have enough information or guidance on keyword strategy, how your ads should interface with what you as a company sell or do. Nor is it connected to your SEO strategy, yet these things should work together. On a technical level, I was disturbed by the discussion on 'broad match.' 'Broad match' is often misunderstood by most of my clients; putting in 'dog boarding' may yield results not just for the words 'dog' and 'boarding' but also 'puppy' 'animal' and even cat. Few seems to get this, and Teixeria doesn't tell you this hugely important point, nor how to find out the true keyword matches once you are running. I have had many clients waste thousands of dollars on broad match! Strategically, the most important issue I teach students in my classes on SEO and Social Media (Google Jason McDonald to find me), is that AdWords should be part and parcel of your SEO strategy - get what you can get for free, first, and build AdWords on top of it. This book doesn't embed AdWords into a strategic perspective; for that you are on your own. So in sum, it's a good book on AdWords, but not a great book, and it won't make my shelf of recommendations for my students in AdWords and SEO, either online and in San Francisco.

Technology changing at the speed of light has left this one time relevant book in the dust. After trudging through the first 83 pages I am about to dispose of this book indefinitely. It's still 2011 as I write this, less than 2 years since published. So much has changed on Google Adwords in the last year that it is very difficult to compare what the author has written with what is actually displayed on Adwords. Save your money and frustration by purchasing a more up to date book. Also, if you are looking for a good way to optimize your campaigns don't waste your money here. You will learn more just by reading Google Adwords Help on their site.

The challenge with the new interactive department is you have to span multiple disciplines with a lean staff. While each person has their own expertise, everyone needs to understand the user cycle. Search, Analytics and Website User Testing are three different beasts altogether but they are inextricably linked. This is a mandatory read for any one in my department. The author starts broad in each section and then gets very specific. Experts in each discipline can still learn some new tricks, but the benefit is really for those people in cross functions. I came into this book very learned in AdWords, intermediate skill in Analytics and very little knowledge in Optimizer. I found each section had tons of actionable info. At the end of the book the author spends time talking about how to put these tactics within an overall strategy. Executing the game plan is the tough part. All the head knowledge in the world doesn't mean a thing if it doesn't fit into the high paced, campaign oriented world that is the interactive department. The last few chapters under the heading of execution bring these three pieces of the pie together. Great book. Keep them coming!

Most certainly worthwhile; this is quite an encyclopedia, and an essential investment, I would say, for anybody selling on the internet!

I think it's the second book (after the Css Missing manual series from Oreilly media) that i can read as easy as an well written paragraph. It's very important the first introduction into a new subject to be as easy and informative as this book is. Yes, i will recomend this to a friend