Google AdWords™ For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Introduction

Most business owners we meet have never heard of Google AdWords. When we tell people we're the authors of AdWords For Dummies, their most common reaction is, “John Edwards?” And of those who have heard of it, few have tried it. And of those who try it, most give up when they can't make money right away.

And now that AdWords is approaching its tenth birthday, it's being eclipsed in the buzz-o-sphere by more exciting media like Facebook, Twitter, Groupon, and foursquare. So why are we writing this, and why are you reading it?

Because the revolution in advertising that AdWords represents is still in its infancy. Businesses large and small can show their ads to qualified prospects anywhere in the world, when those prospects are hungriest for the business' products and services. AdWords allows fine geographic targeting, like a Yellow Pages ad, but (unlike the Yellow Pages) also allows advertisers to edit, pause, or delete their Google ads any time they like, in real time.

Even better, Google ads cost money only when they are clicked — that is, when a live prospect clicks the ad to visit your site. And perhaps most important, when used cleverly, AdWords enables you to improve your advertising return on investment (ROI) far faster than any other advertising medium. Because a click can cost as little as a penny, and each click can be tracked to a business outcome, even small, cash-strapped businesses can find AdWords an effective way to grow without betting the farm on untested ...