ppc beginner teacher

Five Awesome Resources for PPC Beginners

Getting started with advertising can be a daunting task for PPC beginners. There is a lot to know. There are a lot of different advertising channels, and a ton of things you need to have in place before you can start advertising on Google, Bing, Facebook, or anywhere else.

Where does one turn to learn the basics? Where does one turn to find out what all the things are that you need to have before you can even start thinking about turning on your PPC campaigns?

Well, I’m glad you asked. Help is on its way, dear reader, as there are many resources available to you to help you in your journey to becoming a PPC expert. And the good news is that these resources come in the form of books that are so definitive, so packed full of PPC wisdom, that once you’re done with them, you’ll be able to run successful PPC campaigns, and be a well-rounded digital advertiser, and the envy of all the other PPC advertisers on your proverbial block.

Let’s take a look at five resources that will give you the knowledge you need to get started with PPC advertising, and help propel you past that beginner stage to PPC proficiency.

Pay Per Click Search Engine Marketing: An Hour a Day – David Szetela, Joseph Kerschbaum

Before I tell you anything about this book, I have to say that it’s a few years old. Normally that would eliminate a book’s worthiness in the quickly evolving world of PPC marketing. This book, though, goes a lot deeper into the details of the concepts of PPC advertising, looks at industry trends, and delves into deep insights that uncover what makes a PPC campaign work.

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David and Joel start out by telling you about “The Art and Science” of PPC marketing. They explore why you’d use PPC marketing, when it’s most worthwhile, and who can benefit. They also explore what happens after searchers click an ad — an important part of the equation that cannot be ignored if one wants to be successful.

One of the most important aspects of this book — and why it’s still worthwhile — is that they explore how to research what your competitors are doing, and how to make use of a PPC campaign within a larger marketing campaign.

David Szetela is one of the most well-known names in PPC advertising and one of the smartest people we’ve had the pleasure of talking to here at Acquisio. And Joseph is the genius behind Clix Marketing, who has optimized tens of thousands of PPC campaigns. David and Joseph’s book is an excellent addition to any PPC beginner’s arsenal. Get it here.

Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords: How to Access 1 Billion People in 10 Minutes – Perry Marshall, Mike Rhodes, Bryan Todd

The great part about books like these is that they’ll often have updated editions that cover features that AdWords has added since the first edition. It’s kind of difficult to learn how to use PPC platforms without updated versions as the interfaces and features change fairly often, so that information needs to get updated.

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You get this up-to-date information from PPC experts Perry Marshall and Bryan Todd who have written this book along with an analytics specialist called Mike Rhodes. This is a perfect book for beginners as it really starts from the beginning, showing you how to set up your campaigns, and what the different types of advertising you can do with AdWords are, as well as more granular details about things like Enhanced Campaigns and Google Shopping ads.

This is a great resource for people who are new to PPC and are using it to promote a small-to-medium sized business. You’ll also end up with enough information to take and (hopefully) pass the Google AdWords Certification test, which is a very valuable certification to have. Whether you want it to get a job or because you want to be an expert for your own business, it’s very worthwhile.

It’s absolutely fantastic that they added as much info on analytics as they did, as being proficient in analyzing results is a cornerstone of PPC marketing success. Get the book here.

The Landing Page Conversion Course – Oli Gardner

The Landing Page Conversion Course is a free resource that anyone who is getting started with PPC will want to take. The fact is that if you are not sending your paid traffic to landing pages that have a conversion goal that you’ve made very clear on that page, you’re wasting your money. That’s why you’ll want to have a solid foundation in landing page design and conversion principles before you get started.

This free course put together by Unbounce’s outspoken co-founder Oli Gardner will lead you through the principles of landing page design, and provide you with all of the information you need to make sure that the traffic you’re paying for is paying off.

You’ll learn what to use a landing page, how to write copy that converts, the basics of landing page design theory, and how to make sure you’re testing your landing pages to ensure you’re converting as many of your visitors as possible.

Included in the course is information from a host of conversion experts, including Rand Fishkin from Moz and Joanna Wiebe from Copyhackers, just to name a couple. You can get the Landing Page Conversion Course for free right here.

Facebook Marketing Like I’m 5: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Facebook – Peg Samuel, Matthew Capala

Without around 1.5 billion users, there’s no doubt that, if you want to promote your business, Facebook is a great place to do it. There is a lot to know about Facebook advertising, and this book by Peg Samuel and Matthew Capala does an amazing job of breaking down the basics to help absolutely anyone get started.

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What you’ll get is actionable information that you can use to set up your Facebook ads, and step-by-step guides that show you how to create ads that get clicks and boost customer engagement.

They’ve also included some case studies that show the practical applications of the information they’re sharing, so that you can see what it looks like in action. They’ll also show you how to analyze your success so you can measure and report on what your doing. They’ve also included a bunch of worksheets so you can make sure that your doing everything you should be, and in the right order. Get it here.

Digital Marketing for Beginners – Acquisio

The digital marketing for beginners section of our blog contains a ton of articles that PPC newbies can use to get them started. We have articles by Acquisio employees, as well as a bunch of other PPC experts, including Ian Lopuch and John Lee of Clix Marketing.

You’ll learn how to understand location-based advertising from Greg Rose of Plantronics. Get 5 tips that will help you simplify your paid search campaigns from Bill Quinn from Tata Consultancy Services. And get deeper into the importance of split testing with instructions from Jason Parks of The Media Captain. And if there’s something you’d like to read about, just let us know!

Mark John Hiemstra

Mark John Hiemstra

Mark John Hiemstra is a content and social media marketing consultant to Acquisio. He got involved in digital marketing purely by accident, and has spent the last several years learning about building relationships with consumers online through the many channels available to those who are willing to get involved. He is loathe to discuss himself in the third person, but can be persuaded to do so, from time to time.

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