by Brad Hill

Building Your Businesswith Google

FOR

DUMmIES‰

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Building Your Businesswith Google

FOR

DUMmIES‰

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by Brad Hill

Building Your Businesswith Google

FOR

DUMmIES‰

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Building Your Business with Google For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030-5774

Copyright © 2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form orby any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permittedunder Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permis-sion of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the CopyrightClearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requeststo the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc.,10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, e-mail: brandreview@wiley.com.

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for theRest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, and related tradedress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the UnitedStates and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Google, AdWords, AdSense,PageRank, and Froogle are registered trademarks of Google, Inc. All other trademarks are the property oftheir respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned inthis book.

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REP-RESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THECONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUTLIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CRE-ATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CON-TAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THEUNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OROTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF ACOMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THEAUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATIONOR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FUR-THER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THEINFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAYMAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORKMAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN ITIS READ.

For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contactour Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax317-572-4002.

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About the AuthorBrad Hill has worked in the online field since 1992 and is a preeminent advo-cate of the online experience. As a bestselling author of books and columns,Hill reaches a global audience of consumers who rely on his writings to helpdetermine their online service choices.

Brad’s books include a Publishers Weekly bestseller and a Book-of-the-MonthClub catalog selection. Brad’s titles in the For Dummies series include InternetSearching For Dummies, Google For Dummies, and Yahoo! For Dummies. Inother venues, Brad writes about cybercultural trends, digital music, virtualinvesting, and all sorts of online destinations. He is often consulted about themedia’s coverage of the Internet. He appears on television, radio, Webcasts,and is quoted in publications such as Business Week, The New York Times,USA Today, and PC World.

Brad is a staff blogger at Weblogs Inc. (www.weblogsinc.com), where he runsthe Search Engine Marketing weblog (SEM.weblogsinc.com) and contributesto several others. He also operates The Digital Songstream (www.DigitalSongstream.com), a news and review site for digital music. Brad’s personalsite (www.bradhill.com) describes all his current projects and provides ane-mail link.

Brad doesn’t get outdoors much. Sunshine baffles him. As compensation, heis listed in Who’s Who and is a member of The Authors Guild.

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Author’s AcknowledgmentsEvery book is a partnership of author and editor. Susan Pink is the editor ofthis book and a collaborator in other projects as well. Besides laughing at myworst jokes, Susan’s keen eye for clarity and incisive comments make me lookgood. She also remains calm in the face of deadlines. Too calm. I scheme tomake her panic but nothing works.

Karen Wickre at Google pored over this manuscript with a relentless atten-tion to detail that would cause brain-cell loss in a less robust individual. Her refinements improved this book’s accuracy tremendously.

Ana Yang at Google was an enthusiastic and helpful partner in this book fromthe beginning. My sincere thanks to Ana for her time and diligence. Also atGoogle, Michelle Vidano and Joel Slovacek clarified my questions and gavegenerously of their busy schedules.

Melody Layne at Wiley Publishing nursed this project from the start and sawit through to the end. I’m very thankful.

I send a warm and admiring thank-you to the marketing experts who pro-vided extensive quotes to the manuscript. Amazingly generous, these proscontributed an extra dimension that will benefit every reader.

Continued thanks to Mary Corder at Wiley.

Many thanks to all the copy editors and production experts who lent theirexpertise to every page of the manuscript.

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Publisher’s AcknowledgmentsWe’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration formlocated at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Susan Pink

Acquisitions Editor: Melody Layne

Technical Editor: Karen Wickre

Editorial Manager: Carol Sheehan

Permissions Editor: Laura Moss

Media Development Supervisor:Richard Graves

Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth

Cartoons: Rich Tennant, www.the5thwave.com

Composition

Project Coordinator: Courtney A. MacIntyre

Layout and Graphics: Karl Brandt, Andrea Dahl,Lauren Goddard, Denny Hager, Stephanie D. Jumper, Lynsey Osborn,Heather Ryan, Jacque Schneider,Mary Gillot Virgin

Proofreaders: Carl William Pierce, Brian H. Walls; TECHBOOKS Production Services

Indexer: TECHBOOKS Production Services

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

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www.dummies.com

Contents at a GlanceIntroduction .................................................................1

Part I: Meeting the Other Side of Google .....................11Chapter 1: Meeting the Business Side of Google .........................................................13Chapter 2: Getting into Google ......................................................................................21Chapter 3: Building Your PageRank Through Networking .........................................37Chapter 4: Optimizing a Site for Google .......................................................................55Chapter 5: Putting Google Search on Your Site ...........................................................83

Part II: Creating and Managing an AdWords Campaign .............................................101Chapter 6: Introducing Search Advertising and Google AdWords ..........................103Chapter 7: Designing Your AdWords Campaign and Starting an Account .............117Chapter 8: Understanding AdWords Statistics and Reports ....................................145Chapter 9: Creating Effective Ad Groups ....................................................................159Chapter 10: Managing Ongoing Campaigns ...............................................................183

Part III: Creating Site Revenue with AdSense ............193Chapter 11: Introducing the Google AdSense Program ............................................195Chapter 12: Starting an AdSense Account and Publishing Ads ...............................209Chapter 13: Enhancing Your AdSense Revenue .........................................................229

Part IV: Google Business for the Larger Company .......255Chapter 14: Getting into Froogle and Google Catalogs .............................................257Chapter 15: Premium Services .....................................................................................271

Part V: The Part of Tens ...........................................281Chapter 16: Ten Site Optimization Resources ...........................................................283Chapter 17: Ten SEM and SEO Tips from the Pros ....................................................301

Glossary ..................................................................325

Index........................................................................337

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Table of ContentsIntroduction..................................................................1

About This Book ..............................................................................................2Conventions Used in This Book ....................................................................3What You’re Not to Read ................................................................................4Foolish Assumptions ......................................................................................4How This Book Is Organized ..........................................................................5

Part I: Meeting the Other Side of Google ............................................6Part II: Creating and Managing an AdWords Campaign ....................6Part III: Creating Site Revenue with AdSense .....................................7Part IV: Google Business for the Larger Company ............................7Part V: The Part of Tens ........................................................................8

Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................8Where to Go from Here ...................................................................................9

Part I: Meeting the Other Side of Google ......................11

Chapter 1: Meeting the Business Side of Google . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Google and Its Competition .........................................................................14Two Sides of the Google Coin ......................................................................16Google’s Empowerment Model ....................................................................16The Three Goals of Every Webmaster ........................................................17Google and Your Web Site ............................................................................18Google and Your Product .............................................................................20

Chapter 2: Getting into Google . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21The Three-Step Process ...............................................................................21Meet Google’s Pet Spider .............................................................................22

Timing Google’s crawl .........................................................................24To submit or not to submit ................................................................25The directory route .............................................................................27Checking your site’s status in Google ...............................................28

Keeping Google Out ......................................................................................30Deflecting the crawl ............................................................................30Excluding pages with the meta tag ...................................................32Avoiding the cache ..............................................................................33The invisibility problem .....................................................................34

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Chapter 3: Building Your PageRank Through Networking . . . . . . . . .37Incoming Links and PageRank .....................................................................38Human Networking .......................................................................................39Working the Link Exchanges ........................................................................40Coding Effective Link Exchanges ................................................................43Distributing Bylines and Link Sigs ..............................................................45

Publishing articles ...............................................................................46Posting messages with linked sig files ..............................................48

Assessing Your Incoming Link Network .....................................................49Using the Google link: operator .........................................................49Using the Theme Link Reputation Tool ............................................50Using Alexa ...........................................................................................53

Chapter 4: Optimizing a Site for Google . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Optimizing Before Building ..........................................................................56Keywords, Keywords, Keywords .................................................................57

Going for the edge ...............................................................................58Checking out Wordtracker .................................................................58Trying the Overture Search Suggestion Tool ...................................62Peeking at competing keyword groups ............................................64Determining great keywords ..............................................................67

Selecting a Domain ........................................................................................68Effective Site Design ......................................................................................70Page and Content Design .............................................................................72Tag Design ......................................................................................................75

Creating a title tag ...............................................................................75Creating a description tag ..................................................................76Creating a keywords tag .....................................................................77Creating alt tags ...................................................................................77

Poisoning the Google Spider ........................................................................79A Glossary of SEO Terms ..............................................................................80Considering SEO Services ............................................................................80

Chapter 5: Putting Google Search on Your Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83Terms and Restrictions ................................................................................84Getting Your Code .........................................................................................86

Free Web and Site Search ...................................................................88Tweaking the search form ..................................................................89

Customizing Search Results .........................................................................93Building Your Own Google Site ....................................................................98

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Part II: Creating and Managing an AdWords Campaign .............................................101

Chapter 6: Introducing Search Advertising and Google AdWords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103

Old Advertising in an Old Media ...............................................................103Old Advertising in a New Medium ............................................................104New Advertising in a New Medium ...........................................................105What You Need to Get Started with AdWords .........................................109Understanding How AdWords Works .......................................................110Seeing the Big Picture: The Google Ad Network .....................................113

Chapter 7: Designing Your AdWords Campaign and Starting an Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

The Big Picture: Campaigns, Ad Groups, and Keywords .......................118Planning the first level: Campaigns .................................................121Planning the second level: Ad Groups ............................................125

Setting Your Goals .......................................................................................128Clarifying your marketing goals ......................................................128Understanding the AdWords budget ..............................................129

Preparing Your Landing Page ....................................................................130Productive Budgeting .................................................................................132Writing Effective Ads ..................................................................................136Creating an AdWords Account ..................................................................139Finding Your Ads at Work ...........................................................................144

Chapter 8: Understanding AdWords Statistics and Reports . . . . . . .145Viewing Account Statistics .........................................................................147

The account overview ......................................................................147Seeing inside the campaign ..............................................................149Seeing inside the Ad Group ..............................................................150

Creating AdWords Reports ........................................................................155

Chapter 9: Creating Effective Ad Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159Creating New Ad Groups ............................................................................160Editing Elements of an Ad Group ..............................................................162

Editing ads ..........................................................................................162Adding and editing keywords ..........................................................164Editing your bid .................................................................................166

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Researching and Refining Keywords ........................................................167Hunting for the ideal keyword .........................................................167Using the Keyword Suggestion Tool ...............................................174Thinking like a customer ..................................................................175Complying with Google’s need for relevance ................................177The gray area of trademark infringement ......................................178Using keyword-matching options ....................................................178

Chapter 10: Managing Ongoing Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183Pausing and Resuming Portions of Your Campaigns ..............................183Repairing Broken Campaigns ....................................................................185

Reactivating a slowed account ........................................................186Recovering disabled keywords ........................................................186

Pros and Cons of Geo-Targeting ................................................................188Setting Up Conversion Tracking ................................................................190

Part III: Creating Site Revenue with AdSense .............193

Chapter 11: Introducing the Google AdSense Program . . . . . . . . . . .195The Business of Serving Ads .....................................................................195The AdSense Overview ..............................................................................196Evaluating Your Site’s Eligibility for AdSense ..........................................198Content-Sensitive Ads . . . or Not ..............................................................203Running AdSense on Existing and New Sites ...........................................204Show Me the Money ....................................................................................205Working Both Sides of the Fence: AdSense and AdWords .....................206

Chapter 12: Starting an AdSense Account and Publishing Ads . . . .209Joining AdSense ...........................................................................................209Creating Your AdSense Code .....................................................................211

Choosing an ad layout and color palette .......................................212Making a custom color palette ........................................................216

Viewing AdSense Reports ..........................................................................218Viewing aggregate data .....................................................................218Viewing channel data ........................................................................220

Setting Up AdSense Channels ....................................................................221Understanding channels ...................................................................222Creating channels ..............................................................................223

Adding New Pages and Sites ......................................................................226Removing Ads and Stopping Your Ad Publishing ...................................227

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Chapter 13: Enhancing Your AdSense Revenue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229Optimizing Your Site for AdSense Success ..............................................230Shooting for More Valuable Ads ................................................................232

Identifying high-value keywords ......................................................233Conceiving and building high-value AdSense pages .....................237

Improving Clickthrough Rates ...................................................................238Placing ads above the fold ...............................................................239Choosing your pages ........................................................................240Fighting ad blindness ........................................................................242

Filtering Ads .................................................................................................251Using Alternate Ads ....................................................................................253

Part IV: Google Business for the Larger Company .......255

Chapter 14: Getting into Froogle and Google Catalogs . . . . . . . . . . .257Google as the Ultimate Shop Window ......................................................257Understanding Froogle’s Index and Search Results ...............................260

Being crawled by Froogle .................................................................260Search results in Froogle ..................................................................261

Submitting Product Information to Froogle .............................................265Optimizing for Froogle ................................................................................268

It’s (still) all about keywords ...........................................................268Create sales ........................................................................................269Optimizing your product description .............................................269Two final optimization tips ..............................................................270

Getting into Google Catalogs .....................................................................270

Chapter 15: Premium Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271Premium AdWords ......................................................................................271Premium AdSense for Content Sites .........................................................274Premium AdSense for Search Sites ...........................................................276Custom WebSearch .....................................................................................277Silver and Gold Search ...............................................................................278

Part V: The Part of Tens ............................................281

Chapter 16: Ten Site Optimization Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .283Search Innovation .......................................................................................285HighRankings.com ......................................................................................286

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Mediumblue.com .........................................................................................287Keyword Verification and Link Popularity Tools ....................................288

Marketleap Keyword Verification tool ............................................288Marketleap Link Popularity Check ..................................................290Mike’s Link Popularity Checker .......................................................292

TopSiteListings.com ....................................................................................293SEO Consultants Directory ........................................................................294Search Engine World Tools ........................................................................294

Webpage Size Checker ......................................................................294Sim Spider ..........................................................................................295Keyword Density Analyzer ...............................................................296

JimWorld ......................................................................................................298Eric Ward ......................................................................................................299SEO Directory ..............................................................................................299

Chapter 17: Ten SEM and SEO Tips from the Pros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301SEM Is (Somewhat) Revolutionary ...........................................................302On Keyword Targeting ................................................................................305On Finding the Balance between Free and Paid Marketing ...................307Optimization versus Incoming Links ........................................................311On Content and Site Design .......................................................................313On the All-Important Title Tag ...................................................................315Aiming for the Top Ten ...............................................................................316On Large and Small Companies .................................................................318Building Incoming Links .............................................................................320The Most Important Tips ...........................................................................321

Glossary ...................................................................325

Index........................................................................337

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Introduction

In the Introduction of Google For Dummies I wrote, “There has never beenan Internet phenomenon like Google.” The book you’re holding now dou-bles the truth of that statement, revealing and illuminating the hidden half ofGoogle. Taken together, Google’s front end (the consumer search engine) andback end (the business services) make up an online juggernaut arguably moresignificant to online society than eBay, Amazon.com, or Yahoo! right now. AndGoogle’s momentum as a revenue-generating media company is just startingto pick up speed.

Until recently, Google’s radical impact on Internet citizenry, and society gen-erally, was focused on the consumer experience of searching. The quality ofthat experience was established in a revolutionary triple whammy (whammybeing the technical term):

� The clutter-free home page. In crisp contrast to the ad-clotted and franti-cally informational Web portals that previous search engines had morphedinto, Google’s spare appearance is exhilarating in its announcement thatsearch — pure Search, with a capital S — was back, and back hard.

� The quality of results. This factor, of course, built Google’s fame andplanted “Googling” in the global lexicon. Does Google read your mind?Or do the uncanny results derive from groundbreaking technology? Well,it’s the latter. But those who prefer imagining that they have a telepathicrelationship with Google should go for the fantasy with gusto.

� The speed of results. Lightning-quick results have pushed Google intothe little cracks in everyone’s work day. People Google because theengine matches speed with the online lifestyle. Google never thinks ofitself as the destination; hence, it is the most important destination.(Ahh . . . Zen insight.)

Google’s unprecedented performance is underlined by its much-publicizedtraffic statistics: more than 200 million searches each day and more than 55billion searches per year, servicing at least 50 percent of all search queries.Approximate and changeable as these metrics are, they emphasize the impres-sive command Google has established in the consumer searching arena.

But Google has another side — and another personality. Behind the scene ofany simple search lies a frenzy of competition and a wealth of opportunity.Web sites wrestle with each other and with Google for position on the searchresults page. Advertisers bid for attention-getting placement on that samepage. Other sites all over the Web vie for the privilege of showing Google ads.

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The quests for visibility and traffic — the twin imperatives of online market-ing — are played out against the world’s most important search engine. Tothe people who start this chain reaction by typing keywords into the searchbox, Google is about searching the Web. To Webmasters, entrepreneurs, andmarketing executives, Google is about being found. The latter group popu-lates the world of Google business services.

About This BookThis book is about Google as a business partner. Google’s business services(especially the AdWords advertising program and the AdSense publishingprogram) are now getting as much attention as the search engine did duringGoogle’s early years. The business services are bound closely to the searchengine; they can’t be approached as an isolated set of tools. Building yourbusiness with Google involves knowing how Google constructs its index,improving your site’s visibility on search results pages, and hooking intoGoogle’s advertising programs as an advertiser, a publishing partner, or both.(Google also offers other business tools based on peripheral search technolo-gies and products.)

Accordingly, this book is like a mirror of Google For Dummies, which won aPulitzer Prize for literature. (No, it didn’t.) Whereas that book blazed a trail to power-using Google’s front end (the search engine), this book instructs in power-using Google’s back end (the business services). The two bookstogether provide a complete initiation to the hidden arts of more effectivelyusing Google, approaching from both the front and the rear.

Actually, because Google marketing types are obsessively focused on the questfor visibility and traffic, to these poor souls Google’s business side appears asthe only part of Google that counts, the real consumer interface. All that stuffpeople do on Google’s home page and in the Google Toolbar — entering key-words and finding destinations — happens in the background, like the constantrolling of the ocean to fishermen on a boat. Online marketers cast their linesinto the ever-heaving Google index, trolling for their share of the Internet popu-lace swimming through endless search results. And that is the last time I’llbring up the ocean-fishing metaphor.

Anyway, you don’t need Google For Dummies to make full use of this book. Soif you haven’t picked up your copy (yet), don’t get nervous. (Just know thatthe author requires tremendous amounts of dark chocolate to stay at the topof his game, and that stuff isn’t cheap. The imported stuff, that is.) This bookkeeps its sight set on Google’s consumer side in recognition of the fact thatGoogle’s customers are also your customers. And what is good for Google’scustomers on the front end tends to benefit Google’s customers on the backend (that would be you). It’s all part of the relentless interdependence ofGoogle’s two sides, which I refer to innumerable times in these pages.

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Rather than merely document the features, screens, and processes of activat-ing Google’s business services, I strive in this book to engage your mind in athorough reconsideration of marketing in the online space. In this conceptualrethink, Google is a sun by which light you see things differently. Costly mis-takes are being made, even by companies determined to Google their way tosuccess. Online marketing is difficult and barbarously competitive. Perhapsthe biggest mistake of all is believing that Google AdWords, AdSense, or itsshopping engine, Froogle, ensure your success and prosperity simply by flip-ping on their respective switches.

Google marketing rewards patience, detail, and persistence. Most of all, success comes from a penetrating understanding of the organic nature ofGoogle’s business innovations. I want every reader to understand the connec-tion between ordinary searches and sales at your site. Understanding key-word patterns on the front end lends a competitive advantage on the backend. Your site, your product, your brand, and your positioning are parts ofthe Google whole, as are consumer impulses, search keywords, and destina-tion choices. The key to building your business with Google is matching up toyour fair share of the consumer ebb and flow, and success is maximized whenyou operate with an awareness of the entire Googling ocean. (Damn that per-sistent metaphor!)

The goal of this book is to think big, in every sense. Big ambition. Big under-standing. Be assured that this isn’t physics, though, and I’m not StephenHawking. (He doesn’t even return my phone calls.) This book proceeds tohigher levels of Google awareness one step at a time, with attention to easilymastered details.

Conventions Used in This BookIn the course of writing many For Dummies books, I have exhausted the plan-etary supply of wretched jokes and foolish puns that fit in this section. Mostof them play on the double meaning of the word “convention,” and featurehilarious riffs on bad food, crowds, and Trekkies. Although demand remainshigh for the priceless wit that enlivens such classic For Dummies farce, andwith full recognition of the painful disappointment this announcement willcause, I have decided to forego any further whimsy in this space. The genrehas been plumbed, and I must move on to new artistic horizons. (Previousfirst paragraphs of this section can be found in my collected writings, cur-rently housed at the Smithsonian.)

3Introduction

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As to conventions on the page, certain types of text are set off in special waysto increase recognition, enhance understanding, and allow the productiondepartment to show off. These bits of text include URL Web addresses:

www.google.com

Several chapters ask you to examine, alter, and optimize the HTML tags ofyour Web site. Additionally, Google sometimes requires you to cut and pastesmall chunks of HTML. All HTML code is presented like this:

In the chapters ahead, I discuss keywords many times. In the normal flow of aparagraph, I italicize keywords, like this: imported chocolate dark “desperateauthor.” However, when you enter keywords into Google, do not italicizethem.

What You’re Not to ReadAlthough this book presents a lot of detail, very little of it is technical orsuperfluous. In fact, I urge you to pay special attention to the detailed instruc-tions in coding your pages and administering your Google campaigns. Onlinemarketing success depends on little things done correctly. To Google, tinydetails loom large and have a big effect on your visibility within Google.

Some chapters might not apply to you. If you’re a sole proprietor or smallbusiness, the chapter about premium services, while interesting, is notrequired reading for your business. Certainly, you shouldn’t feel as thoughyou must read this book from start to finish. Feel free to skip chapters, withthe understanding that even chapters that seem too elementary or don’tdirectly apply to your immediate goals might contain tips or insights thatcould be useful and are worth reading at some point.

Foolish AssumptionsThis section of the Introduction usually starts with de rigeur reassurancesthat you’re not really a dummy, that everyone feels stupid when tacklingsomething new, and other homilies designed to distance the author from the

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insulting For Dummies title. Nowhere have such reassurances been more aptthan here. This is a business book, and its readers are angling into a bravenew world of search-engine marketing with sharply opportunistic instincts,some degree of acquired online skill, and plenty of smarts.

Now, about that online skill. This book is forced to make certain assumptionsabout your abilities to deliver important knowledge without spending toomuch space on background. I start from square one with the marketing con-cepts and Google’s tools. But in certain areas that must precede square one,you’re on your own. To wit:

� Business startup. I discuss conceptual issues as they relate to positioninga business in Google, but in general I regard your overall field of enter-prise and product development to be outside this book’s scope. Likewise,issues of customer service, inventory and fulfillment of product, merchantaccounts, and all other aspects of your business transactions are out ofbounds. Only in the case of purely online businesses (affiliate-based por-tals or sites enrolled in the AdSense program, for example) does this booktouch on every link in the transaction chain. Otherwise, this book is aboutaugmenting an existing business, not starting a new business.

� Site creation. I need to distinguish here between site creation and siteoptimization. The latter is a major subject in this book. The former Idescribe nowhere. I assume you can create a Web page. I assume youcan register a domain. I assume you can upload new material to yourserver or domain host. However, I do walk you through the alteration ofcertain HTML tags.

� Basic Google searching and Web navigation. I assume that readers arenewcomers neither to the online realm nor to Google’s search engine.You need to understand the principle of linking and have a conception ofthe Web as an interconnected network of links. You need to understandGoogle as a keyword processor and be familiar (or get familiar) with itsmany different search results pages.

To summarize: if you know Google from the front end (searching) and haveowned and updated a Web page, you’ll be fine.

How This Book Is OrganizedFirst I print the manuscript. Then I throw it in the air. Then I gather up all thepages and stack them in a pile. It works for me, but my editor is an organiza-tional freak, and that method doesn’t satisfy her refined sensibilities. Fine.Rather than endure her nagging, I put everything into parts and chapters.

5Introduction

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Part I: Meeting the Other Side of GoogleMore than just an overview (though Chapter 1 is an overview of Google’s busi-ness services), Part I delves into three of the most important aspects of Googlemarketing: getting into Google’s Web index, building a network of incominglinks, and optimizing your site. Those three subjects are closely related, andeach is geared to enhancing your PageRank in Google — the holy grail of onlinemarketing. PageRank is explained in Chapter 2, where you can also find outhow to get a toehold in Google if your site doesn’t yet appear on search resultspages. Chapter 3 is about networking your way to higher visibility. Chapter 4concentrates on fine-tuning your site (or completely redesigning it, dependingon the state of its optimization) to attain higher stature in Google. Site opti-mization is detailed, finicky, necessary, invaluable work.

Part II: Creating and Managing an AdWords CampaignPart II contains the juice for many people. AdWords is Google’s innovativeimplementation of search advertising — or more precisely, cost-per-clickadvertising. This type of marketing is turning the traditional online advertis-ing field upside down, shaking it, and throwing it into the corner to considerits shortcomings. Google did not invent cost-per-click payment for ad place-ment. But Google’s overwhelming volume of traffic, outstanding administra-tive tools, democratically level playing field, and superbly streamlinedprocess of bidding for position have combined to take the leadership role.Other cost-per-click programs exist, and full-time marketers do them all. Buteverybody who advertises in this manner uses Google.

The chapters in this part are thorough. They assume you know nothing aboutsearch advertising, cost-per-click advertising, or Google advertising. Chapter6 starts with the theory of it all, and Chapter 7 helps you design a campaign.It’s important to move slowly at first because, in truth, most AdWords cam-paigns undergo a few false starts. So, even though Chapter 8 assumes thatyou’re operating an activated campaign, you might want to read that chapterand the next one (which illustrates and explains all the administrativescreens) before actually putting your ads in play. Chapter 10 is for ambitiousadvertisers running multiple campaigns but also contains strategy insightsfor everyone.

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Part III: Creating Site Revenue with AdSensePart III is about AdSense, Google’s inventive program that allows anyprofessional-level site to publish AdWords ads. This syndication is accom-plished with little effort on the Webmaster’s part — joining is a simple matterof pasting a bit of code into an approved site. When visitors click the ads, thehost site splits the revenue (the cost per click of that ad) with Google. Thepayout is pennies, usually, so this is a high-volume business or a sideline thatputs a little revenue icing on the main enterprise.

AdSense has developed a user and optimization community nearly as intenseas the groups surrounding AdWords, which has a head start on the youngerAdSense. I don’t assume that you have any knowledge about the AdSenseprogram or advertising syndication. It’s a good idea, though, to be familiarwith AdWords before embarking on an AdSense campaign. That doesn’t meanyou must run an AdWords campaign first, but I suggest reading Chapters 6and 7 in Part II.

Part III is a soup-to-nuts rundown of AdSense, from theory to design to opti-mization. One chapter contains rare directions for modifying AdSense place-ment and HTML code to integrate the ads on your page, avoiding the uglydisplays that have become commonplace. Plenty of examples address designconcerns while the text hammers home optimization principles that generatethe most effective ads for your site.

Part IV: Google Business for theLarger CompanyGoogle is about grass-roots adoption of its various services, but the companydoesn’t ignore major corporate advertisers and search partners. Large com-panies are valuable customers for Google, and you’ve probably noticed someof its high-profile partners: AOL, Netscape, Forbes.com, and many others. Bigplayers don’t hesitate to hunker down with masses swarming to AdWordsand AdSense. The slick efficiencies of those services cuts the fat from corpo-rate balance sheets. Google supplies premium versions of those two servicesfor large firms that fulfill certain traffic requirements, and this part coversthose augmented, personalized services.

7Introduction

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Beyond AdWords and AdSense, Google offers back-end access to Froogle,Google’s shopping search engine, and Google Catalogs, a service for mail-order businesses. (See Google For Dummies for a complete description ofhow those Google spinoffs work.)

Part V: The Part of TensThe “Part of Tens” is a For Dummies tradition. The chapters here round upresources and services that don’t fit easily into the rest of the book and arevaluable reading in spare moments. You should feel free to jump around here.(I mean jump around within these chapters, not jump around while readingthe chapters. But hey — whatever.)

Icons Used in This BookI wanted to use an icon of a steaming mug to indicate paragraphs I wrotewhile under the influence of thick espresso residue. Once again, my editorthwarted me with her “sensible” approach. So, I’ve used a few more usefulicons to set off certain paragraphs:

In the spirit of Johnny Appleseed, I scatter these things all over the place.Each one flags a particularly useful bit of knowledge or process.

Gentle, soothing reminders are best. So . . . TAKE YOUR MUFFINS OUT OFTHE OVEN!! That’s the sort of thing that deserves one of these icons. I alsouse them to drive home an important point that, if forgotten, might causehassle or wasted effort down the road.

I rarely devolve into a techno-mumbling, chip-eating, basement-dwelling,glazed-eyeball geek. My inner nerd doesn’t slip out in this book muchbecause the focus is mostly business issues. However, when I feel like spew-ing technical information that doesn’t directly apply to the forward move-ment of your business, I slap on this icon. Feel free to ignore suchparagraphs.

Very few mistakes will cause your computer to melt down. However, it’s defi-nitely possible to waste time, money, and effort, run afoul of Google’s guide-lines, lose ground, and otherwise set back your business goals. Whendiscussing dire consequences, I tag paragraphs with the Warning icon.

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Where to Go from HereTo the cash register, perhaps? If you’re already at home with this book, getsome coffee. That’s what I’m going to do.

Although it’s not necessary to read this book in order, I urge you to get yourhead around Chapters 2, 3, and 4 at some point. Everyone has their eyes onAdWords and AdSense, and you might want to get started with them quickly.You might be tempted to skip these chapters entirely. Go ahead, break myspirit. Seriously, AdWords and AdSense don’t work well when the target siteis poorly optimized, for a number of reasons fully discussed throughout thebook. AdWords, in particular, is tricky at first, and impatience usually resultsin wasted money.

So, if you have a rough plan for building your business with Google, readChapters 2, 3, and 4, and then head for whichever parts apply to your plan(AdWords, AdSense, or premium-level programs). If you’re a newcomer toGoogle’s business side and want the grand tour, start with Chapter 1. If you’realready operating Google campaigns and are familiar with site-optimizationissues, head for the inner chapters in the AdWords or AdSense sections.

9Introduction

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10 Building Your Business with Google For Dummies

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Part IMeeting the Other

Side of Google

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In this part . . .

This part is an introductory survey of Google’s businessservices and a launching pad to preparing for thoseservices. Plus a few other things. Everyone is familiar with Google’s consumer face — the front end, which is thesearch engine. But Google is more than a search company;it’s a technology company defined by its advertising ser-vices and other business programs.

Chapter 1 provides an overview of Google’s entire slate ofbusiness services. Without documenting the details — atask left for the book’s other chapters — Chapter 1 paintsa picture of Google behind the scenes. Chapter 2 discussesgetting into the Google index, the first essential step inleveraging Google’s clout in building your business.

Chapter 3 is more intense, following up on a site’s entryinto Google with a full tutorial on improving your site’sPageRank by networking. In this context, networkingmeans creating incoming links from other sites to yoursite. Building a competitive PageRank is the prime task in Google marketing, and Chapter 4 continues this questby tackling the thorny but rewarding topic of site optimiza-tion. Chapter 5 rounds out the section with an explanationof why and how to put free Google searches on your site.

Some people relegate Google’s entire business story to its AdWords program (covered in Part II). As important as the AdWords program admittedly has become, the siteoptimization and link-networking information in Part I isthe bedrock of any Google-oriented business plan. AnyAdWords campaign sits on a shaky foundation withoutthat bedrock.

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