How to learn SEM
June 22, 2011 1:45 PM Subscribe
I need to learn SEM/AdWords, and I'd like to learn it fast. Google's AdWords learning center just isn't doing it for me.
This is sort of embarrassing - okay, really embarrassing - but I can not pay attention to the Google Learning Center videos for the life of me. As in, my ADD goes completely off the rails. I have never learned anything just watching a presentation, and the narrators voice may as well be an ambien pill.
From what I've heard, this stuff is supposed to be very easy once you get the hang of it. How do I get the hang of it? Are there any other free resources out there for learning AdWords? Something more interactive or intuitive? Best practices recommendations? Tips for being the best SEM manager ever?
I feel like all the blogs out there when you google "learn SEM" are spammy and sleazy and weird and have more to do with SEO garbage.
Hopefully this is not one of those things where if I can't follow the learning center videos I'm probably just an idiot destined to fail in life. Anonymous because I'm just embarrassed, but also because this is for my company.
This is sort of embarrassing - okay, really embarrassing - but I can not pay attention to the Google Learning Center videos for the life of me. As in, my ADD goes completely off the rails. I have never learned anything just watching a presentation, and the narrators voice may as well be an ambien pill.
From what I've heard, this stuff is supposed to be very easy once you get the hang of it. How do I get the hang of it? Are there any other free resources out there for learning AdWords? Something more interactive or intuitive? Best practices recommendations? Tips for being the best SEM manager ever?
I feel like all the blogs out there when you google "learn SEM" are spammy and sleazy and weird and have more to do with SEO garbage.
Hopefully this is not one of those things where if I can't follow the learning center videos I'm probably just an idiot destined to fail in life. Anonymous because I'm just embarrassed, but also because this is for my company.
I got some good info from an earlier edition of Sitepoint's SEO Business Guide.
I'm with you on not being able to learn from videos, FWIW. I wonder if it would help any to being able to work along with the video, maybe with that Lynda.com training.
MeMail me if you want someone to commiserate with, etc.
posted by epersonae at 2:21 PM on June 22, 2011
I'm with you on not being able to learn from videos, FWIW. I wonder if it would help any to being able to work along with the video, maybe with that Lynda.com training.
MeMail me if you want someone to commiserate with, etc.
posted by epersonae at 2:21 PM on June 22, 2011
I am AdWords Certified and have worked for a major agency handling $X,XXX,XXX in budgets personally.
Go through the Google-provided training. There's a ton of stuff there that you will not get from third party training materials, especially if you're actually planning on trying to get certified. They throw in questions that can get into very detailed concepts that you won't understand unless you've used *their* material.
Being blunt, if sitting through the training is unbearable for you, you will not be very successful as an AdWords account manager. It's a ton of nitpicking through countless pages of stats, writing tons of 70 character ad copy, and digging though traffic reports to find out what's really happening on your account.
Skip the Warrior Forum (I'm a paying member there). Most people there have never done anything beyond their own (unsuccessful) affiliate program "businesses", and tend to give uninformed advice.
posted by chrisfromthelc at 9:30 PM on June 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
Go through the Google-provided training. There's a ton of stuff there that you will not get from third party training materials, especially if you're actually planning on trying to get certified. They throw in questions that can get into very detailed concepts that you won't understand unless you've used *their* material.
Being blunt, if sitting through the training is unbearable for you, you will not be very successful as an AdWords account manager. It's a ton of nitpicking through countless pages of stats, writing tons of 70 character ad copy, and digging though traffic reports to find out what's really happening on your account.
Skip the Warrior Forum (I'm a paying member there). Most people there have never done anything beyond their own (unsuccessful) affiliate program "businesses", and tend to give uninformed advice.
posted by chrisfromthelc at 9:30 PM on June 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by TheBones at 2:09 PM on June 22, 2011