Free Course On Creating Your First Online Campaign

Want to reach potential customers online, but not sure how? We’ve got good news. Starting July 22, the AdWords Guides to Success Team will be offering Marketing 101, our first-ever massive open online course (MOOC). Register now.

The free course is for businesses who haven’t yet started advertising online or are just learning how it works. Over the course of three weeks, the class will help you understand the basics of online advertising, how it can help your business, and prepare you to start an online advertising campaign with AdWords.

Course highlights include:

• Help thinking about your potential customers and business goals, and how to translate those goals to an online advertising campaign
• Examples of businesses that can use online advertising
• Interactive office hours with AdWords experts and opportunities to connect with other students

The course will also offer videos, quizzes, a worksheet, and links to additional resources and help. Here are the details:

• What: Marketing 101, a massive open online course
• Audience: New advertisers
• When: July 22 - August 9
• Requirements: Email address and a computer

Interested? Sign up for the course here.

Posted by the AdWords Guides to Success Team

Find what you need fast in the new AdWords Help Center

Today we are happy to announce the launch of our new AdWords Help Center for opted in U.S. users. Based on your feedback we redesigned the Help Center to make it much easier for you to find the information for which you're searching.

Here are some of the changes we've made:

1. Simplified navigation: More easily navigate to the right content using the new menu at the top of each page.

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2. Visible contact options: Find options to reach Google with a click on the "Contact us" button in the top right of any page.

3. More screenshots and videos: Use the screenshots and videos in many of the articles to quickly learn how to make the most of Google AdWords.

To opt into the new Help Center, select “Try the new look” from the yellow bar at the top of the page.

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You can also opt out at any time by selecting “Go back to the old look” in the bottom right corner.

We're rolling the changes out gradually, starting with about 60 of the most important topics. Stay tuned for more updates, as well as the global roll out, over the new few quarters.

Do you like the new Help Center? We'd like to hear what you think. Once you've opted-in to the new Help Center, just click the "Send Feedback" link in the lower right corner of any Help Center page.

You can also follow a thread in the Forum if you have something to share with the users in the AdWords Community.

Posted by The AdWords Help Center Team

Live online tutorial on ‘Ad Extensions - making a good thing even better!’

On Wednesday March 9th we’ll be holding a live and interactive tutorial all about Ad Extensions in AdWords. Ad Extensions allow you to expand a standard text ad with one or more lines that provide additional information such as an address and phone number, additional page links and product images.

While the standard text ad format can often provide enough information for users to find what they’re looking for, including a picture, for example, could make the message more relevant and valuable. Similarly, having a map can help someone find your location more easily. During this live course we’ll discuss the benefits and implementation of Sitelinks as well as Location, Product and Mobile Extensions.

This live course will be presented by AdWords Specialists as part of the AdWords Online Classroom (UK) and is appropriate for advertisers who want to make their ads as informative as possible. It will take place on Wednesday, March 9th, 2011 3pm - 4pm (GMT), 7am-8am (PST) so make sure to sign up now!

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew

Start to 'Think Mobile' in a new live online course in the AdWords Online Classroom (UK)

This Wednesday, February 16th, we’ll be hosting a live online course in the AdWords Online Classroom (UK), where you can learn how to start using mobile advertising to reach more customers.

With over four billion mobile phone owners globally, half of all new Internet connections now come from mobile devices. This live course discusses the explosive growth in ownership and usage of high-end mobile phones and the implications for businesses and marketers.

We’ll highlight the main mobile trends that businesses should be aware of and outline effective mobile strategies and mobile advertising solutions for companies and advertising agencies to adopt.

The hour-long interactive course will be delivered by an Online Media Specialist and will include time for Q&A. It will take place on Wednesday, February 16th from 3 pm to 4 pm GMT (7 am to 8 am PST).

If you’re interested, make sure to sign up now!

And visit our AdWords Online Classroom for additional live and on-demand courses.


Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew

Join us for Google’s Think Mobile Event Live Stream

The rise of the mobile web is driving one of the most dramatic consumer behavior transformations in history. Billions of people are using their smartphones to search for information, consume news, watch videos, interact through social networks, and engage with advertising every day. So what does this mean for mobile marketing?

Tune in and find out what Mary Meeker, Partner at Kleiner Perkins, and Google’s Dennis Woodside, SVP of Americas Operations, and Jason Spero, Head of Americas Mobile Advertising, have to say about the future of mobile and what marketers can do to better connect with the mobilized, modern consumer.

The live stream will start on February 10, 2011, at 1:05 pm EST, and you’ll be able to watch from your desktop computer or mobile device. Please register for this virtual event by visiting the Think Mobile Live Stream page.

Following us on Twitter? Use the #thinkmobile hashtag as you're watching the event.


Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew

Learn how to set up Ecommerce reporting in Analytics in a live online course

This Wednesday, January 26th, we’ll be hosting a live online course about Ecommerce in Google Analytics as part of the AdWords Online Classroom (UK).

During the course, we’ll discuss how to set up Ecommerce tracking in your Analytics account and enable it for your reports. We’ll also discuss implementation techniques such as tracking third-party shopping carts and detail the best reports to use for in-depth analysis of your AdWords activity. This should help you assess your AdWords return on investment and give you more insight into how your advertising is performing in terms of online transactions and revenue generated on your site.

The course will be presented by Analytics specialists and is most suited to advertisers with websites that include the functionality to purchase goods or services. It will take place on Wednesday, January 26th from 3 pm to 4 pm GMT (7 am to 8 am PST) and will include time for Q&A.

If you're interested, be sure to sign up now!

Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew

Learn about using Remarketing in the AdWords Online Classroom (UK)

This Wednesday, January 19, we'll be hosting a live online course on Remarketing in the AdWords Online Classroom (UK). This free, hour-long, interactive presentation will be delivered by an Online Media Specialist and will take place at 3pm GMT (7am PST). There will also be time for Q&A.

Remarketing is a simple way to connect with your website visitors. After driving traffic to your site with search ads, you can then remarket to those people who reach your site by showing them tailored ads as they browse through sites on the Google Display Network.

During this session we'll take you through the benefits of using remarketing and how to set it up in your account. If you advertise with AdWords and are interested in the Google Display Network then we encourage you to attend.

Be sure to sign up now!

And you can also check out all our on-demand courses on the AdWords Online Classroom site.


Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew

There's still time to meet your 2010 resolution to become Google AdWords certified

Long lines at the shops got you down? Dreading yet another ugly sweater party or family cookie exchange? Kicking yourself for not becoming Google AdWords certified in 2010?

No need to fret, there’s still plenty of time left in the year. To become Google AdWords certified, you'll need to pass the Google Advertising Fundamentals Exam and one of the three advanced exams (Search Advertising, Reporting and Analysis, or Display). You can register for exams here, and take them from the comfort of your own office or home -- the perfect activity to do while sitting in front of a cozy fire waiting for mysterious, magical home invaders to bring you gifts. As a bonus, you’ll be able to give your company the holiday gift of another certified individual to add to its profile page!

We’ve made it easy for you to prepare for the exams. The AdWords Learning Center offers text lessons (some with interactive modules) for each topic on the exam, which you can review at your own pace. In addition, if you can’t quite squeeze in training this year, we have numerous AdWords Seminars for Success in early 2011 in a number of major cities throughout the US.

For more information, please visit the Google AdWords Certification Program homepage.


Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew