Learn about media planning in a live course in the AdWords Online Classroom

This Wednesday December 1st, we’ll be hosting a live course on media planning in the AdWords Online Classroom. The course will highlight the best practices of media planning and break down the planning process into 5 simple stages. We'll also give an overview of a number of Google tools that you can use to achieve high ROI, relevance and reach for your Google Display Network campaigns.

The course will be delivered by an Online Media Specialist and will last for approximately 1 hour, including time for Q&A. It will take place on Wednesday December 1st, 2010 3pm - 4pm BST / GMT+1 (London), 10am-11am EDT (New York), 7am-8am PDT (San Francisco).

Make sure to sign up now if you're interested!

Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew

Live online course on how to define and analyze conversions on your site using Analytics Goals

On Wednesday November 24th we’re hosting a free, live, online course about Goals in Google Analytics. Goals help you measure conversions or successful actions on your website, such as visits to a 'thank you' page after a customer makes a purchase on your site.

In this live course you’ll learn how to set up Goals and how they can benefit you. We'll clarify the difference between conversions in AdWords and Goals in Analytics, as well as discuss the reports the Goals section offers. After completing the course you'll know how to use Analytics Goals to measure the effectiveness of your AdWords traffic, then make more informed business decisions as a result.

This interactive course will be delivered by two Analytics Specialists and will last approximately 1 hour, including time for Q&A. It will take place on Wednesday, November 24 from 3-4PM GMT (7-8AM PST) and is suitable for anyone who’d like to learn more about Analytics Goals.

If you're interested make sure you sign up now!

Posted by Gordon Zhu, Inside AdWords crew

Learn about advertising on YouTube in a new online course

If you're interested in creating a stronger online branding presence or drawing high-volume traffic to your site, YouTube can help you accomplish both by giving you access to the world's largest online video-streaming and sharing community. YouTube can further enhance your current online advertising campaigns with millions of ad impressions and video ad streaming opportunities, so that you create the high-profile online presence that your website needs.

There are now a number of ways in which you can raise your profile as an advertiser using YouTube. During this course you'll learn about the different methods of targeting YouTube, and how to make the most out of any existing presence you may already have on this platform.

This is a live course presented by a YouTube Specialist and is appropriate for all advertisers interested in growing their presence on YouTube. It will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, November 17, 2010 3pm - 4pm BST / GMT+1 (London), 10am-11am EDT (New York), 7am-8am PDT (San Francisco).

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

Posted by Gordon Zhu, Inside AdWords crew

Get started with mobile advertising in a new live online course

On Wednesday, November 3rd we’ll be hosting a live online course about how you can start using mobile advertising to reach more customers.

Did you know that there are now 4 billion mobile phone owners globally? Half of all new internet connections come from mobile devices, and by 2014 it's projected that there will be more mobile internet users than desktop internet users.*

In this course we'll take you through the changing landscape of mobile advertising. We'll also show you how to identify if users use mobile devices to find your services and how to set up Mobile Search and Display Campaigns.

This course is for those of you interested in learning more about mobile advertising and how to easily set up your AdWords account to target more users on mobile devices. The interactive course will be delivered by an Online Media Specialist and will take approximately 1 hour including time for Q&A. It will take place on Wednesday 3rd November from 3pm - 4pm BST / GMT+1 (London), 10am-11am EST (New York), 7am-8am PST (San Francisco).

If you're interested in this course, sign up now!

*Morgan Stanley report, 'Internet Trends' published on April 12, 2010.

Posted by Gordon Zhu, Inside AdWords crew

Learn about using Remarketing in a new course in the AdWords Online Classroom

This Wednesday, October 20th, we'll be hosting a live online course on remarketing. This interactive presentation will be delivered by an Online Media Specialist and will take approximately one hour, including 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 then we encourage you to attend.

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

Posted by Gordon Zhu, Inside AdWords crew

Transform your AdWords account and win cool prizes - sign up by October 3

There’s still time to sign up for the the AdWords Train & Gain challenge which kicks off October 4.

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Once signed up, you’ll receive four weeks of free advice for improving your AdWords account. At the end of the four weeks, you’ll have learned lots of different ways to improve your account performance. If you complete all the steps and answer a short questionnaire to let us know what you learned, you could win an Android Phone. Or even a free consultation with an AdWords expert — in Sydney, Australia.

Check out the Train & Gain site for more details about the challenge, who’s eligible to compete and how we’re selecting winners. Full terms and conditions can be found here.

Sign up for AdWords Train & Gain now

Posted by Gordon Zhu, Inside AdWords crew

Introducing ‘Improving Online Conversions for Dummies’

Cross posted from the Conversion Room Blog:

Are you eager to optimise your Conversion Rate, but feel a little bit overwhelmed by all of the tools available to help you? Today we're delighted to introduce Improving Online Conversions for Dummies.

We have just released a simple, easy to follow mini book, in conjunction with John Wiley Publications, to help you get a better grasp of the conversion improvement tools offered by Google. Improving Online Conversions for Dummies explains how you can make sure your ads show on searches that are most likely to convert into sales. Understand which ad clicks and impressions lead to conversions, better apportion your marketing spend and even develop your own conversion attribution model. Discover the secrets to getting more bang for your buck with this ebook.

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For more information, visit www.google.com/conversion/fordummies

Posted by Gordon Zhu, Inside AdWords crew

The AdWords Small Business Center: the key tips, tutorials, and updates you need for a successful AdWords account

Today we're happy to announce the launch of a new website - the AdWords Small Business Center. Many of you asked for an AdWords resource focused on learning and the top tips for small and medium businesses, and we listened. This new central learning hub allows you to share AdWords best practices and provides the key information you need to know to run a successful AdWords account.

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Learn the essentials

Whether you're new to AdWords or not, the AdWords Small Business Center allows you to explore insightful topics as a beginner, intermediate, or advanced user. It covers everything from strategies for writing great ads to ways to improve your website, all in an easy-to-navigate format.

Stay up-to-date

Stay in the loop by visiting the Inside AdWords blog right from this new site. It makes it easy to read about the latest trends and product updates and use them to grow your business.

Explore new possibilities

Want to discuss one of the tips on the site with another small business owner? Visit our recently launched AdWords Small Business Corner, a discussion forum in which other small and medium business owners who use AdWords exchange advice on the strategies that have helped them grow their businesses. Use it to share your AdWords experience or simply learn from others.

We hope you find the AdWords Small Business Center useful. Check it out today!

In the coming weeks, make sure you're also on the lookout for our blog post on AdWords Train & Gain, a challenge to help you become more successful with your online advertising. We'll be giving away cool prizes like Android phones and, for one lucky winner, a trip to Sydney, Australia for a free consultation with an AdWords expert. Sign up now or find out more details and official rules.

Posted by Miles Johnson, Inside AdWords crew

Get design tips to boost the impact of your display ad

While the right text and placement of your display ad are always crucial, you should also make sure that your ad is well designed. But how exactly can you ensure that your ad stands out on a web page, looks professional and is consistent with your overall brand message?

On Thursday, September 2nd, we’ll be holding a short one-off live course on effective display ad design. The session will give you a set of practical design tips including key insights on using color, font and images. The focus will be on the Display Ad Builder tool, although the tips are applicable to display design in general. The course is suitable for anyone interested in display advertising.

The course will be held on Thursday, September 2nd at: 3pm - 4pm BST / GMT+1 (London), 10am-11am EDT (New York), 7am-8am PDT (San Francisco).

Sign up here to attend.

Posted by Miles Johnson, Inside AdWords crew

Introducing the AdWords Small Business Corner, a new forum discussion category for SMBs

We’ve heard from many of you that you’d like to be able to easily share tips for developing a successful AdWords strategy with others like you. To help you do that, we’ve created a new category in the AdWords Help Forum: the Small Business Corner. The Small Business Corner is designed to give those of you who are running your own AdWords accounts the opportunity to share best practices in discussions with your peers so that you can make sure your AdWords account is doing all it can to support your business goals.

This new category is not about troubleshooting specific account issues, but rather about sharing and learning from the experiences of others. To give you a preview of the kinds of topics that we hope to discuss, here are a few conversation starters that we had in mind:

• Choosing the right tools to measure results
• How to write great ads
• Finding the right frequency to sign in to AdWords

Of course, this category is about your interests and needs, so we hope you’ll suggest the small business-related topics that you’d like to cover. For any other topics, please consider the other existing forum categories available to you.

Getting started

To join the conversation now, just visit the Small Business Corner. If you’re new to the AdWords Help Forum, you may want to create a Google Profile (while signed in to your AdWords account), introducing yourself and your business before jumping in. In the meantime, you can check out the introductory discussion thread here.

Posted by Miles Johnson, Inside AdWords crew