According to Google, all it takes is $5.00 and a credit card and you can begin to run your own Pay per Click campaign. What they neglect to tell you is that you need to learn an entire new language to understand how to manage Google Ad Words. When I first had the idea to write this article, I had thought of creating a handy desktop guide to explain Google acronyms for PPC - Sort of a "Google for Dummies." (There actually is such a book under that title available, imagine that!)

Somehow listing a whole page of letters and definitions didn't seem like it would make for very interesting reading. So I decided to address some of the most common definitions and discuss the overall mechanics of a Google campaign. I recently passed the Google Certified Specialist Exam, which was quite a feat given I failed it the first three times! After he heard that, a friend of mine asked "Is the test that hard?" I responded by saying, "Are you asking is the test that hard, or are you really saying are you that dumb!"

Truth be told, the test is hard, and so is managing an Ad Words campaign. Unless playing around with words, budgets and bids is your passion, stay away from trying to do it yourself and hire a professional.

In the meantime, let's talk about what you do get started in case you want to jump in yourself. (Do you have your credit card ready and at least a $5.00 limit???) In the spirit of the "Dummies" book we will start at the very beginning to show where to find Ad Words. (Definition-Google's Name for their Pay per Click Program). Go to www.google.com and below the search bar you will see a link that says "Advertising Programs," click that and be ready to enter the University of Google.

It is here you will find a plethora of information, everything you wanted to know and more about Google's advertising programs. You have the choice to attend Ad Word "U" or Ad Sense "U".

Today we will focus on Ad Words, and as warned previously do not be mis-lead by the simplistic line that says...Apply Online: Create ads and start managing your account - it takes just minutes. Learn more. Once you pass through the learn more link, be ready for what I refer to as a "Masters Program for Keywords."

Here you have a choice; you can begin the education process and watch the demo or peruse the FAQ section. I advise that you grab a Starbucks before you look at the FAQ's. Google will give you the top five questions: Top 5 Questions · What are keyword-matching options? · How much does Ad Words cost? · Why

Three non-fat Mocha Grande Lattes later (it was so much easier learning how to speak Starbucks than Google) you are pretty confident you've got a handle on all the basic definitions. In fact you can recite in your sleep the difference between CPC, (Cost per Click), CTR (Click through Rate), CPM (Cost per Marketing), CPA (Cost per Acquisition). You thoroughly understand what broad, phrase, specific and negative match for keywords is. You are now becoming an expert playing with the keyword toolbox, traffic estimator and adword discounter.

As you dive into writing your first campaign, the terms and conditions and copyright laws are swimming around your head. You've got a plan for your display URL, your destination URL, and you think your conversion tracking code is set up properly. You anxiously await your first click-through, only to find when you login to your Ad Words account, half of your keywords gave been disabled. Google tells you that you need to optimize your keywords, or raise the minimum bid to make them active again!

It's somewhere over the next few days, when you have accumulated thousands of impressions, minimal click-throughs, and zero conversions, that you come to the conclusion this is not as easy as it sounds! The daily management of PPC can be all encompassing and seems like it might be a full-time job. You decide it is best to call in a professional and be rid of this burden of daily PPC management.

Exhilarated by all the free time you've just created for yourself, you decide to stop on the way home and pick up a book, "So you want to learn Search Engine Optimization?"
About the Author

Patricia Brusha is the co-founder of www.acoupleofchicks.com, an Internet Marketing Distribution Company. She has spent 26 years working in the United States and Canada in the fields of Sales, Marketing, Internet Distribution and Revenue Management. Patricia has been Co-Chairman of the HEDNA www.hedna.org. (Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association) Distribution Management Committee for the past two years and is an active committ