Central Perk

miercuri, 14 august 2013

10 Resources to Pass the Google AdWords Exam

Posted: 14 Aug 2013 03:46 AM PDT

It's been almost five years since we wrote about this topic and we thought it was probably time for an update. The key question is, of course, "Have things really changed in the last five years"? From an AdWords features perspective, a lot indeed has. However, in terms of resources, all you really need to pass the exam is still just the AdWords Learning Centre. However, if you want to be an AdWords Exam 'ninja', then these additional resources may prove useful:

1. The Official Resource

OK, I'll start with the official resource. The AdWords Learning Centre is Google's own training tool for AdWords; as such, it's easily the best resource for obtaining information on all of Google's ad policies in a clear and concise way. The Learning Centre breaks its course down into short sections, so it is easy to just do a bit at a time. There are also handy links prompting you to try out the lesson in your AdWords account, along with tips and links to related topics on each subsection. The exams and the Learning Centre modules have been updated this year, so they cover enhanced campaigns as well as the current interface.

2. More from the Horse's Mouth

If you really want to stay up-to-date with Google's feature upgrades, then it's imperative you have a browse through the official AdWords blog to see what's new. Whenever there's a product update, the announcement is made via the AdWords blog. It's also worth noting that exams aren't updated frequently so they may not cover the most recent changes, making it even more important to follow the Adwords blog.

3. Books

Advanced Google AdWords by Brad Geddes is a solid resource for getting a deep understanding of managing AdWords accounts, as is David Szetela's Pay Per Click Marketing an Hour a Day. If you want an easy but in-depth introduction to AdWords, I'd also recommend Google AdWords for Dummies by Kristie McDonald. However, due to the nature of books, there are likely to be a lot of changes to AdWords and recent updates that won't be covered. However, these books are very good at instilling a firm foundation on PPC basics. If you're an advanced PPC professional, these books can help provide you with a refresher on some basics and workflow.

4. Learning by Doing

There really is no substitute to hands-on experience. No amount of reading will actually give you the necessary skills to be a half decent AdWords practitioner. It's in the doing that you really get a grasp of the AdWords concepts. So, if you have had a decent amount of time working on an AdWords account, I'd suggest only focusing on areas you're not too familiar with when doing your revision. For example, billing, video advertising etc. In other words, areas in the AdWords account that you don't deal with on a day-to-day basis.

5. WordStream

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time checking out the WordStream blog and tools. They've also got a couple of useful guides on taking AdWords and other PPC exams:

A Dead-Simple Google AdWords Certification Guide: Costs, Tips & Tricks for Google Certification

5 Tips for Passing PPC Certification Exams

6. PPC Podcasts

If you're fed up of reading, there are other resources you can use. I'd recommend checking out webmasterradio.fm's PPC-Rockstars, which has short podcasts on a variety of PPC issues.

7. A Heroic Resource

PPC Hero has got some fantastic resources such as the 'PPC Hero Guides', 'blog series', and a great range of helpful whitepapers.

8. Paid Resources

Certified Knowledge has a good suite of resources, tools and community support for members. However, prices seem to be a tad bit pricey for my liking. I must admit, I've never subscribed to their membership, so I perhaps I shouldn't comment. However, judging by their course content, it does look well worth some research.

PPC Hero also has a subscription service to their pro memberships. This will give you access to all their tools and resources.

9. Quality Scores

Quality scores are one of the cornerstones of PPC account management. If you're looking for in-depth information on them, then these resources will give you a thorough understanding of why they are important and what you can do to improve them:

10. #ppcchat

Lastly, I'd highly recommend following the #ppcchat hashtag to engage with like-minded PPC professionals. This weekly Twitter chat attracts industry specialists who discuss, debate and share their thoughts on a wide variety of PPC topics. Hat tip goes to Matthew Umbro for founding and hosting these highly informative weekly chats.

Well, I hope this list has been useful for you! However, it's quite possible that I've missed out a fair few other resources that I'm probably unaware of. I'd be really grateful if you could share any good resources you know of with us in the comments section.

Seth's Blog : Your first mistake might be assuming that people are rational

Your first mistake might be assuming that people are rational

Your second mistake could be assuming that people are eager for change.

And the marketer's third mistake is assuming that once someone knows things the way you know them, they will choose what you chose.

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marți, 13 august 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Tale of Colours, All in Denial; Assessing Merkel's Chances

Posted: 13 Aug 2013 02:14 PM PDT

The German federal election is on September 22, just over a month away. Merkel's CDU/CSU party will without a doubt receive the most votes. However, winning is not what matters unless there is an outright majority and CDU/CSU is not close to a majority.

The next chancellor will be the one who can put together a majority coalition. On that score, nearly every party is in denial about who they would be willing to form a coalition with.

For more background on the German political parties and what they stand for, please see Understanding German Politics.

Tale of Colours

Currently, not only is every political party short of a majority of votes, every likely coalition is short of votes. I have commented on this before, with input from reader Bernd (not AfD party chairman Bernd Lucke).

Today, the Financial Times has an update on that possibility in its report Germany's election campaign becomes tale of colour coalitions.

Although Angela Merkel is the most popular politician in Germany, and her Christian Democratic Union is the front-running political party, it would be an extraordinary upset for the CDU – with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union – to win an outright majority. It is currently earning steady 40 per cent support in opinion polls, some 6-7 per cent short of the threshold required to gain outright control of the Bundestag.

At this point in the election campaign, however, the game politicians play is to deny they have any intention of taking part in any coalition other than their first preference.

So Ms Merkel is adamant that she wants to keep her present centre-right coalition with the liberal Free Democrats, although its record over the past four years has been very patchy. Constant bickering, especially between the FDP and the conservative CSU, has made the "black-yellow" coalition (named after the respective party colours) much less popular than its constituent parts.

On the left, the Social Democratic party (SPD) and the environmentalist Greens insist that a "red-green" coalition remains their absolute ambition, even though they are currently polling a combined 40 per cent, well short of the majority threshold.

The man who has now put the cat among the pigeons is Gregor Gysi, the sharp-witted and silver-tongued former Communist lawyer who leads the radical Linke – the Left party – in the election campaign. He declared last week that he would happily take part in a "red-red-green" alliance to replace Ms Merkel.

A "grand coalition" of CDU and SPD is the one most Germans (52 per cent in a recent poll) would favour – and most of the outside world. Mr Steinbrück admits it is what Washington, London and most of the rest of the EU would like to see. But he is flatly against it.

From the start of the campaign, he has said he would not serve under Ms Merkel in such a "black-red" alliance, although he was finance minister in the grand coalition she headed from 2005-09. He also fears it would split the SPD.

But if neither black-yellow nor red-green coalitions has a clear majority, what is the alternative?

The only potential coalition that might see Mr Steinbrück as chancellor would be a so-called "traffic light" coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP (red, green and yellow). If a grand coalition is out, and so is black-green and red-red-green, it might be the one workable option.

Wildcards

There are two wildcards in the election.

FDP - Merkel's current coalition partner
AfD - Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany) a eurosceptic party

Political parties need to garner 5% of the vote to be represented in parliament. FDP (Merkel's current coalition partner) is right on the bubble, polling close to 5%.

AfD is polling only 2%. However, Bloomberg quotes AfD chairman Bernd Lucke who said "We believe that we're very close to the 5 percent hurdle". Of course no politician will ever deny hope.

Perhaps more realistically, Bloomberg notes "Allensbach, the company that most accurately predicted the 2009 election outcome, had the party edging up 0.5 percentage point to 3.5 percent support in a July 12 survey."

I have not seen a more recent poll other than unreliable online surveys, so it's hard to assess the chances.

In April, reader Bernd said it was likely AfD would get over 10%. I hopped on that bandwagon myself. But unlike the surge for Beppe Grillo in Italy, AfD just never caught on.

Still 5% is doable for AfD and less than 5% for FDP is also doable (if not likely). Should both happen, it will be even harder for any coalition to put together a majority.

As I have noted before, the price for forming a coalition might easily be the ouster of Merkel or perhaps an agreement that she will step down in two more years.

This election is a lot more open than Merkel supporters would have you believe.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Treasury Yields Rise Following .2% Rise in Retail Sales; Fed Tapering Begins in September?

Posted: 13 Aug 2013 08:18 AM PDT

The Census Bureau reports retail sales rose for a fourth consecutive month, up 0.2% in July. Retail sales missed economist expectations of a 0.3% rise, but June month was revised up.

Retail Sales vs. Previous Months

July 2013 Retail Sales vs. July 2012

I am not sure how much longer auto sales will lead retail sales, but sooner or later, a huge plunge is in store.

With mortgage rates generally tied to the 10-year treasury yield, housing is already under pressure from the rise in treasury yields.

Treasury Yields

Overall, retail sales were strong enough to push treasury yields back towards the July high.

The next three charts show treasury yields multiplied by 10. Shift the decimal point one digit to the left for an accurate read.

$TNX 10-Year Treasury Yield

$TYX 30-Year Treasury Yield

$FVX 5-Year Treasury Yield

Historical Perspective

Curve Watchers Analysis captured the following chart this morning.

click on chart for sharper image

$TYX: 30-Year Treasury Yield - Green
$TNX: 10-Year Treasury Yield - Orange
$FVX: 05-Year Treasury Yield - Blue
$IRX: 03-Mnth Treasury Yield - Brown

Tapering Expectations

Bloomberg reports Bernanke Seen Slowing QE to $65 Billion in September.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke in September will trim the Fed's monthly bond buying to $65 billion from the current pace of $85 billion, according to a growing number of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Half of economists held that view in the July 18-22 survey, up from 44 percent in last month's poll.

After today's rise in treasury yields, that number is likely more than 50% and/or the expected tapering amount greater than $20 billion.

It will be interesting to watch the Fed's reaction when housing and autos slump, the stock market takes a hit, and treasury yields continue to rise in the next few months.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Damn Cool Pics

Mountain Villa on Top of Apartment Block in Beijing, China
Don't Drink Too Much
Motorbikes in Movies [Infographic]
Greatest Vines 2013 — The Best 11 Minutes and 38 Seconds of Your Day [Video]

Mountain Villa on Top of Apartment Block in Beijing, China

Posted: 13 Aug 2013 11:11 AM PDT

Professor Zhang Lin has built a dream mountain villa on top of a Beijing apartment block. He has spent six years shifting rocks and rubble to the roof to create this mountaintop penthouse. The people underneath aren't too happy because cracks and leaks appeared throughout the apartment block. The construction will be demolished if deemed unsafe.

Via dailymail

Don't Drink Too Much

Posted: 13 Aug 2013 10:45 AM PDT

Cute girl. But wait until you see her at the Glassberry festival.

Glassberry, 2013

Motorbikes in Movies [Infographic]

Posted: 13 Aug 2013 07:21 AM PDT

Movies and motorcycles go together like PB&J – but not every use of the wonderful two-wheeled drive has been beneficial. In fact, some movies seem hell bent on besmirching the cool factor of the motorcycle and we're just not going to stand for it. The jury has passed their verdict on the very best and worst motorcycle movies the world has to offer. Question is, do you agree with our sentencing?

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Via bikesure

Greatest Vines 2013 — The Best 11 Minutes and 38 Seconds of Your Day [Video]

Posted: 12 Aug 2013 07:37 PM PDT

It might be a little early to start with the annual compilation videos, but Vine's offered up so many goodies, there isn't time to wait. Check it out to start your week off with a laugh, but keep the volume down for some NSFW.

How Google Continues to Kill Organic Results Graywolf's SEO Blog

How Google Continues to Kill Organic Results

Posted: 13 Aug 2013 10:04 AM PDT

As someone who has been involved in the search industry for over a decade, one of the things that really bothers me is how Google is slowly but inevitably taking all of the “above the fold” organic search result space and giving it to paid results, Google web properties, and to the Google Knowledge graph. […]

The post How Google Continues to Kill Organic Results appeared first on Graywolf's SEO Blog.