Resources: Marketing Book Reviews

Pay-per-Click Search Engine Marketing Handbook
Low cost strategies to attracting new customers using Google, Yahoo & other search engines by Boris and Eugene Mordkovich

Book Review by Kent Lewis

The Pay-per-Click Search Engine Handbook by Boris and Eugene Mordkovich ($19.97) is an excellent read for small to medium-sized business owners as well as marketers within larger companies looking to understand the pay-per-click (PPC) search engine universe. The 195 page book covers the history of search engine marketing as well as PPC strategies, tools, tips and resources. Simply put, it's the definitive PPC guide for marketers and business owners.

The book is broken up into 15 logical chapters, ranging from an introduction to the book and PPC advertising to how to develop and track PPC ad campaigns. Particularly important issues are given their own chapters: click fraud, contextual PPC advertising, branding and local PPC advertising. Additional chapters cover types of PPC engines, PPC tools, PPC affiliate programs and upcoming trends in PPC are insightful.

As a search engine marketing (SEM) industry veteran, I was initially skeptical that the book would be able to address the challenge of educating a wide spectrum of readers: beginners, intermediate and especially advanced professionals like myself. While the book is targeted primarily at beginners, there is something for everyone. For intermediate and advanced PPC professionals, the overview of third tier PPC engines, resource links and tips from industry experts are of particularly high value.

For a majority of the readers looking for a comprehensive guide to PPC, this book has it all. Neophytes are able to set up a campaign on Google and Yahoo with relative ease, and given helpful tips on how to develop captivating text ad copy, develop landing pages and set up tracking to measure conversion. The book provides helpful tips and industry research throughout, and offers clean, concise and interesting copy.

While tips and tricks from the industry experts are of the greatest interest to me personally, the book's greatest value is in providing $125 in free PPC credits on a handful of leading engines. In terms of generating an ROI, this book has it in spades. In addition, Mordkovich is constantly updating the book and offers free email updates to purchasers. If you're a small business owner or even a marketer looking to understand the ins and outs of PPC, Pay-per-Click Search Engine Handbook is for you.

-- Kent Lewis is the President of Anvil Media, Inc., a search engine marketing agency based in Portland, Oregon. He is also editor-in-chief of Anvil, one of the first ezines to cover the Internet marketing industry.