Google AdWords Certified Partner

In 2011, I came to realize that ads on the Google search and display networks were quite cost effective in bringing qualified leads to a website. So I started to study Google AdWords and to read books about it.  I was encouraged by my friend Jonathan Villiard, an SEO and AdWords specialist,  to obtain my certification. I followed his advice and early this year, I passed both the Google AdWords Fundamentals Exam and the Search Advertising Advanced Exam. Passing the two Google exams made me an AdWords Qualified Individual but that was not enough for partner status. I had to manage over $10,000 of advertising in 60 days. I did and received this morning an email confirming my status as a Google AdWords Certified Partner.

Google Adwords Advertising – A Primer

In the last quarter of 2011, Google generated more than 10 billion dollars of income. Think of it as $20,000.00 every minute. Most of it is for web advertising from companies small and large.

This post is a primer on the Google AdWords advertising platform. The goal is not to convince you to buy Google shares, something I am considering, but rather to explain how Google advertising works. This way, you will be in a better position to determine if it is an appropriate tactic to bring good leads to your website.

Web skills required to develop a great website

In the golden days of programming, life was relatively easy. The development of applications was for mainframes or mini-computers and required a limited set of skills. Those days are over. Today's web environment, although very rich in terms of capabilities, is extremely complex and required a very long list of skills.

This means that you cannot expect to have a great website if it is built by a couple of guys who do everything.

Website maturity model

Some websites are hopeless, some are OK and some are great. How’s yours?

If you google "Maturity Models", you will see that there are many such models. At the top of my result page is the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) by Carnegie Mellon University. Further down is Gartner's IT infrastructure and operations maturity model. Not to be outdone by such small organizations, I have come up with my own maturity model for websites.

The CMS trap and how to avoid it

Practically every website built in the last few years includes a CMS (Content Management System). This functionality allows website owners to update themselves the content on their website. It is fantastic because it removes the dependency on the webmaster, the IT guy or the agency.

Mobile and E-Commerce Strategy

The use of smart phones and other mobile devices is increasing rapidly. In view of this general trend, what mobile strategy should you focus on for your e-commerce site? Would it be worth it for you to develop an iPhone app? Would a mobile site be better? Should all your products and services be available on a mobile device or just a few? These are some of the questions we will try to answer here.