PPC Academy: Complete Course Table of Contents

Well, here we are. A year in the books! Thank you for reading this one-year paid search course—I hope you got a lot out of it. I know that it was a great exercise for me to spend time really organizing my thoughts into a structured format. So much of search engine marketing is self-learning via sites like SearchEngineLand.com, attending trade shows and conferences and talking with peers. There are also some great books on the subject, and I urge you to keep learning!

In the effort to make this column a better resource for you all, below is a “chapter by chapter” guide of the posts from this year. Feel free to email me directly using the contact form on this page if you have any questions or would like clarification for any of the content in these posts.

Looking back at them now in completion, I’m pretty proud at what I’ve accomplished and I’d like to thank my editors here at SearchEngineLand, Chris Sherman and Elisabeth Osmeloski, for not only allowing me the forum to present this course, but also the time they spent editing and polishing my writing to bring you, the reader, the best end product we could.

Once you’ve reviewed the course, take the PPC Academy Final Exam to evaluate your own knowledge and find out where you may want to spend more time working on your skill set. Good luck!

Intro To Search

• Welcome To PPC Academy, A One-Year Paid Search Course
• The Five Most Frequently Asked Questions About Paid Search
• A Brief History Of Paid Search Advertising
• A Paid Search Glossary
• Introducing Your Paid Search Dashboard
• The 8 Pillars Of Paid Search Success

Research Phase

• Day One Of Paid Search: Know Your Goals
• The Advertiser Interview: How To Surface Key Goals
• How Competitive Intelligence Shapes Your Keyword Landscape
• PPC Academy Toolbox: Keyword Monitoring
• Using Web Analytics For Paid Search Research
• Essential Competitive Intelligence Platforms For Your PPC Toolbox
• Build Out Your PPC Toolbox With Non-PPC Tools
• Paid Search Research In Action

Build Phase

• 10 Crucial Questions Before Building Your PPC Campaign
• The Blueprint Of The Modern Paid Search Account
• Keyword List Building 101
• PPC Magic: 3 Steps To Turning Hundreds Of Keywords Into Millions
• The Giant List Of Keyword Tools
• Things To Consider When Organizing Your Ad Groups & Campaigns
• Understanding Keyword Match Types
• Introducing The All-Important Quality Score
• The Left Brain Of Paid Search Ads: Parameters & Limitations
• The Right Brain Of Paid Search Ads: Tips & Tricks For Creative Ad Copywriting
• Two Advanced Tactics For PPC Copywriting

Launch Phase

• 3-2-1: Launch! Uploading Your Paid Search Account
• Take Control Of Your Campaign Settings
• Campaign Settings, Part 2: Location Targeting
• An Introduction To Paid Search Conversion Tracking
• Ignition! Your PPC Launch Checklist
• A Successful Launch—What Next?

Reporting and Analysis

• Step-By-Step: Your First Keyword Report
• 8 Crucial AdWords Reports For Measuring Success
• Your Daily, Weekly & Monthly Paid Search Routine
• PPC Testing Part 1: The Ground Rules
• PPC Testing Part 2: Optimization Cheat Sheet
• PPC Testing Part 3: A Campaign Optimization Walkthrough
• PPC Testing Part 4: Google’s AdWords Campaign Experiments Tool

Non-Search Inventory

• An Introduction To Content Targeting
• Step-By-Step: Create An AdWords Content Campaign
• An Introduction To Google’s Placement Targeting
• Step-By-Step: Choosing AdWords Placements
• Optimize Your Site Lists On The Google Display Network

Becoming a Well-Rounded Search Professional

• How To Stay Current With The Swiftly Changing SEM World
• An SEO FAQ For Paid Search Marketers
• A Display Ad FAQ For Paid Search Marketers
• A PPC Marketer’s Code Of Conduct

The PPC Academy Final Exam

• Final Exam: Test Your PPC Knowledge

PPC Academy is a comprehensive, one-year search advertising course from beginning to end. Starting with the basics, PPC Academy progressively explores all of the varied facets of paid search, and the tactics needed to succeed and become an advanced paid search marketer.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Josh Dreller

Josh Dreller has been a search marketer since 2003 with a focus on SEM technology. As a media technologist fluent in the use of leading industry systems, Josh stays abreast of cutting edge digital marketing and measurement tools to maximize the effect of digital media on business goals. He has a deep passion to monitor the constantly evolving intersection between marketing and technology. Josh is currently the Director of Content Marketing at Kenshoo.