The Book: Marketing in the Age of Google

Resources and Reviews

In today’s searching world, customers turn to online search engines first. Yet many companies simply don’t realize acquiring customers from search engines should be a core business strategy. Instead, they usually focus on narrow goals, such as boosting page rankings. These oversights leave a huge channel for engaging with potential customers largely untapped. Businesses that use data about how people search to inform their product strategy will reach customers before the competition.

Marketing in the Age of Google is a practical guide to harnessing the full power of online search for your business. This clear, non-technical book demystifies search marketing and explains proven methods you can implement at your business today.

Not another book on AdWords campaigns, Marketing in the Age of Google instead focuses on making your business stand out in the “organic” searches that attract 86 percent of user clicks. It shows you where companies get hung up with rankings, and lays out a comprehensive approach for achieving the search goal that matters most: connecting with the people who want to find you

What People Are Saying

“Former Googler Vanessa Fox has a unique understanding of search marketing from both sides of the table, and has been educating people about the world of Google and search marketing through speaking and writing for years. She thoughtfully guides marketers past jargon and distractions to focus on the best ways to reach customers in today’s ‘searching’ culture.”
—DANNY SULLIVAN, Editor in Chief, Search Engine Land

This may be the first book that manages to identify and deconstruct the new search engine–centric world in which we live. With insights and tips for anyone doing business in the connected world, it’s perhaps the first must-read-to-survive business book of the twenty-first century. Highly recommended.”
—JOHN C. DVORAK, columnist, Dow Jones Marketwatch, PC Magazine

“Vanessa Fox has a fantastic perspective into the search marketplace. Her experience at Google and within the industry, combined with her ability to share those insights in non-technical morsels, make this book a must-read for anyone in business.”
—RICHARD ZWICKY, founder and President, Enquisite

“Vanessa Fox grabs your hand, shows you the way into the big, black box of search marketing, and flips the lights on. You’ll walk away from this book not only getting it when it comes to using search to build your business, but knowing how to do it.”
—TAMARA ADLIN, author of The Essential Persona Lifecycle

“Finally! A non-technical book about smarter search engine marketing. This is the search marketing bible for senior executives looking to grow their business.”
—LEE ODDEN, CEO, TopRank Online Marketing

From the Preface of Marketing in the Age of Google

When I worked at Google, I talked to thousands of business owners seeking my help and advice. To them, Google was somewhat of a black box. They knew that organic search (the unpaid result set) was important, but they had no idea how to use search data and customer acquisition from organic search in their business processes. We built Google Webmaster Central as a way to give business owners and Webmasters insight into how their sites were performing in Google and to help them identify problems and make improvements. During my tenure at Google and since, the business owners I talk to often fall into one of the following camps:

• Those who know search has become an important part of the customer engagement cycle, but aren’t sure where to start.
• Those who don’t think search is that important and believe that even if it is, businesses shouldn’t have to concern themselves with it. It’s Google’s job to sort things out.
• Those who get so caught up in optimizing their sites and ranking number one that they don’t step back to look at the bigger picture: to understand how searchers behave, how to engage with them, and how to turn them into lifelong customers.

After I left Google, I wanted to take what we started with Webmaster Central and go beyond helping people pinpoint issues that might be preventing them from doing well in search. I wanted to help them fix those areas, improve their sites, and take the focus off of ranking and put it on connecting with the right audience. In short, I wanted to change the conversation about search. I wanted to help businesses understand why organic search was important to their long-term success and show them how to harness it for better customer engagement, more informed business and product strategy—and introduce them to a whole new world of customers who they may have been missing. Thus, the idea for this book was born.