Google Ads Certifications: Are They Worth It? (2023)

Want to learn best practices for running all kinds of Google Ads campaigns? Do you want to increase your credibility with current or future clients and managers?

If so, getting Google Ads certified is one of the best (and official) ways to go.

There are several different certifications you can earn for Google Ads, one for each of the main types of advertising products. In this guide, I'll cover the various types of certifications I recommend for whom and how to pass them.

What are Google Ads certifications?

Google Ads certifications are the most reputable and recognized certifications for Google Ads because they are official Google certifications. They can be an important credential for people looking to land a job or promotion with heavy Google Ads responsibilities. They're also a great resource for business owners to quickly learn about Google Ads from an authoritative source, but have no prior experience with it.

There are six different Google Ads certifications available in almost 20 different languages. Each certification is made up of a recommended study, a knowledge check, and the certification assessment. To pass each assessment, you'll need to achieve a score of at least 80%, with the exception of the Google Ads app assessment, which requires a score of at least 70%.

You can earn the following certifications for Google Ads:

• Google Ad Display Certification
• Google Ads search certification
• Google Ads Measurement Certification
• Google Ads Video Certification
• Shopping ads certification
• Google Apps Ads Certification

You have 75 minutes to complete each assessment and you can expect to see 46-50 questions per assessment. Your computer will not be restricted during the evaluation (as with theFacebook Blueprint Certifications), so you can look up the answers as you take the assessment. The problem is that once you've selected an answer, you can't go back to change it.

If you pass the assessment, you'll be certified immediately, and if you don't pass, you just have to wait 24 hours to take it again. One other caveat: Before testing, make sure your internet connection is stable, as being offline for even a second will automatically disqualify the session.

How much does it cost to get Google Ads certified?

In the past, Google Ads certifications used to come with a price. Google recently made certifications completely free. So if you plan to expand your knowledge of Google Ads and increase your credibility, it's a good idea to get certified as long as they don't cost a dime.

Are Google Ads certifications worth it?

If you're new to Google Ads, certifications are definitely worth your time because they teach you the basics and lay a solid foundation for future advertising experiments later on.However, since Google creates the resume, there is some bias towards the "right" strategy, as Google wants to convince its users to reach a broader audience, regardless of whether broad targeting is right for them.Unsurprisingly, Google wants to encourage its customers to spend more on Google Ads, so while Google courses work great in teaching you what each type of ad does and how the platform works, these courses may they are not the best. learn. the latest and most optimized advertising strategies.

Despite that, I definitely think certifications are worth it just for the added credibility. For individuals, it can help you stand out from other candidates when looking for a job, gain more confidence from your managers in handling Google Ads responsibilities, and help you establish authority with clients if you do some freelance work. For agencies, it can also help build trust with clients and also ensure some entry-level competition among their account managers.

Google Ads certifications are separate from the Google Partner badge. Forearn the Google partner badge, you'll need to meet certain ad performance requirements on the Google Ads platform and spend at least $10,000 on ads in a 90-day period.

How difficult is it to get Google Ads certified?

In general, Google Ads certifications are well known for not being too difficult to pass, especially since you can answer Google's questions while taking the test. However, due to time constraints, you will still want to understand a wide range of basic definitions, concepts, and strategies/use cases.

The assessment doesn't have complicated questions, but they do want to award certifications to those who can use their critical thinking skills, so there are questions that require you to have a firm grasp of concepts that you won't be able to do. easily find the answer. Most of the questions are multiple choice which makes it easy but please read the questions carefully as you will have similar answers to choose from.

Plus, you don't have to pass all the assessments to get certified. Each assessment comes with its own certification. Most people focus on the Google Ads display, search, and measurement certifications, as these are the areas most used by marketers. If you regularly publish ads for eCommerce brands, you definitely want to get certified for shopping ads. If you're running YouTube ads, get video certified. If you're running ads in apps, get certified apps.

Compared to the requirements for theFacebook Blueprint Certification, the requirements for evaluating Google Ads are much less restrictive. For example, to take a Facebook review, you need to be in an empty room, at a table free of unnecessary items. You will also need to install a program that prevents you from running other programs during the certification and keeps your webcam on during the assessment.

Facebook Blueprint Certifications aren't free, but they're worth checking out if you plan on running Facebook ads at some point.

How to Prepare and Study for Your Google Certification Assessment

First, start by taking the recommended lessons in each certification. They are brief and give you basic information about what the test will cover and quickly familiarize you with the most important parts.

Therefore, the best way to learn the concepts necessary to pass the assessments is to get first-hand experience with Google Ads.If you don't have a real account to practice, you can alwaysset up a new account yourself. You will be able to go through the entire campaign creation steps without activating them or spending any money.

Whether in an existing account or your newly created practice account, you should practice what a real campaign would look like and perform all the actions as if you were actually going to launch it. That way, you can connect what you need to learn with the context of running an actual campaign.

This is what I would do:

Go to the Tools tab and connect a Google Analytics account. See what you can learn about Google Analytics activity to strategize your Google Ads campaigns. Then see how you can analyze the behavior of the users of your campaigns in Google Analytics.

In the Opportunities tab, you'll see what new keywords you can bid on and what type of budget might work for your business. Remember, this is Google's advice for anyone looking to maximize their spend, and it may not be ideal, so please consider them only as suggestions, not guarantees.

To be more specific with your guidance, look at the multi-level breakdowns. With these options, you can narrow your targeting at the account, campaign, ad group, or keyword level. Think about what you would do in a real campaign and follow all the steps here.

As you go through everything, write down words and acronyms you don't understand, then look up what they mean so you can figure it all out.

When you think you're ready, test your knowledge with hands-on assessments before doing anything real. Or, since the assessments are free and you can always retake them the next day, you might as well go for the actual assessment without being 100% sure, and hey, you might pass on the first try!

You can use this strategy to familiarize yourself with the assessment, but keep in mind that the end goal is not just to get certified, but also to improve the execution of your Google Ads campaigns.

If you think you need more sources of learning, there are tons of Google Ads for Beginners videos on YouTube, all of which are free.

Where and how to display Google certification badges

At a minimum, add your certification badges to your LinkedIn profile in the certifications section. But don't overdo it by throwing it everywhere you can, like your LinkedIn header, social bios, or email signature; After all, it's just a free certification that shouldn't be your main source of credibility.

Many employers look for certified candidates, so make sure you're on LinkedIn in the appropriate section and perhaps at the bottom of your resume (your experience should always come first).

For agencies, you can briefly mention that all your account managers are certified or something like that. Again, just don't stand out or lead with this as it may seem amateurish compared to previous results achieved by clients.

What to do after getting certified in Google Ads

My advice is to continue to familiarize yourself with the platform and delve deeper into the Google Ads strategies that real businesses typically execute in your space.

You can also learn about other software related to Google Ads, such as Revealbot, it's us! By now, you may have heard of Google Ads scripts or automated rules. Well, that's what Revealbot does, but we make it easy to set up and manage automations without knowing any code. You can learn more about how we do it.Google Ads Automationand set up a trial account with our two-week free trial.

Additionally, Google is known for making constant changes to its advertising platform, often at the expense of the advertiser. That's why it's a good idea to keep up with the latest Google Ads news viaofficial google updatesmifollowing them on twitter.

In addition to the official Google Ads certification, Google alsocurated a ton of different online courses, free and paid, on a variety of digital marketing topics.

Please note that some of these courses cover intermediate and advanced topics and do not come with a certification. These courses are best suited if you want to deepen your knowledge in certain areas, but aren't interested in earning a badge that can be displayed on your social media to potential employers or clients.