5 Tips on Passing the Google Adwords Qualified Professional Exam

One thing here at PPCHero we make sure of is that all of our writers pass the Google Adwords Qualified Professional Exam before writing for the blog.  We just added four new people to our team and we’re still growing.  But now that they’re finished with their PPC training, it’s time they prepare for the Google Adwords Exam.

The Google Adwords Qualified Professional status can be obtained at either the individual level or the company level. In order to receive the company level status at least 2 employees have to pass the exam.  Unfortunately, your status expires after 2 years, so you may have to take it multiple times in order to keep your individual or company status. The exam costs $50, and yes, you have to pay that each time you take the exam for each person.

Here are just a few tips on how to successfully pass the exam with flying colors – without giving away any answers.

1. Utilize the learning center – You do have an hour to take the exam, and I believe there are 75 – 100 questions in the exam.  With that said, you can use your notes, use Adwords, or look up answers online. However, most of the questions, if not all of them, are taken from the Adwords learning center itself.  So take the time and go through the learning center tutorials and reading material.  It will make a serious difference.
2. Know Google Adwords ad text policies – t\The one thing I remember most is they ask you a ton of ad text guidelines and policies questions.  What can you say in your ads, what can’t you say, how many characters are in the title, description, destination URL, etc. Know your ad rules!!!
3. Put yourself in scenarios – Especially for the ad text, when studying for the exam, test yourself by using scenarios.  Example, Here is an ad text – tell me all the items that violate the GA ad text guidelines. Then you have to choose between a. b. c. or d. Also, there are scenario questions about ROI and CTR and how to know when you need to pause an ad or keyword and when you should increase or decrease their bids.
4. Know how to calculate ROI – If you only work on lead based PPC accounts or click only accounts, you better learn how to calculate ROI.  There are questions that put you in a scenario where they show ads or keywords with a certain ROI, and you have to know which ad or keyword to pause. So, if you don’t understand ROI, learn it now.
5. Know where things are – You will be asked questions on which reports you can run for certain information and where you access conversion tracking codes, etc.

Although there is a separate Google Analytics exam, you should know the essentials of Google analytics reporting, goals, funnels, etc.

Taking and passing the Google Adwords Qualified Professional exam is great to have on your website and resume and can be a great selling tool. As we talk about trust symbols and certifications to put on your landing pages to increase conversions, this is one of them!  Just be sure you adhere to the Google certification logo guidelines before posting it everywhere.

If you think you need more explanation or teaching other than the tutorials you can watch these great videos on YouTube called the Google Business Channel. They give you videos obviously and offer more of a visual representation of the learning material. If you have more questions about the Google Adwords Qualified Professional exam and their qualifications you can check out their FAQ.

Good luck!

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 7:42 am and is filed under Google AdWords. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.