How to Get Google Certification in Digital Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide
When you think of digital or online landscape, Google is the first name that pops up to our mind. It is a source of reliance, assistance, and trust. Thus, a Google certification goes a long way in the digital world.
Not to mention, when Google takes over the world this certification just might save your life.
I’m kidding. Don’t worry. No one is taking over the world….. Not yet anyway.
People are vying to get Google certification in digital marketing. However, people are looking for the wrong thing and expert marketers know this.
Many individuals, who are looking to get in the lucrative digital marketing sector don’t know that Google doesn’t offer certification in digital marketing specifically.
What they do offer is Google AdWords Certification and Google Analytics Certification.
When people are talking about getting Google Certification, what they are referring to is this. These are the marks of an adept digital marketer.
If someone wants to prove that they are indeed expert in digital marketing, they ought to get themselves Google Certification.
If you are just starting to in the realm of digital marketing, you need to know what they are, how they can help you and how you can get certified.
Let’s begin, shall we?
Google AdWords
AdWords is the online advertising service by Google. Google is after all the biggest search engine, and this is where advertisers pay to display their website/products or videos.
When someone types in a keyword or question in Google, it is Google’s job to bring information that is related to it. Advertisers run PPC or CPA campaigns to display their advertising copies.
What Google does is if the ad is relevant to the keyword, they place it on the first page.
This is a highly valuable method to reach a vast amount of your targeted customer. It has the option to reach local, national or even global audience.
This is the big leagues of Digital marketing. As such, AdWords is usually handed to those who are competent and proved themselves.
This is where the Google AdWords Certification comes in.
AdWords certification is a professional accreditation that Google offers to individuals who can demonstrate proficiency in basic and advanced aspects of AdWords.
This allows individuals to demonstrate that Google recognizes them as an expert in online advertising.
To become AdWords Google certified, the individual needs to pass AdWords Fundamentals exam and another exam from those that are available.
The available exams include
- Search Advertising
- Display Advertising
- Mobile Advertising
- Video Advertising
- Shopping Advertising
Each of them represents a vital aspect of online advertising.
Adwords Fundamentals
It is the mandatory part of AdWords Certification exam.
AdWords Fundamental covers the basic and intermediate concepts of AdWords. These include how it can help your clients meet their advertising goals, Google Search Network & Display Network campaign creation & management and also the best practices to manage & optimize campaigns.
An individual needs to get 80% of the score on the exam. You’ll have 120 minutes to complete the exam.
This tests the very foundation of your knowledge and that is why it’s mandatory for everyone to pass.
The good thing is, if for some reason you fail to get the pass mark, you can take the test again after 7 days.
Search Advertising
Google is first and foremost, a search engine. The best search engine I might add to 77.98% of market share.
Excuse the pun, but in Google, Keyword is the Key!
Keywords help people attain the result they are looking for. And it is the keywords that are used for Ads on the Google Search Network assist you in reaching the right individuals at the right time.
The exam tests how to compose ad campaigns, ad configuration & format, how search works, how to utilize broad match, ad rank & position, CPC and how to monitor & optimize performance.
Like AdWords Fundamentals, the exam needs to be completed within 120 minutes and the individual needs to attain at least 80% of marks.
Display Advertising
The exam tests the fundamental and advance display advertising concepts.
The value of display advertising lies in the utilization of Google Display Network. It is used by thousands of advertisers to reach users on a whole lot of websites and apps across all available publisher categories, ranging from large, well-known sites to niche sites and audiences.
The topics of the test include best practices for planning. creating, optimizing & refining, managing, measuring, and streamlining display ad campaign over the Google Display Network.
Like the previous two exams, this is also a 2 hour test with 80% marks needed to pass. And if needed, the test can be taken again after 7 days of the initial test.
Mobile Advertising
Very few people today are living their cyber life on just one screen.
Mobile devices are prevalent everywhere. More than 50% of all internet traffic is on mobile devices.
Consumers now use smartphones and tablets to interact with businesses 24/7, from anywhere; at home, at work, on a bus.
Thus, this presents the advertisers with a lot of opportunities for conversion. However, because of the different screen size, functionality, and context, the conversion ritual isn’t as same as desktops.
The topics covered in this exam include how an app or mobile site can help them make decisions, mobile specific bidding and targeting strategies, mobile ad formats and measuring ad performance & conversion.
Individuals have to answer 70 questions within 90 minutes. You’ll need 80% score in order to pass.
Video Advertising
The video is one of the most incredible paths for making a real association with potential clients. Videos can utilize emotions and deep massages to represents a strong change of conversion.
Using YouTube and the Google Display Network, you can help your customers meet their advertising objectives.
It tests video advertising campaign management, video ad format, and measure & optimizes campaigns. Also, there are varied types of video advertisement that the exam taker needs to be aware of.
The exam consists of 74 questions that must be answered within 90 minutes. It is a combination of MCQ, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank. 80% score is needed in order to pass.
Shopping Advertisement
Google Shopping is probably one of the most important and profitable sources for advertisers.
Advertising campaigns here put the client’s product images, cost, and business name directly before the people who are hunting down what you are offering on Google.
The Google Merchant Center is one of the most complex structures within Google for advertisers. Continuous updates and changing terms can be a daunting place for marketers.
The exam tests on Merchant Center and shopping campaign management. More broadly, account creation & management, product data feed submission & optimization and shopping bidding & optimization.
The test has the shortest number of questions with only 63 questions that you have to answer within 90 minutes.
Like all the exams, 80% score is needed to pass. And the test can be retaken after 7 days of the initial exam.
Once someone gets Google Certification, they’ll be able to share the certification status with others by showing them the personalized certificate or Google Partners public profile page.
The certificate is available within 3 hours of the exam.
A passing score on an exam is only valid for 12 months after the exam has been taken. The individual needs to complete the whole process again around the time of expiration to stay certified.
Google Analytics
Ever wondered how your website is doing?
Not emotionally, just how many visitors it’s getting, what pages are more popular, tracking the overall condition of your website.
That is why in 2005, Google developed the Google Analytics section to track, monitor and report website traffic.
Google Analytics offers 2 services, one free and another paid. The paid aspect, called Google Analytics 360 is targeted for enterprises and mobile apps.
With conjunction to Google AdWords, users gain the ability to review online campaigns by tracking landing page quality and conversions.
It is an essential tool for every digital marketer out there to review if their hard work and campaigning are working or not. Although it’s easy to use, it is a very powerful tool in the hands of an expert digital marketer.
That is why Google started The Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) exam to test the expert competency of marketers and provide a certification of Excellency.
The test is an industry wide recognized certification authorized by Google that proves your mastery of digital analytics.
This gives you an edge in your career over others. Also, once you have passed the exam, your name gets added to the searchable Google database. The test is free of cost.
So, what’s in the exam?
Passing this task is a bit more daunting than others. Simply because there are too many outdated study material out there.
Luckily, within the vault of Google, there is the Analytics Academy. This provides Digital Analytics Fundamental Courses video courses, which are a free self-study courses.
The exam has 70 questions that you have to answer within 90 minutes. The exam can’t be paused once it has started.
80% score is necessary in order to achieve a passing result. The result will appear within 48 hours. If needed, the exam can be retaken again after 7 days.
The certification remains valid for 18 months after the test is taken.
Wrapping up
Digital marketing is the future. In fact, digital marketing is quickly racing past its analog counterpart.
Digital marketing is capable of overcoming the barriers to traditional marketing. Companies understand that. They are adapting to the changing situation.
That is why currently, the value of capable digital marketers. is very high right now. And people are vying to get Google certification in digital marketing.
The individuals who hold more distinctions are generally those that have proved their mettle in the battlefield that. And there is no more ruthless and cutthroat battlefield than the field of Digital Marketing.
A lot of people, mainly those who are trying to or thinking of getting into the world of digital marketing can now plan their path, take necessary steps, learn the ways, attain the Google Certification in digital marketing and hold their head up high.