I’ve been AdWords Certified since 2007, I believe, and in that time, the AdWords certification program has changed a lot. I won’t bore you with a recap of all of the technical program-related changes over the years, because the more interesting thing is what hasn’t changed in all this time – the questions.
The first time I took the AdWords exam, I was really nervous. I was fresh out of college and new to my position and I didn’t want my boss to be disappointed in me. At that time, you had to pay each time you took the test, so if I failed it would have been glaringly obvious because I would have had to expense the exam again. I read every AdWords resource and study document that Google put out and took extensive notes. After a weeks of prepping, I finally felt ready to take the exam. I slowly worked my way through the exam. Back then the time limit was 3 hours, you could mark questions to come back to and review before submitting it for grading, and the exam module took over your computer so you couldn’t cheat… not from your workstation anyway. I passed with flying colors. The next time my certification came up for renewal, I dusted off the old study guide to review for a couple hours and took the exam again. Again, I passed easily. But I noticed something that second time that would help me with every subsequent AdWords exam. There was a certain irrefutable logic to the questions that acted almost as an answer key to the questions.
The first time I took the AdWords exam, I was really nervous. I was fresh out of college and new to my position and I didn’t want my boss to be disappointed in me. At that time, you had to pay each time you took the test, so if I failed it would have been glaringly obvious because I would have had to expense the exam again. I read every AdWords resource and study document that Google put out and took extensive notes. After a weeks of prepping, I finally felt ready to take the exam. I slowly worked my way through the exam. Back then the time limit was 3 hours, you could mark questions to come back to and review before submitting it for grading, and the exam module took over your computer so you couldn’t cheat… not from your workstation anyway. I passed with flying colors. The next time my certification came up for renewal, I dusted off the old study guide to review for a couple hours and took the exam again. Again, I passed easily. But I noticed something that second time that would help me with every subsequent AdWords exam. There was a certain irrefutable logic to the questions that acted almost as an answer key to the questions.
So now that you have a little background, I’ll share this logic with you so that you can get a perfect (or nearly perfect) score on your AdWords Certification exam without studying. All you have to do is remember these guiding principles:
The Most Customized Answer is The Right Answer
With all of the settings and features available in AdWords, a business advertising on PPC can tailor their approach to meet their specific marketing goals within the constraints of their budget. Google wants you to know this! Subsequently, there will be questions that lay out some of the challenges that a business may have to deal with and you have to pick the answer that would give them the best chance of succeeding with AdWords. Hint: the right answer isn’t a one-sized-fits-all answer. For questions about strategy, approach or budget, the most customized answer (i.e. the most complicated answer) if the right answer.
For example, there may be a question that looks like this:
A company wants to use AdWords to aid in their branding efforts and also drive ecommerce sales. How should they determine and divide up their limited marketing budget?
A. Create a branded campaign and a sales campaign and divide the budget equally between the two.
B. Create one campaign and devote all of the budget to it, letting each initiative vie for clicks.
C. Use a standard rule of devoting 9% of revenue to marketing.
D. Create separate campaigns for branding and sales efforts and allocate the budget across both goals, increasing budget proportionally and incrementally where profitability can be attained.
The correct answer here is D because it’s complicated and messy.
The Answer That Makes Google Look Good is The Right Answer
Google’s life goals are to make money, have lots of people like them and to rule the (search) world. In keeping with that strategy, Google uses every opportunity possible to tell you how great they are – even this test. Hint: the answer that makes Google look the best is always correct. The right answer positions Google, or their AdWords child, as industry-leading, helpful, convenient, innovative, easy-to-use and revenue generating.
For example, there may be a question that looks like this:
If a business has their Google My Business account connected to their AdWords account and their business address changes, what is the best way to update this information?
A. Easily change the business address in Google My Places with the click of a button and it will automatically update in Google AdWords for you.
B. Change the business address in Google My Places and then manually change it in Google AdWords also to match.
C. File a request for business address change, and then wait the required 4-6 weeks for a post card to be sent to your new address. On the postcard there will be a code that you will need to enter into both Google My Places and Google AdWords to formalize the address change.
D. You cannot change this information.
The correct answer here is A because it’s fast and convenient.
The Answer That Minimizes Your Contact with Google is The Right Answer
Google likes that you like them and they really like having your AdWords dollars, but that doesn’t mean they want to hear from you all the time. To take the last point even further, Google wants you to know that they’re great – so great that they’re on your side without you even needing to pick up the phone. Hint: any answer that reiterates that Google is on your side is the correct answer. They want you to know that you don’t have to call in every time you hit a snag or have a concern, because they’re already working on it.
For example, there may be a question that looks like this:
How are invalid clicks evaluated and refunded?
A. Google proactively filters out invalid clicks before an advertiser is ever billed for them.
B. The advertiser has to call in to report the clicks as soon as they are noticed so that they can be refunded.
C. Invalid clicks should be reported by the advertiser so that Google can prevent them in the future, but once an advertiser is charged for a click, there is no way to have it refunded.
D. A full investigation is done by Google’s invalid clicks team at the first sign of suspicious click patterns to determine the source of the clicks. Afterwards, a report will be sent to the advertiser with the findings as well as the refunded amounts.
The correct answer here is A because you won’t bother Google with what is likely a normal effect of recent changes you’ve made or regular seasonal fluctuations.
Quick Tips:
• If the question is about scale, the answer is API and conversely, if the question is about API, the answer is about the ability to do things at scale.
• Use contextual clues in the question to instantly pick the right answer. For instance, if the question tells you that Dynamic Keyword Insertion is being used and the example uses {KeyWord:Bookstore} then you know that the correct answer will have the first letter of each word capitalized.
• On questions where math is involved, do the math before looking at the answer choices so that you don’t start second guessing yourself.
• There aren’t any multiple answers (like “D. All of the above”) so if a question asks “Which of the following is compatible with…” read the choices and once you have found an answer that works, select it and move on to avoid wasting time.
• When it comes to questions about where you find certain information in your account, the obvious answer is the right answer – don’t overthink it.
• There are some questions that have been on the test for YEARS verbatim. Over time you will just memorize these.
You may be skeptical that this method can actually work, so let me share another AdWords-related story with you. Several years after I discovered this pattern, my coworker was also taking the exam and she had gotten tripped up on a few questions that had burnt through much of her allotted time. In a panic, she called me and asked for my help. I quickly explained all of these principles to her and she got back to taking the test. When she was finished, she came over to my desk proudly waiving her passing grade. She told me that my advice worked so well, that at times she didn’t even need to read the question to be able to determine which answer was correct. Hopefully this method works for you too!
If you have an AdWords story to share (good, bad or ugly), we’d love to hear it! Share with us in the comments below.
Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!
The Most Customized Answer is The Right Answer
With all of the settings and features available in AdWords, a business advertising on PPC can tailor their approach to meet their specific marketing goals within the constraints of their budget. Google wants you to know this! Subsequently, there will be questions that lay out some of the challenges that a business may have to deal with and you have to pick the answer that would give them the best chance of succeeding with AdWords. Hint: the right answer isn’t a one-sized-fits-all answer. For questions about strategy, approach or budget, the most customized answer (i.e. the most complicated answer) if the right answer.
For example, there may be a question that looks like this:
A company wants to use AdWords to aid in their branding efforts and also drive ecommerce sales. How should they determine and divide up their limited marketing budget?
A. Create a branded campaign and a sales campaign and divide the budget equally between the two.
B. Create one campaign and devote all of the budget to it, letting each initiative vie for clicks.
C. Use a standard rule of devoting 9% of revenue to marketing.
D. Create separate campaigns for branding and sales efforts and allocate the budget across both goals, increasing budget proportionally and incrementally where profitability can be attained.
The correct answer here is D because it’s complicated and messy.
The Answer That Makes Google Look Good is The Right Answer
Google’s life goals are to make money, have lots of people like them and to rule the (search) world. In keeping with that strategy, Google uses every opportunity possible to tell you how great they are – even this test. Hint: the answer that makes Google look the best is always correct. The right answer positions Google, or their AdWords child, as industry-leading, helpful, convenient, innovative, easy-to-use and revenue generating.
For example, there may be a question that looks like this:
If a business has their Google My Business account connected to their AdWords account and their business address changes, what is the best way to update this information?
A. Easily change the business address in Google My Places with the click of a button and it will automatically update in Google AdWords for you.
B. Change the business address in Google My Places and then manually change it in Google AdWords also to match.
C. File a request for business address change, and then wait the required 4-6 weeks for a post card to be sent to your new address. On the postcard there will be a code that you will need to enter into both Google My Places and Google AdWords to formalize the address change.
D. You cannot change this information.
The correct answer here is A because it’s fast and convenient.
The Answer That Minimizes Your Contact with Google is The Right Answer
Google likes that you like them and they really like having your AdWords dollars, but that doesn’t mean they want to hear from you all the time. To take the last point even further, Google wants you to know that they’re great – so great that they’re on your side without you even needing to pick up the phone. Hint: any answer that reiterates that Google is on your side is the correct answer. They want you to know that you don’t have to call in every time you hit a snag or have a concern, because they’re already working on it.
For example, there may be a question that looks like this:
How are invalid clicks evaluated and refunded?
A. Google proactively filters out invalid clicks before an advertiser is ever billed for them.
B. The advertiser has to call in to report the clicks as soon as they are noticed so that they can be refunded.
C. Invalid clicks should be reported by the advertiser so that Google can prevent them in the future, but once an advertiser is charged for a click, there is no way to have it refunded.
D. A full investigation is done by Google’s invalid clicks team at the first sign of suspicious click patterns to determine the source of the clicks. Afterwards, a report will be sent to the advertiser with the findings as well as the refunded amounts.
The correct answer here is A because you won’t bother Google with what is likely a normal effect of recent changes you’ve made or regular seasonal fluctuations.
Quick Tips:
• If the question is about scale, the answer is API and conversely, if the question is about API, the answer is about the ability to do things at scale.
• Use contextual clues in the question to instantly pick the right answer. For instance, if the question tells you that Dynamic Keyword Insertion is being used and the example uses {KeyWord:Bookstore} then you know that the correct answer will have the first letter of each word capitalized.
• On questions where math is involved, do the math before looking at the answer choices so that you don’t start second guessing yourself.
• There aren’t any multiple answers (like “D. All of the above”) so if a question asks “Which of the following is compatible with…” read the choices and once you have found an answer that works, select it and move on to avoid wasting time.
• When it comes to questions about where you find certain information in your account, the obvious answer is the right answer – don’t overthink it.
• There are some questions that have been on the test for YEARS verbatim. Over time you will just memorize these.
You may be skeptical that this method can actually work, so let me share another AdWords-related story with you. Several years after I discovered this pattern, my coworker was also taking the exam and she had gotten tripped up on a few questions that had burnt through much of her allotted time. In a panic, she called me and asked for my help. I quickly explained all of these principles to her and she got back to taking the test. When she was finished, she came over to my desk proudly waiving her passing grade. She told me that my advice worked so well, that at times she didn’t even need to read the question to be able to determine which answer was correct. Hopefully this method works for you too!
If you have an AdWords story to share (good, bad or ugly), we’d love to hear it! Share with us in the comments below.
Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!
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