How to get Google Ads certifications and is it worth it?

Working in the online marketing industry, almost every professional strives to be credible to their clients. In the world of online advertising, where Google Ads plays a key role, getting Google Ads certifications seems to be mandatory. Not only for the sake of proving your skills (whether to a future employer or directly to a client), but also to be able to participate in the Google Partners program. How does the certification process work and is it worth it to get all the certifications? You can read about it below.

Types of Google Ads certificates

Google Ads is a very broad field. There is no way that one certificate can prove knowledge of the entire environment. Therefore, Google has prepared a whole series of certifications, which are divided according to the categories of campaigns they cover. The most important ones are described below.

Google Ads certification from advertising in the search network

Certificate confirms the ability to create, manage and optimize Google Ads campaigns targeting search results. It also addresses the subject of selection of appropriate keywords Addresses text ads that appear on search results pages.

Google Ads certification from advertising on the ad network

Gaining the certification confirms the ability to plan, create and manage advertising campaigns in the Google ad network Google’s ad network includes, among others, graphic, animated and multimedia ads.

Google Ads certification with video advertising.

This certificate demonstrates the ability to create, manage and optimize video advertising campaigns within Google Ads. It applies to ads presented on the YouTube platform and Google’s ad network.

Google Ads certification from product advertising

Having this certification means that a person is skilled in creating and managing product campaigns in Google Ads This certification focuses on ads that showcase specific products related to user queries.

Google Ads certification with application ads.

This certification validates the ability to create, manage and optimize mobile app promotion ad campaigns in Google Ads. It is aimed at marketers involved in mobile app promotion.

Google Ads certification with advertising effectiveness measurement

Having this certification demonstrates your ability to use measurement tools and analyze the effectiveness of ad campaigns in Google Ads. Includes the ability to monitor and analyze data to evaluate the effectiveness of advertising efforts.

Google Ads certification from creation

This certification confirms the ability to create effective advertising content in Google Ads. It refers to the creative process of creating text, graphics, layouts and visual elements that attract the attention of users and generate effective ad campaigns.

In addition to the main skill endorsements, Google offers the opportunity to become certified in related systems, such as Google Analytics or CSS. 

How do I get certified?

The path is not complicated, however, it can be time-consuming to go through it. Especially if you are doing it for the first time. 

Skillshop

The first step is to create an account on Skillshop. This is an educational platform set up by Google, which, in addition to the certificates themselves, allows us to gain knowledge from free courses. However, it should be taken into account that the courses (and later also the questions in the certificates) are purely theoretical and do not always coincide with the actual state of Google Ads (or theoretical results of campaigns). 

An account on the platform is created by selecting the blue button in the right-hand corner of the „Sign In” screen. We will then be taken to select the Google account we want to use for registration. There is no way that Skillshop account is not connected to Google’s services. Once this is done, we will get access to the courses and the list of certificates.

Course

When we go to the certificate we are interested in, we can go beforehand to the course that is assigned to each topic. Courses on Google Skillshop are typically several-hour training programs designed to familiarize participants with key aspects related to a particular type of campaign. 

Courses offer a variety of topics and different types of activities to enable participants to learn and absorb knowledge effectively. Lessons are divided into assignments that can include videos, articles, interactive exercises and review questions. This variety allows for better learning and engagement in the learning process.

It is worth noting that the questions we answer during the course are non-binding. This means that participants can make a mistake and give the wrong answer. In this case, the platform will provide feedback explaining why another option was more appropriate. 

At the end of each course, there is an optional review test that collects questions from all the topics covered in the course. This test is less advanced than the certification exam, but it’s worth taking to see what type of questions you can expect on the final exam.

There are a number of questions on the final exam.

Passing the Google Skillshop courses is important because it provides participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and effectively use Google Ads advertising tools. In addition to this, participants can explore specific aspects of the Google Ads platform and learn about best practices in creating, managing and optimizing ad campaigns.

The Google Ads Skillshop is a great way to learn more about Google Ads.

After passing the courses, you can direct your gaze to the link directing you to the certification exam. 

Certificate

When you are confident in your knowledge, you can move on to the certificate. Before you do so, however, it is important to remember that:

1. If you fail the test, you must wait 24 hours for another attempt.
2. In order to receive the certificate, you must get at least 80% of the correct answers.
3. Depending on the complexity of the material, there will be fewer or more questions. The usual range is 40-60 questions. The time you have to complete the test also depends on the number of questions.
4. There are type questions in the test:
   1. One-choice.
   2. Multiple choice.
   3. True or false.
   4. Match (e.g., definition to term).
   5. Rank (e.g., process path).
   6. Other, occurring less frequently.
5. You cannot „go back” to questions. Once you move on to the next question, you will not change the answer to the previous question.
6. The test cannot be paused to return to it later. You must complete the entire test in one attempt.

Now that everything is clear, all you have to do is click on the link „Google Ads test with… <qualification name>„. This will take us to the exam instructions and, in a further step, to accept the certification terms and conditions. Here we need to accept the terms and conditions, such as self-testing. Once this is done, the test will begin. 

If you get min. 80% correct answers, you will be awarded a certificate. You can share it on your social profile, enter it in your resume or simply keep it in your Skillshop profile.

The certificate includes an individual completion ID so others can confirm its reliability. An expiration date is also written at the bottom – each certificate must be renewed every year. 

Certificates in the Google Partners program

In addition to being able to prove your competence, certifications are also used to achieve Partner status in the Google Partners program To earn this rank, Google requires google ad agenciess to have a minimum of half of the specialists they hire have valid certifications. However, specialists are not required to have all certifications (although it is a good idea to have them!). What is required is to have certificates from each type of campaign that the specialist has run in the past few days (provided that he or she has spent a minimum of $500 on them). For example: if there is no campaign promoting apps on the supported accounts, then a certificate is not required.

In addition to the certificate requirement, other conditions must be met to become a Google Partner, which you can read about in the article „Who are Google Partners?”. There you will also find information about the program and the benefits of becoming a Partner.

Partner.

Why doesn’t the employer see my certificates?

If an agency wants to advance in the Google Partners program, the people employed there must be certified. It happens that despite having certificates, Google still doesn’t see them on the list of employees. What should be done then? 

First of all, it is worth making sure that all certificates are valid. Having worked in the industry for a dozen years or so, you may forget about this, yet they should be renewed annually. Although it may be annoying at first, after some time we will already mark the answers almost reflexively.

The second reason may be that you have certificates in the wrong Google account. A good practice is to get certificates on a private account and then link it to a company account. To do this, we need to go to the „My Profile” tab after logging into the account (after clicking on the avatar, in the upper right corner), and then select the „Edit Profile” option. Here, all you need to do is complete the „Company Email” field and link your Google account to Google Ads. After saving the changes, you will receive an email to your company address asking you to confirm the change, and when you do, your certificates should be visible to your employer. 

Is it worth it to get certificates?

With the advantages of certificates, it can be clearly stated that they are valuable. In addition to the knowledge gained in exam preparation courses, certificates provide a kind of proof of our advanced knowledge in a particular field. Most employers and customers attach importance to such confirmations when establishing cooperation.

Nevertheless, it is important to remember that the examinations confirming skills are not controlled by any commission, and the tests are held online. This gives you the opportunity to use different sources of information when taking the test, something that less honest certificate holders are sure to take advantage of. It is worth bearing in mind that having a certificate does not always mean that a person has the full skills of a specialist in a particular area.

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