Digital Puppets: 5 EZ WAYS TO PASS THE NEW GOOGLE ADWORDS FUNDAMENT...

Digital Puppets: 5 EASY WAYS TO PASS THE NEW GOOGLE ADWORDS FUNDAMENT...: "This Blog is intended to help people who plan on taking the newly revised google advertising fundamentals exam. Below i have &nb..."

5 EZ WAYS TO PASS THE NEW GOOGLE ADWORDS FUNDAMENTAL EXAM

This Blog is intended  to help people who plan on taking the newly revised  google advertising fundamentals exam. Below i have  come up with what I believe are  5EZ[easy] ways to follow not only to become Certified but have also included important elements that you must apply whilst studying for the exam so that you get an entire understanding of the AdWords program and its benefits, usage as well as History.

I recently wrote the Exams in November 2010 and passed both of them at first attempt.

Like most of you reading this post, I also searched the net countless times to try to see where I can get the best resources and tips to be prepared for the exams but as you will or might have realized is that there are very scarce resources and most of them are outdated or incomplete. In this Blog I try my level best to be as comprehensive as possible and to  guide you through what it takes to pass this Exam and how you can achieve it.

5EZ  = Enthusiasm,Elevation,Exercise,Exam Revision,Engrossment:

1.    Enthusiasm:

The most influential factor that will make you thrive to be an AdWords professional is to be enthusiastic about the ever changing technology industry that is rapidly shaping the way we live our lives. Back in the days people believed that only food, shelter and clothing was adequate enough to survive throughout ones lifespan. In the modern day the majority of people would strongly disagree as they find life almost impossible without access to gadgets like a Cell phone or internet enabled device.

Times have changed and if you are persuing a career in the Search Marketing or IT industry you have to know how to be at the top of your game and must adapt to change quickly without failure. You must always be inquisitive and express eagerness to know new terminology, software, gadgets, web tools, and the most modern ways to execute your work diligently and professionally. To do this its essential to know about your subject of interest from its roots/foundation stages to were it currently stands.

Here are a few things to ask your self :

How did AdWords begin? And whom was it intended for?

-It is always good to start by knowing a short history of Google AdWords if you intend to be an expert in the AdWords industry. The best place to get the most relevant information is to read this article from Wikipedia to give you an overall biography of AdWords.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AdWords

Which jobs opportunities exist for the qualified? And how much do they earn?

If one is enthusiastic then one surely needs to be motivated in order for them to remain on track as well as to know what they are likely to benefit in the event that they pursue with this exciting yet challenging careerpath.

I found a very good article that will give you a good idea of the possible jobs , responsibilities as well as their relevant  salary expectations.

Read the article at SEOMOZ :

 http://www.seomoz.org/blog/seo-salaries-how-much-should-you-make

You may also want to check http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/ to see trends in the Demand for search advertising professionals and their estimated salary margins particularly in the UK.

Which other tools and services belong to google besides Google search and AdWords?

Google has many tools and services as well as resources used across its entire network for various purposes.Google properties such as Gmail and google product search are also used to display Ads across the Google Network. It is good for you to be aware of the tools and services available to you from google and which ones best suite your needs.

Wikipedia has the complete updated list and you can always check it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_tools_and_services

2.    Elevation

Now that you have an understanding of AdWords background and its intended use as well as the possible career opportunities that exist , you are therefore now ready to start Learning AdWords!

There are many ways to Elevate your knowledge on AdWords and  the best resources you need in order to pass this exam can be found online at the Google Learning Center.

All of the things you need to study are online and you must keep the following in mind when studying

Make sure you are studying for the right Exam

In order to be a certified Google AdWords professional, the pre-requisite  is that you pass the Google Advertising  Fundamentals Exam and at least one Advanced Exam:

The Advanced Exams are :

•           Search Advertising Advanced Exam

•           Display Advertising Advanced Exam

•           Reporting & Analysis Advanced Exam

Upon passing any one of the advanced exams  along with the fundamentals exam , you are then awarded with a Google AdWords Qualified Individual status certificate.

Make Sure that you are on the Fundamentals Lesson when studying for this Exam

  

  

Make sure you that you click through the content links to read further about a word

One mistake I nearly made when studying for my first exam was skipping links that further explain a particular section/ topic/meaning.

It is important to read them as they further explain more about the concept or word.

You will see them throughout your studies in the learning center and they are very repetitive so make sure you just click the  ones you might need to read further on..

See below:

Make sure you pay attention to bulleted and bolted Sections in the learning center

Through my personal study experience in the AdWords learning center I realized  that when you come across a bulleted section make sure you understand those key concepts features, or benefits being highlighted for you before you continue reading.

Here is an example of a study section with three important bullets [points]:

Also watch out  for bolded text and  headers - see example below

Tip : Try to look for extra reading materials elsewhere on the internet if you don’t fully understand something you read in the  learning Center.

For example, I didn’t fully understand the effect of Quality Score  and bidding on pages on the search network versus pages on the display network until I came across a good article from seoservicesgroup.com.Blog You can see it here  if this confuses you as well: http://www.seoservicesgroup.com/blog/2010/04/google-adwords-ad-rank-and-quality-score/16854/

3.    Exercise

Now that you have seen how to navigate and read through your relevant exam studies your most probably feeling very elevated with this wealth of knowledge you are  gaining It is now time for you to exercise that knowledge and try out the practical side of AdWords.

Create an AdWords Account

If you do not already have an AdWords account or you are completely new to it then I would suggest you open up an account here. http://www.adwords.com

All you must do familiarize yourself with the interface and do practice campaigns to see how it works.Make sure that your Ads are not running if you are following these instructions I am telling you, don’t enter any billing information on the billing page but instead  just create various draft campaigns ,ad groups and ads so that you have a look and feel of AdWords as well as a better understanding of the program.

Do  the “Try It Now” Questions

There are plenty of sections that have small step by step  practical exercises for you to complete.Try them out and also  ponder a bit on the  few “questions  to consider” that are asked at the end of each  “Try it Now” section. Here is an example:

Note : The background color is always different for the try it now sections

Know your Interface and Exercise it often

For example Click on the All campaigns  tab to see what it displays and the tabs available ,hover over the blue Question marked icons and see the relevant help window it displays .Read and know how each tool or change that you want to make will affect your Account , Campaign or Ad group.

Below is an example of when you hover over the question mark icon[Budget Status]:

Also read the relevant Help  Questions that appear on your sidebars whenever you are navigating through the AdWords interface .You will be amazed at the amount of similar questions you might be having problems with and the simple answers that are provided  in the help center for you already.

In the Question and answer segment you can rate the usefulness of each answer you received to help google improve their Help center.

4.    Exam Revision

After all the reading and exercises that you have done, it is time to do some actual exam revision.

Review  E-Learning videos for each topic that you are reading.

There are some sample Quiz questions that come with each of those videos so make sure you revise them.

There is hardly any Free Exam Quiz Questions out there for you to go and practice but the best place to get a feel of the real exam is to buy them at www.ipassexam.com/

For those who are not willing to buy them or for those who just want a feel of how the questions can be asked , you can read this doc that I found whilst searching on the net for google revision  Questions. The doc  is a bit outdated but if you can answer most of those questions correctly then you can still  measure your basic understanding of AdWords and see which areas you are weak and the ones you are strong.

The link is on scribd and you can find it here.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/508217/Google-Adwords-Learning-Center-Quiz

Keep in mind that Questions with a True OR False answer only have been scrapped away and google uses multiple choice option boxes with four (4) answers to choose from.

Example of type of questions you may be asked

Note : Each answer you choose  carries a certain weight/percentage.

In the example above the answer is A and might carry 60% of the total (4) answers,

Answer B carries 20% ,whilst Answers C & D each weigh 10 % respectively.

If you want to know more about the format of the exam and the main deference’s between the old one and the new exams, then I would suggest you read a Blog from a guy called Dylan from trimark solutions. His article really helped me understand the exam specifications such as its Duration and how the test browser is set up,type of questions asked etc.
Read his Blog here:

http://www.trimarksolutions.com/inside/tips-tools/google-adwords-exam-tips-from-an-adwords-qualified-individual/

5.    Engrossment

Finally , passing the exam is just the Beginning of a long Journey. Search marketing is a field that is challenging and rapidly changes  the way it does things.

You must eat sleep and drink SEM if you want to stand out from other individuals.

Here are some useful tips:

• Join SEO/SEM forums and participate in discussions with other professionals
• Help others pass the exam by writing  your own experience of the exam
• Subscribe to relevant online tech news and blogs that interest you the most
• Get as many qualifications as you can to multiply your skills and expertise in the field
• Always refer to the learning center if you need ideas
• Report Bugs and take online surveys in the E-learning centers when you complete a lessons
• Open an account on Elance.Com or similar to Bid on  projects and expand your individual portfolio as an adwords professional.
• Volunteer to do some big  SEM projects so that you gain experience and credibility
• Find a niche in the market and specialize in it 

Why South African Companies Should implement SEO and paid search advertising

As a web developer and search analyst living in south africa , i felt i should just share my thoughts as to why most businesses in south africa are implementing Search Engine Optimization(SEO) and Search Engine Marketing(SEM) solutions to increase their reach and maximize their Return On Investment(ROI)

There are several reasons why many businesses with websites would consider having their website optimized for performance.Do you remember a few years ago when websites where mostly just text and images and you hardly had much interaction with a website except to click the contact page ?

Some few years later came the advent of shopping carts and terms like web 2.0 as well as all the modern day terms like social networks ,cloud computing and mobile smart phones phones etc

The world of SEO has been around for several years now but most people do not have an understanding of  what exactly it encompasses and many carelessly assume that it has to do with meta tags,site titles and  content tags etc.I really don't blame people who think this way because i myself did think in a similar pattern a few years back before i came to the light.

As i mentioned earlier there is a dozen of reasons why your company must implement SEO and SEM solutions so as to be competitive on the online world and make your website serve its true purpose i.e "selling your products/services ! , increasing your leads ! expanding your client base.. etc !"
That is the true purpose of a website.
Back in the days many small to medium companies here in SA invested heavily in having developers build them a shopping cart and open internet merchant accounts etc thinking that this would ultimately boost their business online.What most companies where not aware of is that a few years back(trust me its way better now) most people in SA where very skeptical about this whole online transactions and would prefer to have a  walk in for their intended purchase than to process the transaction online.Most companies implemented expensive functionality but still made very little or no sales through their online cart.Why did this happen ??

Possible reasons include not being able to drive enough traffic to your site , little or no advertising to propel  descent user volumes  , lack of transparency or call to action within your site ,poorly structured or confusing site and a few other reasons made websites under achieve their intended purpose.

With SEO and SEO we can now address the following problems that we used to have :

• Do you offer a service but don't know how to  increase your sales or leads ?
• Do you want to target clients in different provinces in South Africa or international clients but you dont know how to do it in the most cost effective manner?
• Do you want to track how much money your business makes online through Ads that you create ?
• Do you have a new or existing company brand /logo that you want to promote or increase  exposure ?
• You have a website but it does not show up on the first page of google search results but its supposed to?
• You want to run a cost effective PPC campaign but you dont have the expertise or time ?
• You have  specials or promotions that you runbut you are not getting enough responses or exposure ?

Your Company will reap the benefits of  :

1)Reach - target any province, country, continent or custom business areas where you conduct business

2)Relevance - your ADs are only relevant to what users are searching and wont show if irrelevant

3)Return On Investment- Since your Ads are relevant , only potential clients will respond if they are interested hence increasing your reputation and further reaping the rewards of your online campaigns

I hope this article will help some of you understand why so many SA companies have decided to do online campaigns and paid search techniques to increase their profitability.I will write another article to clearly explain the key  differences between  SEO and SEM  and the benefits of implementing both of them.

Cheers.