10/10/17 // Written by Emma Phillips

A Guide to Google Certification

What is a Google Certification? Why Should You Get Qualified?

As of July 2017, Google owned an impressive 83.5% share of the search engine market, helping parent company Alphabet notch up $26 billion in q2 of 2017. In the future, forecasts believe SEO-related spending will rise to $80 billion by 2020 in the US alone.

For SEO and Paid Search professionals this is somewhat preaching to the converted. The search industry is huge and as a professional working in the industry, competition is only getting fiercer.

You may have heard of getting Google ‘Certified’ before. And if you had and (like me) didn’t do anything about it for months on end, you wouldn’t be the first. This blog will aim to highlight what you need to do and how to get qualified.

To get your Google Certification, you will need to follow these steps:

  1. Sign up as a Google Partner (10 mins)
  2. Revise for AdWords or Analytics (120 mins)
  3. Take exam for AdWords or Analytics (120 mins or 90 mins)
  4. To become AdWords certified you will need to take one more AdWords exam (90-120 mins)

When you break it down this way it really doesn’t take that long.

The exams do have time limits, but if you go through the revision modules the questions will be similar in the practice exercises as they are in the exam, saving you some time. Plus, some of the practice exercises take place on the Google Shop demo account, which is just like the real thing and provides you with experience using skills you learn – without trying it out on your client data!

In preparation for your exam, it will help to have the following items:

  1. A computer (preferably with 2 screens)
  2. Revision notes
  3. Pen and paper
  4. A beverage (mine was highly caffeinated)

If you have access to AdWords/Analytics then leave them open whilst you take your exam. Although you can use Google to research questions, sometimes it’s actually just easier to check on the platform. I found that the wording to a lot of the questions can be quite ambiguous and actually relate to a lot of topics outside of the Googlesphere. So sometimes it is far quicker to find answers in the platform, than find a reputable website that has the answers.

Now that you’re ready to take your exam the best thing to do is relax, it’s not the end of the world. Plus, if you fail the exam (which you won’t) you can retake the test 7 days later.

When you reach that glorious moment and qualify, make sure to let people know. Certification not only proves that you have a basic knowledge of these systems, it shows that you can problem solve and are competent at overcoming challenges. As a Google partner you can affiliate yourself with your agency or company, increasing the number of qualified professionals within it. The more qualified professionals within the company, the easier it is to attract new clients.

If you want to know more about how we can help your business, contact us today!