Google Advanced Search Exam Tips

Introduction

 

Last weekend I successfully passed my Google Advanced search exam. I had been putting it off for quite a while, with moving house and other projects on the go. Combined with my Google fundamentals exam I am now officially Google Adwords Certified.

 

I passed the first exam with only two weeks study time while working at Google and found it quite challenging. After a year’s experience with Adwords accounts both big and small I feel I could pass fundamentals quite easily today even with the way Google phrases the questions.

 

When it came to the search exam I gave myself two weeks study again. In hindsight it should have been a month because in my opinion the search exam was much harder.

 

So I thought I would write a few Google advanced search exam tips to help educate people on what to expect from the Google AdWords Advanced Search exam.

 

Basics you need to know

The search exam has a pass rate of 80% which is 5% lower than the fundamentals exam. The exam consists of 109 questions and has a time limit of 120 minutes. I would advise to use every last minute at your disposal. Even If you have been using Adwords for a number of years you will find some questions could be considered as having multiple correct answers. Google also enables a screen lock on your browsers to stop people cheating but it also means you can’t stop the exam to take a toilet break making it a long 120 minutes (pfeww).

The most frustrating thing I found about the exam was how out of date it was. Seriously if Google can update Adwords every half year with new features etc why can’t they update the exam to reflect these changes?

 

Location and language Extensions

This is a topic which everybody should be familiar with. Make sure you know exactly where to edit your location settings in Adwords and why it’s valuable to let your customers know where you are. Learn where your locations address can show up and where they don’t. Consider how to optimise ad text to reflect your locations and increase click through rate.

 

Adwords Tools

The exam asks a question about basically every Adwords tools that are out there even some that don’t exist (maybe). Make sure you study this topic again and again because there is so much information to take in its hard to remember everything.

One question that comes to mind is the difference between the keyword tool at account level and the stand alone keyword tool. You should also learn how to track changes made in the account via the “My Change History” tool.

Automatic CPC is a topic which come up quite regularly as well. Find out how Google decides on what to charge you per click and what is the reasoning behind it. Consider the benefits and disadvantages of Automatic CPC.

 

Adwords editor

There are some tricky questions on Adwords editor but nothing too serious. My advice would be to learn how it works and use it regularly. There is so much information on this chapter that it can feel a bit overwhelming. My advice would be just taking in some key facts on how it works and how it can benefit multiple users working on the one account. Don’t worry too much about the in depth in and outs of the software.

 

Adwords API

This was by far the hardest chapter in the exam. There were a number of questions to many in fact on Google Adwords API. As an individual with little developer experience it was impossible for me to use a hands on approach when learning this chapter. I’m not really sure why this should even be in the search exam.
 Make sure you know what sending somebody a token means on Adwords API as this question came up numerous times. You should also take note of the Adwords API sandbox which lets developers test applications in real time without affecting Adwords accounts.

Invalid Click Issues

 This is an important topic to remember. Invalid clicks is a big issue among the Adwords community and is question that often comes up when talking to potential clients.
 Learn the different reasons for multiple clicks from one source. Find out how you can identify Invalid clicks and what Google does to prevent them from happening.

 Conclusion
I hope this blog helps people prepare for the exam and take away some key aspects. The more people taking the exam the higher chance of Google updating to reflect its current Google adwords dashboard.