Tips for Becoming Google Analytics and Adwords Certified: Part 1

*Note: This is part 1 of a 2 part series

Dust off your college pants and put those puppies back on because you are getting ready to take exams to become Google Analytics and Adwords certified. Maybe it's because I haven't been in the industry very long, but I thought my days of taking exams ended when college did. However, becoming Google Analytics and Adwords certified is a great solution for brushing up on your digital advertising skill set. Analytics and Adwords certifications denote credibility for yourself as a digital marketer and instill client trust in your agency. In this two-part blog post I will go through an overview of taking both exams and my tips for passing them.

Before you can take the exams, you are required to sign up for Google Partners. Google Partners is Google's free program for agencies and other digital professionals designed to give you access to special events, Adwords and Analytics updates and free certification exams. Once you have registered, you will have access to a copious amount of study materials for both the Adwords and Analytics exams.

The Google Analytics Certification

Overview:

• One exam
• 90 minutes
• 70 questions
• 80% passing score
• Valid for 18 months

There are plenty of online resources at your disposal for this exam, but I highly recommend following Google's study guide. Google provides a four-unit study guide called "Analytics Academy" with multiple lessons, videos, practice questions and they even walk you through creating an analytics account. The lessons go through every stage of Google Analytics:

1. Planning and principles
2. Implementation and data collection
3. Configuration and administration
4. Conversion and attribution
5. Reports, metrics and dimensions
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Tips

The questions span the five stages, with an emphasis on implementation and analytics reports and metrics. Pay close attention to how to set up different views within your analytics profile and what each report represents and how to analyze the provided metrics. Many question focus on platform principles and learning how each component works together to collect and organize data.

Once you start the exam, you cannot pause or skip questions. When you're ready to take the exam, allow yourself the full 90 minutes, in an uninterrupted environment. Take your time on the questions that require it, as some will be easier and faster to answer than others. As I was taking the exam, I found I had more time than I anticipated answering the challenging questions. Once I completed the exam, it instantly told me I passed, but Google says it can take up to 48 hours for exam results to appear.

Are You Ready?

Whether you're good at taking exams or not, Google provides ample information for you to get certified in important business practices in today's digital world. Google will not try to trick you on any of the questions so if a guess is absolutely necessary, using common sense will be your best bet. Stay tuned for True's next blog post on taking the Google Adwords certification exam.

Good luck and stayed tuned for part two of this series on becoming certified in Google Adwords.

Questions on how to prepare? Contact us today!

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