Google Search Advertising Exam

In order to pass our Google Adwords class, we had to pass the Google Adwords Exam as well as the Google Search Advertising Exam. I had to study the material a lot in order to understand the concepts presented. The Google Adwords Exam in my opinion was easier to understand and pass than the Google Search Advertising Exam, because the Google Adwords material was the fundamental material for the Google Search Advertising material. At first, I thought it would be extremely difficult to learn because when I first tried taking the Google Adwords Exam I received a 57%, but that was without studying the material and just taking the test to see what I would end up getting. After taking time to learn the material and trying to understand what Google Adwords was all about I ended up receiving an 84% on the test, which I felt extremely proud in accomplishing. Once I completed the first exam and received my certification I moved on to try to pass the Google Search Advertising Exam. This time I had to study harder and longer in order to pass the exam. However, once I passed the exam I felt great. I passed with an 84% for the second exam as well which was weird that I received the same score for both exams, but I did not mind because I passed both which is all that matters.

Writing Effective Ads

In order for an effective ad to be seen by many, make sure to be creative when writing it. One must stand out from the other advertisers in order for their ad to be successful and get higher click-through rates, higher quality scores, and higher conversion rates. When writing effective ads keep in mind what the end goal is. Understanding this can be the secret to writing an ad that stands out from the rest of the competitors. Another major component to writing great ads is to make sure that the material is current and not outdated. Also, get really specific with your ads so people know exactly what your selling or the service you are providing. Lastly, one of the best things to do when writing ads is to make the advertisements personal in order to focus on the customer's needs. The best way to go about this is to use the power of "you" to craft your ads and make them stand out to get more clicks in the end.

Pay-Per-Click

Pay-Per-Click, also known as PPC is a model of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. Basically this method is a way of buying visits to one's site, rather than attempting to "earn" those visits organically. One of the most popular forms of PPC is search engine advertising. Advertisers are able to bid for an ad placement in the search engine's sponsored links based off the keyword searches people type in.

A successful PPC campaign takes a lot of effort to create. First one has to research and select the keywords that will be utilized in the campaign. Next, one has to set up PPC landing pages that are optimized for conversions. An interesting concept to know is that search engines reward advertisers who can create relevant pay-per-click campaigns by charging them less for ad clicks. Therefore, try to create useful ads and landing pages that are satisfying to users because Google will charge you less per click, which can lead to higher profits for your business.

Quality Score

A Quality Score is a metric Google uses to determine where advertisers rank. The score serves as a check against rule by budget alone, by requiring advertisers to prove their relevance. More relevant ads generally get higher click-through rates (CTR), so CTR is one of the major components of Quality Score. Other factors that may also influence the Quality Score include: landing page quality, your historical account performance, the relevance of your keyword to its ad group, and the relevance of your ad text.

Based on what keywords you are bidding on and what match types you are using, Google calculates a score between 1 and 10 for your ad. The higher your score, the better your ad rank will be. A high Quality Score can even qualify you to rank above people who are bidding more than you. Another major component of Quality Score is that it has an enormous effect on how much you pay when someone clicks your ad. 

National Tiger Sanctuary Monthly Report

I decided to take a look at the whole month of October for the National Tiger Sanctuary and see how the website was doing. When taking a look at the new visitors compared to the returning visitors to the site there was 12.1% who actually returned to the site for the month of October. I think there should be a higher percentage of people who return to the website but unfortunately there was not.

The number of pageviews was 131 with 116 sessions. More than majority of the sessions lasted anywhere between 0-10 seconds, which means that the users did not tend to stay on the website for very long. The National Tiger Sanctuary can utilize this information to see how they can keep users on their website as well as gain new users. Engagement is important because this is what helps websites become successful. Lastly, the top three channels that were used during the month of October for the website was direct, organic search, and referral. The top channel used was the referral channel, which was 90.5%. This is important to know because it helps a company figure out how people are getting to the website.

Google AdWords Certification

In our Search Engine Marketing course we are working towards getting Google AdWords certified. The reason why this is such an amazing thing to do is because it is nice to have for advancing in your career, it can help you get an interview and ultimately get you the job, and lastly it is free so why wouldn't you want to get certified?

Google AdWords may seem difficult to learn at first but I recommend to just try it out. In order to get certified you have to sign up for Google Partners first and click on the Google AdWords certification tab, https://www.google.com/partners. Once you are in the Google AdWords tab I recommend trying to take the test first to see what your score ends up being. From there you can actually take the time to learn the material and practice with Google AdWords before trying to pass the test. The nice thing about the Google AdWords certification is that you get an unlimited amount of tries to pass, but you just have to wait a week in order to take the test again. Google AdWords is a new and exciting topic that many companies look for nowadays and if you know how it works than you have a better chance at getting a job over those individuals who do not know it. Therefore, Google AdWords is a great skill to have and it is important to try and learn the material.

Google Analytics Certification

Throughout our Web Analytics course we have been working towards becoming certified in Google Analytics. This is an important skill to have because it was one of the top skills that was listed on LinkedIn that helped people get hired in 2013. Google Analytics may seem intimidating at first; however, the best way to go about getting certified is to just try it out. Try taking the test first and see what your score ends up being; then afterwards you can start to study for the certification and try out different things in Google Analytics to get some real life practice.

There are a lot of different resources on the web that can help prepare you for the Google Analytics certification. It may seem demanding at first to have to dedicate time and effort to learning Google Analytics, but in the end it will be worth it. By having the certification, it can help you to find a job that you can potentially use the material you learned. As well as, Google Analytics can
increase your skills and tools which you can then use from your "toolbox" to help your company and/or self grow.