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Top 5 Lessons from AdWords Training

It's official: as of Friday, I passed the Google Advertising Professional (GAP) exam and am now an AdWords Qualified Individual. Ok, the name needs a little work: I've decided I prefer "AdWords Pimp". Unfortunately, I'm doing all of the soliciting while Google gets most of the money, so it's pretty clear who the pimp really is.

While studying for the GAP exam, I reviewed all of the 80+ lessons in Google's free online learning center. Overall, I was impressed; there's a lot of good content, but there's also the usual amount of policy guidelines, marketing speak, and program information that's only relevant to a handful of users. So, I've distilled the 80+ lessons into 5 that I think any search engine marketer or PPC manager can benefit from:

5. Google's Advertising Ambitions

Lesson 2d: Using Different Ad Formats
When we think Adwords, we think text ads, but Google has its hands much deeper than that. This lesson isn't a how-to, but it's an important glimpse into the future of Google and the advertising world in general. Google currently sells or brokers:

• Text ads
• Image ads
• Video ads
• Local business ads
• Mobile ads
• Print (newspaper) ads
• Audio (radio) ads

4. Advanced Localization Options

Lesson 3c: Language & Location Targeting
Although it's still evolving, localization is changing the face of online advertising, especially as the internet's reach becomes truly global. Google now allows targeting by language, country, region/city, physical address (including integration with Google Maps), radius around a map point, and even custom-drawn regions of virtually any shape or size.

3. Ad Scheduling Features

Lesson 6c-2: Advanced Optimization Features
As a PPC manager for clients, I've found the ability to schedule ads to be extremely powerful for increasing conversion. Google offers an impressive amount of control, including the ability to schedule ads by day and by hourly blocks. Additionally, Google now offers a bid multiplier option, allowing you to increase your bids automatically during peak hours.

2. Advanced Keyword Matching

Lesson 3d-1: Keyword Matching Options
As another form of targeting, Google also allows advanced keyword matching. This lesson is a short but very useful overview of the options, including: Broad matching, Phrase matching, Exact matching, and Negative matching.

1. Tracking & Improving ROI

Lesson 5d: Basic ROI and Conversion Tracking
Finally, I have to give Google credit for really emphasizing conversion and ROI throughout these lessons. I think they have the foresight to realize that PPC can't just be a giant slot machine that customers feed quarters into: if we don't see results, we'll find another form of advertising. This lesson is a nice introduction to understanding conversion as well as tracking it through the AdWords system.

Honorable mention goes to Lesson 4c-2, on how to calculate your EU VAT tax. I hope my European readers aren't insulted that I left out this important topic. If you're a non-Irish EU resident, I highly recommend it. For everyone else, I recommend an equally exciting alternative, like cleaning your toenails or reading old Mary Worth comic strips.

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