A Dead-Simple Google AdWords Certification Guide.

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A Dead-Simple Google AdWords Certification Guide: Costs, Tips & Tricks for Google Certification

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A Dead-Simple Google AdWords Certification Guide: Costs, Tips & Tricks for Google Certification

By Tom Demers February 10, 2011 Posted In: AdWords Tips Comments: 38

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Earlier this week in digging into some Google insights for search data we learned that an increasing number of you are looking for information about Google's AdWords Certification program:

The impetus for all this new-found search interest is likely a rebranding of Google's partner program and a series of changes on Google's end to how the AdWords certification process works, including several eligibility standards.
As with the need for free AdWords videos mentioned here recently, not all of Google's help materials are immediately helpful, and the same is true for the documentation around the AdWords certification program (possibly another reason for a jump in search traffic here).
In this post we'll try to represent some of the nuts and bolts information around getting google adwords certified in a manner that's slightly easier to digest, and we'll also try to layer some additional useful tips and advice on top of what you can get from the AdWords help materials. There's quite a bit of google adword certification content in an FAQ layout so feel free to jump to your favorite question below:

• What Are the Different Types of AdWords Certification?
• Should I Get an Individual AdWords Certification?
• Should I Get an AdWords Partner Certification?
• AdWords Certification Cost
• Taking the AdWords Certification Exam
• AdWords Certification Courses
• AdWords Certification Tips & Study Aids

What Are the Different Types of AdWords Certification?

This is an important distinction to understand right out of the gate -- Google offers both individual and company certification. Basically the distinction is simply that:

• An individual AdWords certification requires you to take two exams (more on this later).
• A company (or professionals or partner) AdWords certification requires that you have a qualified individual linked to your MCC (My Client Center) account and that you have at least $10,000 in managed spend assigned to your AdWords MCC account over a period of 90 days.  

Should I Get an Individual AdWords Certification?

This is obviously the most important question to ask and answer before you get started down the path to AdWords certification. The answer depends entirely on your objective. If you're simply looking to learn AdWords, I don't think the certification is the best use of your time and resources. There are several things covered here that aren't necessarily critical to your being successful with AdWords (for instance you might be focused on B2B lead generation -- in that case much of what you'd learn about product extentions might be gratuitous and not actionable for you). If you have $100 to spend and simply want to figure out how to get the best possible bang for your educational buck I'd recommend picking up either Brad Geddes' Advanced Google AdWords or David Szetela's Pay Per Click Marketing an Hour a Day. If you're willing to invest a bit more time and money then training programs like PPC Blog and Certified Knowledge will be more than worth the monthly fees. And of course there's always pay-per-click software to try and buy.
There are two main instances where I think the certification can be valuable, however:

• You Are a PPC Specialist - If you're a PPC specialist this can be a very useful credential. If your core focus is PPC and you think it's likely to stay that way, it'll be valuable as you look for future positions to have the certification. Most good agencies and companies won't use this as a sole factor in a decision, but it can serve as a nice filter in the event that yours is one of a stack of resumes.
• You Are an Independent Consultant or Take on Side Work - Again this can serve as a nice trust factor in prospecting for clients. In some instances clients will be very impressed with the certification, and in others they'll just see it as a nice-to-have and an indication that you're at the very least familiar with the AdWords interface, but in either case it has some utility and is likely well worth the time investment and minimal cost.

Should I Get an AdWords Partner Certification?

For this one I think the answer is generally "yes" if you're at a point where you're asking the question. The caveat being that you'll need to be managing at least $10,000 spend in a 90-day period. I certainly wouldn't advocate dedicating a PPC budget to meeting the qualifications if you don't already, but in the event that you are already managing that for clients it's likely worth having one of your employees get individual certification (or doing so yourself) and achieving partner certification. If you're selling PPC management services this is again a nice trust signal for prospective clients. An additional benefit here is that you're listed in Google's certified partners database and when people search that database for certain criteria they can find your company and become a lead for you.

How Much Does AdWords Certification Cost?

This is effectively $100: you have to take two exams (one basic and one advanced) for individual certification. If you're attempting to get company certification this could be zero (if you have an employee already qualified and are managing $10,000 over a 90-day span you just need to sign up).

How Do I Sign Up to Take the AdWords Certification Exam?

This is a bit more involved. Google's help documentation lays the process out in a fairly straightforward way, but the document with the information is a bit difficult to locate so here are the steps:
Choose the scenario that applies to you in order to see steps on how to take the exams.

A. Purchasing an exam (no Testing Center account)

1. Start at your AdWords Certification Program Account:
   • Log in at http://www.adwords.google.com/professionals/account.Retrieve your Candidate ID from the “My Exams” tab.
   • Click Take This Exam, which takes you to the Google Testing Center at http://google.starttest.com/. (You may use the drop-down menu to select which language you want to view the site in.)
2. You will now be at the Google Testing Center.
   • Click Create an account now
   • Complete all fields
   • Click Submit
3. Click Purchase Test.
   • Click Buy for the exam(s) you want to purchase.
   • Click Place Order.
4. Complete your purchase:
   • Choose your preferred checkout method and complete your purchase.
   • Click Continue with Purchase
   • Review all info is correct and click Place Your Order
   • View your order confirmation, which serves as your receipt. You may print this for your records.
5. Complete these steps to activate and start the exam:
   • Click the link to activate your online products, or click the link to access your account.
   • You will be taken back to your profile page, where you'll need to enter your Candidate ID (you should have found your Candidate ID in step #1, and written this down) and click theSave button.
   • Activate your exam by accepting the terms and conditions.
   • Click Start Online and follow the directions to start the exam. (You will need to take the exam in a separate secure application, the Testing Center Browser. Be sure to use the drop-down to choose the language you want to take the exam in.)

B. Purchase an exam (existing Testing Center account)

1. Start at your AdWords Certification Program Account:
   • Log in at http://www.adwords.google.com/professionals/account.
   • Retrieve your Candidate ID from the “My Exams” tab.
   • Click Take This Exam, which takes you to the Google Testing Center at http://google.starttest.com/. (You may use the drop-down menu to select which language you want to view the site in.)
2. You will now be at the Google Testing Center.
   • Enter your login information and password for the Google Testing Center and click Sign in
   • Click Purchase Test
   • Click Buy for the exam(s) you want to purchase
   • Click Place Order.
3. Complete your purchase:
   • Choose your preferred checkout method and complete your purchase.
   • Click Continue with Purchase
   • Review all info is correct and click Place Your Order
   • View your order confirmation, which serves as your receipt. You may print this for your records.
4. Complete these steps to activate and start the exam:
   • Click the link to activate your online products, or click the link to access your account to be taken back to your profile page.
   • FYI - if this is your first time purchasing a GCP exam, you will be taken back to your Profile page upon submitting your order to fill in your Candidate ID (you should have found your Candidate ID in step #1, and written this down)
   • Click Start Online and follow the directions to start the exam. (You will need to take the exam in a separate secure application, the Testing Center Browser. Be sure to use the drop-down to choose the language you want to take the exam in.)

If you have an adwords voucher they also have instructions for that use case in the help document.

Is There an AdWords Certification Course?

As far as I know the only learning aids are the help materials offered by Google, but these should be more than sufficient in preparing for the test, pariticularly as they offer both textual and video content. If you're looking for a live learning experience around AdWords, Brad Geddes runs AdWords Seminars for Success but these tend to be more advanced and are not focused around passing the AdWords certification exams.

AdWords Certification Tips & Study Aids

Our friends at PPC Hero contributed a post on 5 tips to pass PPC certification exams, which offers some good general advice including taking notes on the help materials and being careful to give yourself enough time to prepare. Some additional tips I'd ad would be:

• If you're familiar with AdWords, spend time on the areas you see least in the account (billing, ad types you don't frequently use) -- don't get cocky, there is a lot of stuff in the interface and you very well may not have a lot of access to all of it.
• Print out your google ad words certification notes -- I believe that in all cases the new test format blacks out your screen (which wasn't the case with the previous test).
• Use the same types of test-taking game theory you would for any test. You have the option to come back to questions and they're multiple choice, so don't spend too long on a question and make sure you're marking something and flagging the question to come back to.
• Don't panic! If you're prepared you'll have plenty of time to take the test, and it's very passable, even if you're new to AdWords, if you've taken the time to study.

In terms of studying for the test the only aid or guide you'll really need will be the AdWords learning center materials: http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/go/learningcenter so be sure to check out both the text and video content there that pertains to the test you're taking.

About the Author

This is a guest post from Tom Demers. Tom is a co-founder and managing partner at Measured SEM Search Engine Marketing Consulting, a boutique consulting firm that offers general SEO, Ad Words, key word, and PPC services as well a variety of specific content marketing and link building services to a number of different companies ranging from incident reporting software companies to battery powered ceiling lights. You can follow Tom on Twitter or contact him via email at tom at measuredsem dot com.

Empleados de cadenas de comida rápida protestan en EE UU .

30 de Agosto de 2013 • Caracas (Venezuela)

Empleados de cadenas de comida rápida protestan en EE UU

Imagen de un establecimiento McDonald's | Reuters

Mary Kay Henry, presidente del sindicato que apoya la protesta, dijo que sus ingresos los coloca por debajo del umbral de pobreza

NUEVA YORK AFP 29 de agosto 2013 - 10:20 pm

Miles de empleados de McDonalds y otras cadenas de comida rápida participaron en una huelga en Estados Unidos para reclamar un incremento de sueldo (piden un mínimo de 15 dólares por hora) y mejores condiciones de trabajo.
El salario medio en el sector de la restauración en Nueva York para este tipo de empleo es de 9 dólares por hora pero, a diferencia de sus colegas de otros restaurantes, los empleados de cadenas de comida rápida no reciben propinas.
Desde muy temprano un puñado de personas se manifestaba al frente de un local de McDonalds en la Quinta Avenida, en Nueva York. “Ganan millones gracias a nuestro trabajo, pueden pagarnos más”, dijo Shaniqua Davis, de 20 años de edad y madre de un bebé, que gana entre 71 y 150 dólares por semana en un McDonalds del Bronx.
Tyeisha Batts, de 27 años de edad, trabaja en Burger King por 7,25 dólares por hora. “Pero solo 28 horas por semana, porque si uno trabaja 30 horas nos tienen que dar un seguro médico”, explicó.
El movimiento, que comenzó en noviembre en Nueva York con 200 huelguistas, se ha ampliado desde entonces. En julio participaron 7 ciudades y ayer casi 50, incluidas Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Houston y Los Ángeles.
Mary Kay Henry, presidente del sindicato que apoya la protesta, señaló que la mayoría de estos trabajadores tienen hijos e intentan mantener a su familia, pero ganan un salario que los coloca por debajo del umbral de pobreza.

Two Words To Turn Ho-Hum into Powerful Copywriting

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Two Words To Turn Ho-Hum into Powerful Copywriting

 by Guillermo Rubio007/22/2013

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Two words are all that stand between you and better copy.

What are they?

I won’t keep you in suspense.

It’s a simple two-word question:

“So what?”

Asking yourself this one simple question will dramatically improve your copy. And yield powerful copywriting.

It doesn’t matter if you’re writing an email to a colleague, a memo to your staff, or a web page selling a humidifier.

Those two words will go far to make sure you’ve got your audience in mind. And, they will make sure you write only that which is relevant to them.

I’m sure it’s not the first time you’ve heard about using the question “So what?” Plenty of great and legendary copywriters have written about it before.

So rather than rehash why it’s such a great question to ask, I thought it’d be good to simply show you its power, for practically every element involved in writing great copy.

The Attention-Grabbing Headline

This the make-it-or-break-it point in your copy. If your headline doesn’t get your reader’s/visitor’s attention right away, the rest of your copy doesn’t matter.

So after you’ve written some copy, start with the headline. Ask yourself, “So what?”

The answer should be in your headline.

The writers over at Cosmopolitan know this very well. Here’s the cover from one of their issues:

Every single headline on that magazine cover screams to be read. It draws you in and quickly passes the “So what?” test.

An easy way to make sure your headline always passes, is to include a benefit, an element of curiosity, or both.

The next line of copy after your headline needs to do the same.

Here’s an example from Reader’s Digest:

The headline certainly passes the “So what?” test, and so does the short copy that follows.

It’s hard to resist the urge to click to read more and find out what else you may not know about dairy’s health benefits.

Make Your Benefits Come To Life

Another way the “So what?” test boosts the power of your copy, is by making your benefits shine.

You’ve heard the mantra, “features and benefits.” Asking “So what?” really helps you draw out the deeper, more emotional benefits your product or service provides.

Legendary copywriter Clayton Makepeace uses this simple tool all the time to help him create sizzling blockbuster promotions.

So how do you do it?

Start by making a list of your product or service’s features. These are the “facts.”

So if you’re selling a yellow no. 2 pencil, some of the features include:

• Eraser on one end
• Graphite core encased in a wooden cylinder
• Yellow
• Around 7 inches in length

Now that you’ve got your features, it’s time to ask “So what?” for each of the features …

Feature: eraser on one end

So what? You can easily correct mistakes. No need to have to grab a new sheet of paper.

Feature: Graphite core encased in a wooden cylinder

So what? If you happen to press too hard and break the tip, no problem. Just sharpen the pencil and you can be back to writing in no time flat. Even if you break the pencil in half, you can still sharpen it and get to work.

Feature: It’s yellow

So what? It’s easy to find and differentiate from your pens and other writing instruments. Save time, since you don’t need to be fumbling through a bunch of stuff to locate it.

Feature: It’s around 7 inches in length

So what? Your pencil will last quite a while. No need to buy a new one for at least a few weeks. And if it ever breaks, you can still use the same pencil, since it’ll most likely still be long enough to use comfortably.

Here’s a classic example of features and benefits from a company selling a health supplement:

Building Trust With Proof And Credibility

How else can using the “So what?” test improve your copy?

Well, if you ask it after every claim or promise you make, you’ll find yourself wanting to back it all up with proof or specifics.

This, of course, will dramatically improve the persuasiveness of your copy.

For example, let’s say you’re a business that sells servers, storage and software solutions to the IT departments of big companies.

In your copy, you could say something like: “Our database software will help you lower operating expenses and improve performance.”

But now let’s ask “So what?”

We can now back it up with a study or some other kind of proof to show that what we’re saying is true.

So this now becomes:

“Based on a recent study done by CIO Magazine, our database software helps you slash operating expenses by 23% and improves database performance by up to 53% with shorter query times. Here’s what our past customers have to say about it: ” (Note: This is a completely made up example, not actual copy from somewhere).

Take a look at this in action on the Motley Fool’s site:

Specifically, they make the claim that:

“…now there’s a way you can get world-class stock recommendations and expert, unbiased advice from top financial analysts by barely lifting a finger.”

Immediately, they explain what it is and why you should believe it.

“It’s called Motley Fool Stock Advisor. This unique investment advisory service was created 11 years ago by Motley Fool co-founders David and Tom Gardner — the renegade brothers Money.com named “among the most widely followed stock advisors in the world.”

So next time you sit down to write, make sure you keep “So what?” on the forefront of your mind.

Those two simple words will go a long way to making your writing clearer, more effective, and more persuasive.

About Guillermo Rubio

Guillermo Rubio is a freelance copywriter who specializes in helping businesses achieve better results from their marketing efforts.

To find out how he can help you with a particular marketing challenge (and to get a special report on boosting your content-marketing ROI), please visitwww.GFRCommunications.com