What I Learned at Google U
at 10:09am | Posted By: Andrew Klein
Google offers educational programs to give its students insight into its infinite wisdom. But it’s not like any other schooling I’ve ever been a pupil of: there are no frat parties, no study groups, no available test files and it certainly isn’t easy.
I started the process by first studying and becoming a Google Adwords certified individual. This requires passing the Google Advertising Fundamentals Exam and one of the following additional exams. I chose search. The tests take a solid 2 hours of high-pressure question answering. And yes it’s online, but your browser is on lockdown, forcing all other windows to be closed. Phew, it was an intense process but I got through it.
From there Unleaded went on to join the ranks of Google Adwords Certified Partners by having an an individually certified employee and having managed at a minimum ad spend of $10,000 over 90 days.
I couldn’t get enough of Adwords so I attended the AdWords 201. It is taught classroom style from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with only brief recess and it covered a number of intermediate adword topics like how to geotarget your campaign, how to use demographic bidding, how to create a placement-targeted campaign, how to use position preference, how to refine keywords and how to use Google Insights for increased results.
By this time I was ready to move away from commercial advertising and get back to the roots of organic search and I attended Google Analytics 201 and 301. It was an intense 2 days of note jotting, focus and refueling with even more coffee than usual. I soon found out Google Analytics has more layers and functionalities than most people realize are possible. Topics included advanced analysis and measurement tools including profiles and filters, tracking cookies, intelligence alerts, customizing advanced segments, event tracking, creating funnels, goal reporting and specific tracking codes. Basically, you can drill as deep as you want to and if you delve into the origin of your clicks, you can learn a lot about your visitors.
Website Optimizer was an enlightening segment of the course that explained how to A/B test and multivariate test a website. This allows you to change things around like headlines, graphics, text and callouts to see what is most effective for conversions.
With my new-found insatiable thirst for Google knowledge, which is significantly different than what I had an insatiable thirst for in undergrad… I won’t stop here. Stay tuned for my next adventures as a Google professional and contact Unleaded with any questions on cpc at 720-221-7126 x 205.