I’ve just gained accreditation as a Google Adwords Qualified Individual. But what does that mean? This article looks at what this qualification means, and how Google Adwords Qualified Individuals and Companies can better help their clients.

What is the Google Adwords Qualified Individual certification?

To become eligable for certification, Individuals must:

• Manage an account (theirs, or a client’s) for 90 days
• Attain a spend of no less than $1,000 during this period
• Pass the Google Adwords official exam.

The exam is hard. It requires 85% correct answers, and the software the exam uses prevents access to other websites so you can’t lookup answers during the test. As well as this less than 80% of the questions are technical, meaning you can have expert knowledge of how Adwords works and still fail. As at least 20% of the questions are focused on real-world application of Google Adwords within a marketing campaign, it does mean those that pass have an understand of not just how the tools work, but how to use them to get results.

As Google says:

Because achieving Qualified status is no easy feat, we reward these professionals with an official programme logo and Professional Status page which tout the title.

A Qualified Company differs from an individual, in that it employs at least two Qualified Individuals, and has a higher spending threshold within the 90 day period.

How does it benefit me?

Google Adwords Professionals have a clear understanding of how to build a marketing campaign that works. Adwords is a tool, and one that is easy to understand but difficult to use profitably. As Qualified Individuals have demonstrated a good knowledge of how to build campaigns properly, you can expect the following:

• A complete analysis of your marketing goals, website and industry.
• A budget that’s suitable for your business, geographical location a
• A list of the most profitable keywords.
• Ad copy writing
• Help improving landing pages.
• Ongoing campaign monitoring.

And this matters, as it means an Advertising Professional can:

• Save costs and improve profitability.
• Allow you to concentrate on your business, not the search engine campaigns.
• Get excellent results without you needing to take on another employee.
• Assure you that your campaign is working to its best.

How can I tell if an individual or company is qualified?

Companies are required to provide a link to their status page on Google. Our is here. This page shows the companies information, and verified that their qualification is up-to-date. Qualification lasts 18 months before it needs to be renewed – and to gain renewal all the above requirements must be met.

To find a Google Adwords Professional near you, Google suggest using http://local.google.com/ and searching for "google advertising professional" near you.

There is also a registry, though this is not a Google run resource, whoisagap.com. 

Ben Kelly is Alpha Wave Media Ltd’s Google Adwords Qualified Individual. Our company profile on Google is here.