Recently, I took the Google Advertising Professional (GAP) test- an examination from Google that determines your knowledge in Google Adwords advertising program. It was not that easy. The examination was a bit tricky but with the proper training I received, I was able to pass the test. And uh, click the image below to see my exam results.

In this article, I share to you some useful tips, strategies I used to successfully pass the exam. These are divided into two: (1) the pre-examination strategies (2) and the actual examination tips.

Pre-examination Strategies:

1. Adwords Learning Center. Study the Adwords tutorials in Adwords Learning Center. The ALC really is very essential to passing the GAP exam. All questions are extracted from ALC-  and  all answers are in that tutorials. ALC is generally divided into two types of tutorial: The multi-media and the text-based lessons. It is recommended not to watch just the video tutorials but study the text-based as well as topics in videos are explained in more details in the text version.

2. Quizzes. Answer the sample quizzes. Each topic has a corresponding quiz for you to answer anytime you want. It is important that you are able to familiarize the questions ( and the right answers). In my case, for instance, I did answering all quizzes over and over again. Take note also, most questions ( I think about 90%) are coming from the sample quizzes – but of course, rephrased, added with twists, and tricks. For instance, in the sample quizzes, you can encounter questions that are asked in  affirmative form, but in the actual exam, these are rephrased and are asked in  a negative approach. (See sample adwords exam questions)

3. Create a List of Answers. It is also a great help for you to list down ( you can put it in Excel file) all the right answers and their explanations. Uh, and how can you easily find the explanation of each correct answer?

Aside from scanning their corresponding topics, here’s an easy way to  list down the explanation of a particular right answer:

After answering a particular quiz, submit it – you can view immediately if your answer is correct or not. Now, here’s what you need to do – go back to your previously answered quiz, submit it again and this time, you submit it unanswered. After submitting an unanswered quiz, the system will return results with the right answers -and their explanations. Do this for all the quizzes and sort all the right answers in your file. There are more than 200 questions in ALC quizzes so it is expected that you are able to list down questions (with answers) at that quantity. Take a look at unanswered example quiz below submitted…

4. Study Tutorials Segment by Segment. Work on your ALC tutorials segment by segment ( not all at once). Ideally, if you allocate 2-4 hours per day, daily, you can finish all the ALC tutorials and quizzes in a month. When I was studying the ALC, I took, at most, 5 particular topics each day – and I made it sure that all the essentials are absorbed.

5. Review Your Answers List. Give enough time to browse through your lists of answers you have sorted. Analyze every questions and their corresponding answers. You can further validate the answers ( explanation given by ALC system) by referring to the tutorials. And, if ever you want further information on particular topics, you can always make use of the Adwords Help page.

6. Study the ALC tutorials – again. Watching all the videos and studying the text-based tutorials once does not end the process of learning from ALC – not yet. Do it once more…and more. Do it all over again until you are able to answer all the quizzes perfectly.

7. Familiarize the Adwords Account Navigations . Log-in to your Adwords Account and study its features and functions . Your actual experience of the Adwords account environment plays a very important role not just for passing the GAP exam but, more than that, for the success of your future Adwords Advertising Campaign.

8. Answer Quizzes Again. Answer the ALC quizzes again, this time, you do it by answering them minus the choices. You can do it by copying the questions and putting them in your file ( e.g. Document, Wordpad). Answer the questions in your own understanding…in your explanation (do not cheat, of course) and then check your answers by comparing them to the list of answers ( answers from the Adword system you have sorted previously).

I have just shared some of useful strategies you can apply in preparation for the GAP exam. There are still lots of strategies you can do during pre-examination period. In fact, you can develop your own learning strategies as you undergo the process of learning.

In my next post I will be discussing strategies you can apply during your examination day. So just keep on browsing!