Intermediate · 7h 51m · 36 lessons
Google Ads
The platform itself — structure, tracking, Smart Bidding and Performance Max, with the arithmetic behind every rule.
What you'll learn
- ✦Choose match types deliberately, and build the negative list that makes broad match safe
- ✦Structure an account so its numbers are both readable and controllable
- ✦Write Responsive Search Ads that give the system room, and know when a pin is genuinely required
- ✦Read asset performance instead of chasing Ad Strength
- ✦Define conversions so that bidding optimises toward money rather than a misleading proxy
- ✦Explain exactly why Google Ads and GA4 disagree, and know which number to use for what
- ✦Set a target CPA that maximises profit rather than revenue
- ✦Tell a real performance change from sampling noise, and know how long you must wait
- ✦Read a Performance Max report sceptically and make it honest with brand exclusions
- ✦Find where growth is actually available using impression share, and audit an inherited account in priority order
Part of these career paths
- Digital Marketer path · course 5 of 6
- Performance Marketer path · course 4 of 6
- Search Specialist path · course 3 of 5
Certification projects
Build 6 projects to earn your certificate
Hands-on work that proves you can apply what you learned — part of the certificate requirements.
Syllabus
Module 1 · 55m
The Google Ads landscape Free
What you'll be able to do
- Can explain the volume/control/transparency trade between the six campaign types and pick the right one for a job
- Can date an old Google Ads tutorial from its vocabulary and say what changed since the AdWords era
- Can find the reports that answer a real question (change history, impression share) instead of relying on optimisation score
- Can set up a new account so its irreversible decisions (currency, time zone, conversion actions, naming) are made correctly on day one
Module 2 · 56m
Account architecture Locked
What you'll be able to do
- Can calculate how many campaign separations a given budget and weekly time allowance can actually support
- Can decide whether a business need is a genuine campaign, a targeting layer, or a label
- Can choose between a shared budget, a portfolio bid strategy, or neither, for a stated account problem
- Can architect a multi-category account structure for a stated budget and weekly time limit
Module 3 · 56m
Search campaigns Locked
What you'll be able to do
- Can audit and turn off the seven campaign settings that divert budget by default
- Can classify keywords by intent and discard the low-intent tiers before choosing bids
- Can run the eleven pre-launch checks in the order that protects the learning phase
- Can launch a Search campaign end to end on a real budget, in the correct sequence
Module 4 · 56m
Keywords and negatives at scale Locked
What you'll be able to do
- Can diagnose when two of a client's own keywords are competing for the same search and fix it with a source negative
- Can sort a large search term report by spend and act only on rows that have spent enough to judge
- Can separate brand from non-brand keywords and read an honest non-brand CPA
- Can mine a real search term report end to end and report the recoverable spend
Module 5 · 54m
Responsive Search Ads and assets Locked
What you'll be able to do
- Can calculate how pinning a headline changes the number of possible ad combinations
- Can explain what Ad Strength does and does not measure, and when to ignore it
- Can identify which assets are blocked by an Ad Rank threshold and fix the right lever
- Can read Low/Good/Best asset ratings and decide what to change, and what to leave alone
Module 6 · 51m
Conversion tracking and GA4 Locked
What you'll be able to do
- Can choose a conversion action that reflects real value rather than a misleading proxy
- Can explain conversion lag and set a reporting cadence that doesn't get fooled by it
- Can trace a broken conversion-tracking chain to its most likely cause
- Can reconcile a Google Ads number against a GA4 number for the same customers, and say which to use for what
Module 7 · 49m
Smart Bidding Locked
What you'll be able to do
- Can explain why Smart Bidding beats manual bidding on arithmetic grounds, not intelligence
- Can calculate a profit-maximising target CPA instead of a break-even one
- Can judge whether a reported CPA change is a real signal or sampling noise, given a conversion count
- Can change a Smart Bidding target without triggering an unnecessary learning period
Module 8 · 49m
Performance Max, Shopping and video Locked
What you'll be able to do
- Can identify why a Performance Max campaign's blended CPA can look healthy while its incremental cost is much higher
- Can audit and fix a Shopping product title using a category-appropriate formula
- Can choose the right metric to judge a Demand Gen or YouTube campaign instead of last-click CPA
- Can use Performance Max's real controls (brand exclusions, asset groups, signals, feed segmentation) to make a campaign report honestly
Module 9 · 45m
Optimisation, automation and scaling Locked
What you'll be able to do
- Can decide whether the next unit of growth should come from raising a budget or opening a new theme, using impression share
- Can run the daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly routine, matching each check to the cadence its data can support
- Can decide which account tasks are safe to automate and which need a human decision
- Can audit an inherited account in the priority order that makes its numbers trustworthy before acting