Free Google Training and Certifications

Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal and every other major financial publication reported what Adweek put most succinctly. “Google parent Alphabet continued to post double digit increases in revenue.” Specifically through ad sales, which make up over 80% of Google’s revenue. It’s no wonder Google provides a variety of marketing tools for small businesses. As most of our readers know, ecommerce stores live and die from visibility. Apart from the ecosystems of Amazon and Ebay, for example, understanding how Google works is mission critical. Search visibility is one of the most important digital marketing strategies, so let’s get started with some fundamental concepts.

In last week’s blog, we asked “what makes Google Ads so popular?” Now, we’re going to look at Google’s premiere training program, Digital Garage. To be sure, Google’s record breaking year was in the middle of a global pandemic and global supply chain issues. For full-year 2021, Google saw a 41 percent year-over-year jump in revenue to $257 billion. If you are working to help online retailers, Google Certifications will give you the leg up on your agency’s competition. If, on the other hand, you are working autonomously and a real do-it-youselfer, then Google’s free training is a must.

The Top 4 Google Marketing Tools for Small Business

A few years ago, I enrolled into Google’s Digital Garage and through their free training earned a neat certificate in association with the IAB. What I didn’t know at the time was that it was a program developed for the UK. However, in our global economy and with the help of an expert fulfillment company, your target audience may very well be international. I learned that since 2015, Google Digital Garage has helped more than 700,000 people in the UK alone. Now without further delay the top four Google marketing tools are: Google Business Profile, Google Ads, Google Analytics and Google Digital Unlocked.

Google Marketing Tools Explained

Let’s begin by looking at Google Digital Unlocked, formerly, Google Digital Garage. The aim is to indoctrinate online businesses to the many facets of marketing with Google. The program covers social media, selling products online, using data as insight, building an online store and, most importantly, how to be noticed with search ads. Next, moving from the most to least user-friendly tool, Google Analytics. I, myself, have earned three certifications from Analytics Academy and while the rewards are very useful the commitment to understanding is paramount.

Switching gears to Google Business Profile, you’ll find a great design for the dashboard to manage Google Reviews, Google Maps and more. Finally, Google Ads is where all roads lead to and where those enormous record-breaking profits stem from. The good news is that Google has automated the start-up process and you’ll be on your way in under half an hour. A Google Skillshop course is highly recommended. We’ll continue the discussion more next week, stay tuned!