Learning anything at all takes practice, the very first thing it takes though is the right resource. There are different reasons for wanting to learn how Google Ads work. Whatever your reason, you’ll find the best courses to put you up to speed here. We’ll assume that you have an idea of what Google Ads is and that’s why you are here looking for the best courses to take. Just in case you don’t and you just stumbled on this article, we’ll wrap up what Google Ads is with a very understandable illustration.

What is Google Ads?

Let’s say you own a hair salon and you want a lot of people who want to make their hair, patronize you (this is your business goal); Google is an online marketplace where anyone can find just about anything and we mean anything! Google Ads is your sign board to attract people to your storefront on Google. As you would do with your physical outlet, you would have to set up a beautiful design that shows your salon and the services you offer, select the right keywords like “Hair salon near me” as well as other keywords peculiar to what you do, bid for the keywords, focus on targeting and all that jazz. The important thing to note is that Google Ads helps you achieve more reach. Why? It is the most popular search engine that helps you drive traffic to your website.

Don’t let all the key terms in the description disturb you, that is why you’re here. To become a Google ads specialist. Just in case you’re not sure, if you have ever googled any of these then you need to pick a course from here and get started:

• “Which Google Ads Certifications should I start with?”
• “What is the best way to learn Google Ads?”
• “How do I start Google Ads as a Beginner?”
• “Can I learn Google Ads by myself?”

You could be a business owner looking to achieve your marketing goals or you’re looking to become a pro so you can get your Google ads account running and start making $1K/Month like someone tweeted recently then sit tight and get ready to pick a course.

Not many courses have beginner-friendly modules even though they claim to be for beginners which is why we have listed out the 5 Best Google Ads courses + Certifications, rating, cost, estimated time of completion, and what you’ll learn by taking it. Quite frankly not all of them are free but they contain Google Ad essentials. A word of advice before you get started? You can learn anything if you double down on it.

#1 Skillshop By Google

What better platform to learn Google Ads for free than from the hosts themselves? Google offers digital marketing and online courses that are very beginner-friendly with certifications. This particular course is titled Google Ads – Measurement Certification.

What you’ll learn:

• How to Identify your main business goals and turn them into effective marketing campaigns
• Create Ads for each stage of the user journey
• Maximize your measurement by assigning value to your marketing efforts 
• Set up action for Sales and Lead Generation
• Evaluate Campaign performance
• Explore optimization
• Improve campaign performance
• And many more

Cost: FREE

Estimated Time: 3.2 Hours

Rating: 4.6/5

Certification is guaranteed

#2 Udemy

Udemy has a course titled “The #1 Google Ads Course For 2023: Beginner To Expert”. This course does not require you to have any digital Ads or marketing experience at all, plus they guarantee that they’ll make you an expert.

What you’ll learn: 

• How to set up your Google Ads account
• How to create campaigns
• Strategy and Implementation
• How to make conversion-driven Ads
• How to optimize your website and increase conversion rates
• And many more

Cost: ₦19,900

Estimated Time: 11Hrs 21Mins

Rating: 4.5/5

Certification is guaranteed

#3 Blurpe

Blurpe’s course is titled Google Ads Mastery. It is the only Nigerian Google ads certification course on this list, which means it is well-tailored for Nigerian beginners with better-suited and relatable illustrations to help you understand and master Google ads better.

What you’ll learn:

• Fundamentals of Google Ads
• How to set up your Google Ads account
• How to run search and display ads
• How to find highly converting keywords
• How to do market research using Google Keyword Search
• Copywriting for Google Ads
• What will make your Ad convert
• Tracking and Optimization
• And many more

Cost: ₦ 14,999

Estimated Time: 2Hrs 5Mins

Certification of Completion Guaranteed

#4 Coursera

Google Ads for Beginners on Coursera is a hands-on learning guide to mastering Google advertising. They recommend that it would be helpful if you are familiar with Google ads however it is not required, so it is a suggested good place to start.

What you’ll learn: 

• Create a Google Ads account
• How to set up your first campaign
• Keyword research
• How to set up audience targeting
• How to optimize your campaign and be profitable
• And many more

Cost: FREE

Estimated Time: 2Hrs

Rating: 4.5/5

No Certification

#5 SkillShare

This platform offers a step-by-step process for their Google Ads course. It is called Google Ads for Beginners 2023 – Step By Step Process  and offers to show you exactly how to set up and run profitable Google Ads plus it is very actionable, a nice mix of theory and practical teaching.

What you’ll learn:

• How to set up your Google Ad account
• Keywords and their intent
• Bidding Strategies
• Quality Score
• How to set up and track Conversions
• How to Optimize Your Ad Campaign
• And Many more

Cost: Paid (However free trial is available)

Estimated Time: 4Hrs 37Mins

No Certification

The courses selected will get you well on your way to hitting your Google Ads goals. Each course was specifically chosen to suit beginners who have little to no knowledge of how to go about mastering Google’s online marketing. We selected the top 5 Google Ads training courses with high-quality content and based on the stated learning Objectives.

 Also, you’ll notice that the estimated time for each course seems achievable in “some hours”. If you are truly learning, chances are a 3-hour course might take you 1 week to finish. Don’t try to compress what you’re learning, you are not in a “first to finish” competition. Learn and practice, it’s the best way to master anything.