Google AdWords Interview Questions and Answers

Most organizations across the globe now consider digital advertising a priority, indicating massive investments in the digital space. Companies that ignore this trend are likely to be left behind.

Pay-per-click (PPC) services are attracting a lot of buzz in the online advertising space. A PPC marketing strategy is a powerful tool for identifying target audiences who search for particular products or services. Google AdWords is the most prominent PPC channel, preferred by nearly all digital marketers today. 

If you’re a marketing professional or hoping to climb the ladder in digital advertising, Google AdWords skills will bring you closer to achieving your goals. This is because PPC advertising requires a solid grasp of marketing principles, budgeting, and technology.  

Master the nuances of PPC, display advertising, conversion optimization, and web analytics with the Advanced Pay Per Click (PPC) Course. Enroll now!

Some of the most commonly asked interview questions for PPC marketers and the best answers are listed below.

Frequently Asked Google AdWords Interview Questions:

What is PPC marketing?

PPC stands for pay-per-click marketing. It is a marketing strategy designed to drive traffic from search engines or other websites to a company’s website. The advertiser is paid when someone clicks on the ad. Hence, the payment is made per click.

What is Campaign Management? 

Campaign management refers to the process of creating and managing an advertising campaign for a company on Google AdWords. The responsibility of the campaign manager is to manage the entire campaign and to prove the best return on investment (ROI).

What is Google AdWords? 

AdWords is a Google advertising service that allows businesses to display their ads on Google’s search engine and advertising network. The company’s ad will appear when the user searches for particular keywords that are linked to the product or service that the company is offering.

How does AdWords work? 

AdWords works under a bidding system: the higher the price of the ad, the higher it's ranking. Companies advertising on AdWords pay the quoted amount only when people click on their ad.

Why is PPC an essential part of online advertising?

PPC is important because it shows results much faster than organic campaigns that integrate search engine optimization techniques (also referred to as “natural search”). PPC helps companies reach the right customers and is also useful in marketing products that otherwise may be difficult to find. 

Why should people use Google AdWords? 

The traffic generated via Google AdWords is worth much more than the millions of other surfers who visit a site. Traffic generated via pay per click links is more focused on the people who know what they are searching for, making such traffic more valuable.

What is the actual cost per click?

The actual cost per click (CPC) for advertisers is determined at auction and is not visible, but maybe less than your maximum CPC bid. This is because you only pay what’s required to beat the ad rank of the nearest competitor below you. The equation for determining CPC looks something like this: CPC = (Ad rank to beat / Quality score) + $0.01. However, the average CPC can be seen.

What is Ad Rank?

Ad Rank is the position of a particular ad on the Google page, determined by the bid placed on the keyword for that ad. The quality score will determine the ad rank.

What is Quality Score?

Google will rate the ad based on the keywords used and the design of the PPC ad. This rating is called the quality score. It depends on various factors such as keyword relevance, ad text relevance, and the landing page quality. The higher the quality score, the better the chances of the ad being at the top of the list.

How does Quality Score affect ad position and CPC?

The quality score is directly proportional to the ad position and indirectly proportional to the CPC. If the quality score is higher, the position will be higher and costs lower.

Does the Google Page Rank of the landing page affect the Quality Score?

The quality score is not related to the Google page rank of a landing page.

Is PPC only appropriate for big brands?

No, businesses of any size can utilize the benefits of PPC. The most important aspect of a PPC campaign is to find the right keywords that are relevant and targeted.

What are the settings that can’t be changed once an ad in an account is created?

After account creation, the currency and time zone may not be altered. This is why the details have to be filled in very carefully.

What is the Google Ads double serving policy?

The Google Ads double serving policy states that an advertiser can’t use different accounts to advertise the same keywords or websites. Google enforces this policy to avoid showing ads of the same company to the users. Instead, they can view ads by different service providers and then choose.

How can conversion rates be improved?

Conversion rates can be improved by creating ads that perfectly match with the keywords. Tightly themed ad groups should be designed so that the target audience is directly sent to the best landing page. Conversion rates will also improve if the landing page quality is improved.

What is the limit of characters used in a PPC ad?

A standard ad can have a maximum of 25 characters in the headline and 70 characters total in the descriptions. An expanded text ad can have 30 characters, each in the first and second headlines. The description of an expanded text ad can have 80 characters.

What are Invalid Clicks, and how does Google determine them?

An invalid click is one determined to be fake, unintentional or caused by some malware. Google uses some sophisticated mechanisms and algorithms to determine such invalid clicks from any user account.

What is a Converted Click? 

Converted clicks are simply clicks that result in conversions. Google AdWords no longer track them.

What is a Remarketing Audience?

The remarketing audience is comprised of users who have visited a website. If the remarketing tag is used on the website, these users can be added to the audience list.

What are Search Terms?

The exact words that trigger your ads are called search terms.

How does the Google AdWords auction work?

Google auctions run a billion times a month. Advertisers choose which keywords they want to bid on and how much they’re willing to spend. Then they pair groupings of these keywords (ad groups) with their ads. Google aggregates these bids and determines the “winning” bid, which establishes its value.

What is an Ad Group?

An ad group contains all of your keywords, landing pages, and advertisements. If an AdWords campaign with a proper structure is created, the advertiser will be rewarded by Google. To have a better structure, the keywords should be organized into a theme. 

What is a Conversion Optimizer?

A conversion optimizer is a tool that helps in bid manipulation. It will decide which clicks will add value and can result in better returns on your investment.

List some of the Google Ad extensions

These include:

1. Call extensions
2. Sitelinks
3. Review extensions
4. Seller ratings
5. Social annotations 
6. Offer ads
7. Communication ads
8. Image and drop-down navigation ad extensions
9. Location extensions

What are the two most important factors that determine ad position? 

The most crucial factor that determines ad position is the cost per click or CPC. The second factor is the click-through rate or CTR.

How is the Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) calculated?

ROAS is calculated by sales/spend.

What is the Impression Share Metric?

Impression share equals impressions divided by the total eligible impressions (an impression is counted each time your ad is shown). Various factors are used to estimate impressions, including quality, approval, statuses, etc. The data is accessible to ad groups, campaigns, and product groups, for example, and can help you determine if it’s viable to increase your budget to reach more people.

What is the character limit of a destination URL?

A destination URL can have a maximum of 1024 characters.

What is the difference between managed and automatic placements?

You can decide the location of an ad for a managed placement. A managed ad can be placed on the location network. This option is not available for automatic placements.

What can you do if your ad gets disapproved?

When an ad gets disapproved, you will receive a notification. If this happens, you can work on the ad and fix any problems that might have caused the disapproval.

What is a Phrase Match?

Phrase match allows your ad to be displayed to target customers when they search for the exact keywords. 

Can your ad be used to link to a PDF format product brochure directly? 

No.

Which are better, broad matches with negative keywords or exact match keywords?

A broad match, along with negative keywords, will be more beneficial than an exact match keyword by itself. It will attract more traffic to your website. You will also be able to create keyword lists quickly. 

Do you think you're skilled enough in PPC advertising? Try these Advanced PPC Practice Exam Questions and find out now.

Conclusion

Cracking a PPC Google AdWords interview isn’t easy. But with a focused preparation strategy and an awareness of the top interview questions, your dream digital marketing job isn’t far away! If you wish to learn Adwords from scratch, enroll in Simplilearn’s Google AdWords Professional Certification Training Course that will enable you to master the significant aspects of Google Ads and launch successful ad campaigns. You can also check out our Digital Marketing Specialist Course and Post Graduate Digital Marketing Certification Program in association with Purdue University for a deeper understanding of the nuances of Pay-Per-Click, search engine marketing, display advertising, conversion optimization, web analytics, and campaign management.