Learning a new trade isn’t easy. Whether you choose structured learning or self learning, any complex skill requires regular, disciplined study to become proficient. The rule of 10,000 hours typically applies, but it’s not just that— those hours must be well spent. It’s not enough to amble through your study, trusting unqualified sources for your information. You need to be strict, not only with yourself but also with who you learn from. In the era of media skepticism, it’s healthy to vet who you learn from before you start studying a new trade.
Google Ads is no different. This skill requires both technical and creative knowledge, and it simply isn’t easy to learn. There are so many pitfalls along the path that diagnosing problems in a Google Ads account can be a real challenge. Some internet privacy protocols obfuscate data— some user searches that lead to key actions for your business are blocked, certain data is unavailable in Google Analytics because audiences sizes are too small, and other data is reserved for the sake of user privacy. Combine this, the difficulty of finding the right audience on Google Ads, the complexity of writing copy and making creatives that will drive them to action, and certain confusing settings that could cause your ad spend to be virtually wasted, and it becomes clear that when learning Google Ads you’re stepping into rough terrain. This is why you need to take the right approach to your learning, and find the method that works for you. In this post we outline the most common learning methods that lead to Google Ads success, and try to detail how someone starting from scratch can use them to create their first successful campaign.
Why You Should Teach Yourself
We start by outlining this option because, honestly, it’s the most common. Self learning is the method that most of the University of Marketing’s leadership took to become experts. And, of course, it’s the most cost effective, at least to start. In 2025 it’s easier than ever— so many companies and influencers putting out so much content that can help you learn. In proper self learning it’s virtually guaranteed your’ll become a master of Google Ads, and in this way it may be the most successful learning method. But it comes at a massive time cost. Because Google Ads is such a technical skill, and one that’s perishable with each update Google makes, it can take a long time to teach yourself and become proficient. Reading all the free content you can find, watching every useful video on Youtube, following and considering the perspectives of the most relevant influencers, reading books, and other self paced content all take a lot of time to complete. For most business owners, or even most workers that want to develop a new skill, the time you take to learn Google Ads comes at a direct opportunity cost. What’s more, learning Google Ads takes a lot of focus too. To pick up the most useful techniques and methods to drive ROAS takes mental energy that can, or sometimes needs to be, spent elsewhere. The bottom line is that if you value your time, teaching yourself may even be the most costly method.
To make sure your hard work bears fruit take special care to spend your learning time well. Through proper due diligence and using trusted, reliable sources, you can dramatically shorten the amount of time it takes to drive profit from Google Ads. Focus on quality rather than quantity here; you want to study from the best sources. This doesn’t mean you need to begin with expert-level content, far from it. Instead, you just need to make sure you’re learning from a source that will focus on foundational skills. You need to learn to create a campaign that drives not only brand attention but visitors, leads, and customers from your target market in dynamic market conditions. Achieving this isn’t easy, so not every source can help you learn this. Don’t forget to do your research ahead of time to prevent a ton of headache and wasted time.
Why You Should Take a Course
Formal courses are another popular method to learn Google Ads, and can be very effective. Most people find courses the faster, smoother track to learn this skill. Courses productize the advice of experts, and can dramatically cut down the time it takes to become proficient on Google Ads. Courses are also perfect for those who may not have the time to teach themselves, or those that can’t complete the trial and error cycles it takes to fall into becoming an expert. Courses are available online or in person too, so you’ll be able to find the structure and timing that best suits you. You can choose anything from self-paced learning to intensive trade school programs where you’ll spend hours a day and leave with a certificate or even placement assistance into a new internship or career.
Choosing the right course for your needs comes with two main challenges. First, you must make sure to choose one in which core lessons teach practical Google Ads skills. A poor choice will earn you a flimsy understanding of subjects that quickly become your everyday work— you may learn useless information at a heavy cost. Quality in these courses ranges widely, so you need to vet the content you choose to trust, and also make sure what you learn is worth the cost— this can range from just a couple hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. To do this look into the person or group teaching the course, the organization publishing it, the curriculum, online reviews, customer testimonials. You could even take this as far as looking at graduation rates, placement stats, or other objective measures that people often use before committing to trade school or college training.
The second challenge exists in all forms of learning— retaining information and applying it under real world conditions. Frankly, few technical courses excel at this; and of course most education is subject to the forgetting curve. It’s easy to explain core internet marketing principles and how Google Ads works on a basic level. Far harder, though, is explaining how they work in practical application. Real life is far more complicated than any textbook, which means there’s a lot more nuance in managing a successful campaign through its lifecycle. Every successful campaign includes launch, a drive to breakeven, pushing to goal return or CPA, scaling, and perhaps automation stages. Each of these somewhat breaks the mold of the previous stage— what you do to establish your first customers with Google Ads isn’t the same thing you’ll do to scale. To add to this, most courses can’t accurately address the ups and downs that happen in managing a Google Ads account between competitors, market demand, evolving technology, etc. This means formal learning alone won’t be enough to teach you to make your campaigns highly successful. Instead teaching yourself, or at least learning to apply what you learned, is a required step in the pursuit of excellence. To bridge the gap, find an expert to mentor you. You may pay a consultant, or just make a friend who can offer advice as you watch results. Getting outside help can really be the difference between floundering and beating the competition.
Whether you teach yourself or take formal courses, your success is determined by your drive. For most, the motivation may be present at the beginning of an endeavor but doesn’t last. You need to maintain energy and focus; we all know this simply isn’t easy to do, but it defines greatness. To stay on the right track, remind yourself how your hard work will benefit you: success awaits whether you’re a business owner or in charge of campaigns for an employer. Your ability to start a profitable campaign presents a massive career opportunity, potential profits from a business, or even an opportunity to grow community activism if that’s your goal.
Second, find a way to make the work fun or exciting. Follow your favorite personalities in the space to keep a flow of new information coming. Set a goal, for yourself or your team, and include a reward key achievements along your path. At the end of the day Google Ads isn’t rocket science. If you can keep your momentum, there’s no doubt you can learn what it takes to run tests and establish successful campaigns.