I’ve been running Google Ads campaigns since 2005. In that time I’ve managed millions of pounds in ad spend, made most of the expensive mistakes so you don’t have to, and watched the platform evolve from something you could learn in a weekend to something that takes serious study to get right.
This is my honest take on the best ways to learn it.
Why it’s worth learning properly
Google Ads puts you in front of people at the exact moment they’re searching for what you sell. No algorithm games, no waiting months for SEO to move — you bid on the search terms that matter, your ad appears, you get the click.
The catch is that doing it badly costs real money. I’ve seen people burn through thousands in a month on campaigns that were never going to work. The difference between a profitable campaign and an expensive lesson is almost always knowledge — specifically, understanding how the platform actually thinks.
A few hours of proper training will save you many times its cost. Here’s where to spend those hours.
1. Google Skillshop (free — start here)
Google Skillshop is Google’s own training platform and it costs nothing. The Google Ads courses cover Search, Display, Shopping, Video and Measurement — each broken into short modules you work through at your own pace.
Complete the assessments and you earn Google Ads certifications. These are legitimate credentials if you’re doing client work or job-hunting. More practically, working through the material gives you the foundation you need before you touch a real campaign.
It’s not the most exciting content ever made. But it’s accurate, regularly updated, and covers the platform as Google intends it to be used. Do it first.
2. Udemy: The Complete Google Ads Masterclass
Once you’ve done Skillshop, you need practical depth. The best place to get it is the top-rated Google Ads course on Udemy — over 300,000 students, consistently strong reviews, and instructors who’ve managed real campaigns for real clients.
Udemy courses run £10–15 in promotions (which is almost always). For that you get lifetime access to 20+ hours of video, practical walkthrough of real campaign setup, and the kind of tactical depth Skillshop doesn’t go near — Quality Score, bidding strategy, negative keywords, conversion tracking, account structure.
The Skillshop tells you how Google wants the platform used. Udemy tells you how people who spend their own money on it actually make it work.
3. Perry Marshall’s Ultimate Guide to Google Ads (book)
Perry Marshall effectively wrote the textbook on this. The Ultimate Guide to Google Ads is now in its sixth edition and still the best text-based resource available. Perry’s engineering background gives him an analytical rigour that suits a platform built on auction mechanics and quality scores.
If you prefer reading to watching videos, get this alongside whichever online course you choose. The later chapters on bidding strategy and account structure contain insights you won’t find in most courses.
I read the original edition when I was already a Google-certified consultant. Still picked up new ideas. That’s the mark of a good book.
4. WordStream Learning Center
WordStream manages hundreds of millions in Google Ads spend for clients. Their Learning Center is free and draws directly on that experience. It goes deeper on optimisation and account management than most beginner resources — particularly useful once campaigns are running and you’re trying to improve them.
Their guides on Quality Score, search term analysis and bidding strategies are especially good. Treat it as a reference resource rather than a linear course — bookmark it and return to specific topics as they become relevant.
5. LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning has a well-regarded Google Ads Essential Training course that covers account setup, keyword research, bidding, ad copy and conversion tracking in a structured, methodical way. It suits people who learn better from a curriculum than from picking topics as they come up.
You need a LinkedIn Learning subscription, which makes it less cost-effective than Udemy for a single course. Worth considering if you’re already subscribed or you want to work through multiple marketing courses.
6. Classroom training
If you learn better with a trainer in the room — someone you can interrupt and ask questions of — classroom training is worth the premium. A well-run Google Ads training day can compress weeks of self-directed learning.
In the UK, Jellyfish and Diginius both run well-regarded Google Ads courses. In the US, quality varies by city — search “Google Ads training course [your city]” and look for providers who have been running courses for several years, not last week’s pop-up.
The two things that matter most after training
Keywords. Google Ads lives and dies on targeting the right search terms. Get these wrong and you’ll pay for clicks from people who were never going to buy. A proper keyword research tool makes the difference — Mangools KWFinder is the one I use. It shows search volume, keyword difficulty, and competitor data, and it’s considerably cheaper than the enterprise alternatives. There’s a free trial if you want to check it before committing.
Landing pages. Most beginners send Google Ads traffic to their homepage and wonder why it doesn’t convert. It doesn’t convert because your homepage is trying to do too many things at once. Paid traffic needs a dedicated landing page with one job: convert the visitor.
Systeme.io is the tool I’d point you to for this. It builds landing pages, sales funnels, email sequences and more — and unlike most funnel builders it has a genuinely useful free plan to start on. If you’re running paid ads without a proper landing page, fix that first.
Where to start
Skillshop first. Then the Udemy course. Then the Perry Marshall book on your shelf for reference.
More important than any of these: set up a live campaign with a small budget and start learning by doing. Training without a real account to experiment in doesn’t stick. Even £50 of real spend will teach you more than hours of video.
Have a Google Ads training resource worth recommending? Leave a comment below.