Testing, Optimisation & Scaling Course
The ad testing course that ends the guesswork. Size a fair test, read it without fooling yourself, optimise without resetting learning and scale until the last pound stops paying.
- 5 Modules
- 26 Lessons
- 5 hrs
- Certificate of completion
- 100% online
Industry recognised certifications with
Google
Microsoft
HubSpot
Semrush- Google
- Microsoft
- HubSpot
- Semrush
- Google
- Microsoft
- HubSpot
- Semrush
- Google
- Microsoft
- HubSpot
- Semrush
- Google
- Microsoft
- HubSpot
- Semrush
An Online Ad Testing Course That Proves What Works
Learn PPC Optimisation And Scaling Online
This is the final course in our paid advertising courses: five modules, 26 written lessons and around five hours where everything you've learned becomes one loop. Like all our online digital marketing courses, it's 100% online and self-paced. You'll learn what to test and in what order, how to size a test, what significance really means and how to run lift, geo and holdout tests that show which sales your ads actually caused.
Why does it matter? Most advertisers watch the numbers wobble, call a winner and pour money in. This PPC training covers the calm weekly craft too: reading the data, respecting the learning phase on Google, Meta and LinkedIn, spotting when tracking or seasonality is lying to you, and scaling ads in steps with a stop-loss written first. It builds on our Google Ads course and Meta ads course, so take one of those first if you can.
Who This Paid Advertising Course Is For
- Advertisers who keep calling winners after one good week and regretting it
- Paid ads managers who want a calm weekly routine that doesn't reset learning
- Business owners ready to grow ad budgets without losing sight of profit
- Freelancers and in-house marketers who report paid results to owners or clients
The problem it solves
Most advertisers watch the numbers wobble, call a winner after a lucky week and pour money in, never knowing which changes paid.
What you'll be able to do
Size and read fair tests, prove what your ads really cause, optimise calmly and scale budgets in steps with a stop-loss in place.
Best for
Advertisers with live campaigns who are ready to test and scale properly.
What You'll Learn On This Paid Advertising Course
- 1The Testing MindsetWhere you learn the difference between a real result and a lucky week, before it costs you a season's budget
- 2Testing Every LeverCreative, audiences, offers and bids, then the biggest question of all: which sales would have happened without your ads?
- 3Optimisation & TweakingThe calm weekly craft of keeping winners winning, and spotting the days when the numbers are simply lying to you
- 4Scaling ProfitablyGrowing profit rather than spend: budget steps the platforms can absorb, and the stop-loss you write before the first one
- 5Running Paid Like a ProThe professional habits that keep an account clean, watched and reported without spin, then all nine courses on a single page
Inside The Testing, Optimisation & Scaling Course — Every Module
All 5 modules and 26 lessons, with a taste of what each one hides. Click any module to open it up.
1Module 1 — The Testing Mindset
Where you learn the difference between a real result and a lucky week, before it costs you a season's budget.
Lesson 1.1 — Why testing is the heart of paid advertising
- Why every change you've ever made to a campaign was already an experiment — just not a fair one.
- The two questions every test answers, and the one most advertisers never think to ask.
- What Smart Bidding and Meta's delivery system will never test for you, however clever they get.
Lesson 1.2 — What to test (and in what order)
- Why a bold change is cheaper to prove than a small one, and the maths that makes it so.
- The column ICE scoring leaves out — and how it reshuffles a notebook full of good ideas.
- Why the orange-button test doesn't deserve a budget, or even a debate.
Lesson 1.3 — A/B and split testing done properly
- Why a before-and-after comparison can't tell your new bid strategy from a busy December.
- When testing the whole package beats testing one thing at a time — and what you give up.
- The quick check that catches a broken test before it fools you into a bad decision.
Lesson 1.4 — Statistical significance and avoiding false reads
- What '95% confident' really means — and the comforting things it doesn't.
- How checking a test every morning quietly manufactures winners that aren't there.
- Course 04's Performance Max question, finally answered with a sum you can do on your phone.
Lesson 1.5 — Sample size, test length and the smallest lift worth finding
- Why planning a test at the bare minimum is really booking a coin toss.
- The commonest sizing mistake there is, hiding in how you describe the lift you want.
- What to do when the honest answer is 'more traffic than you'll ever get'.
2Module 2 — Testing Every Lever
Creative, audiences, offers and bids, then the biggest question of all: which sales would have happened without your ads?
Lesson 2.1 — Testing creative (the biggest lever)
- The proud 'winner' in Hearth & Wick's creative log, and why it was only ever a hint.
- Why proving one hook beats another on sales could take longer than the hooks will last.
- Where AI-made variations earn their keep, and why they belong nowhere near a concept test.
Lesson 2.2 — Testing audiences and targeting
- Why so many 'broad beats interests' tests really compared two ad sets reaching much the same people.
- The audience that wins on cost per purchase by quietly re-finding people who'd already bought.
- The most practical audience test a local business can run, and how to keep it from blurring your numbers.
Lesson 2.3 — Testing offers and landing pages
- The one-word reply that stopped Ledgerly shipping a trial test that looked like a clear win.
- Why every offer test needs a guardrail, the number that catches a win that's secretly a loss.
- How to test prices without inventing a 'was' price the ASA would take a dim view of.
Lesson 2.4 — Testing bidding and campaign structure
- When Google calls a result 'favourable' — and why that can still mean unprofitable.
- The default setting to switch off before a bidding test makes your decision for you.
- Why the first fortnight of a bidding test is the worst possible time to read it.
Lesson 2.5 — Incrementality: lift, geo and holdout tests
- One campaign, three report cards that wildly disagree, and the only evidence that can settle it.
- How to run a do-it-yourself geo test on your own sales — no rep or lift study required.
- Why switching a campaign off is the bluntest, cheapest test there is, and when it misleads.
3Module 3 — Optimisation & Tweaking
The calm weekly craft of keeping winners winning, and spotting the days when the numbers are simply lying to you.
Lesson 3.1 — Reading the data and knowing what to change
- How phones and computers can both convert better while the total gets worse.
- Why the first link to check is the cheapest problem to fix and the most expensive to miss.
- The Northline slump that cutting bids would only have made worse.
Lesson 3.2 — The optimisation workflow (and the learning phase)
- Two near-identical accounts, one calm and understood, and the workflow that made the difference.
- How Google, Meta and LinkedIn each define the learning phase, side by side for once.
- The change log that explains every jump on the chart long after everyone's forgotten why.
Lesson 3.3 — Killing losers and scaling winners
- Why most accounts don't lack winners — they lose them to Friday-afternoon moods.
- Which of kill, fix, keep and scale deserves the most use, and gets the least.
- The ad set your dashboard says to cut, and why it may be the one worth keeping.
Lesson 3.4 — Avoiding over-tweaking and resetting learning
- How eleven reasonable changes in a month convinced one owner that Google doesn't work.
- The normal week-to-week wobble of a perfectly healthy campaign, and the pattern that would actually be news.
- What Google's Optimisation Score really measures, and what Meta says its own score doesn't.
Lesson 3.5 — When the data lies: tracking breaks, delays, seasonality and one-off events
- Why yesterday's cost per sale nearly always looks worse than it really was.
- The Google tool that tells Smart Bidding to forget a broken week, and what it must never be used for.
- How one attribution setting can 'lose' purchases without a single candle going unsold.
4Module 4 — Scaling Profitably
Growing profit rather than spend: budget steps the platforms can absorb, and the stop-loss you write before the first one.
Lesson 4.1 — What scaling really means (and the traps)
- One of the most expensive sentences in advertising — and you may have said it yourself.
- How a falling average return can sit alongside a business that's quietly getting richer.
- The six traps that turn growth into expensive noise, from saturation to sliding lead quality.
Lesson 4.2 — Vertical and horizontal scaling
- Two owners hit the same wall: one doubled the budget, the other grew. What the second one noticed.
- The columns that tell you whether your account wants more money or more room.
- Whose advice Google's recommended budget really is, and what to plan from instead.
Lesson 4.3 — Scaling budgets without tanking performance
- Overnight, by Friday or step by step? How to climb fast enough to matter and slowly enough to read.
- Why Google's own help pages pull in different directions on budget changes, and the habit that settles it.
- The rung where Ledgerly's climb stopped, and how little the average moved when it did.
Lesson 4.4 — Scaling across platforms
- How two ad platforms can claim 350 orders from a shop that only took 300.
- Why the next pound rarely belongs on the platform with the best-looking ROAS.
- The question a new-platform test can answer on a small budget, and the one it can't.
Lesson 4.5 — Forecasting and funding growth
- Why growth eats cash before it makes any — and how deep the hole can go.
- Which of your forecasts to fund, and which one to leave out of the decision altogether.
- When slowing down on purpose is the smartest growth move on the table.
Lesson 4.6 — Scaling the engine: creative volume, people and processes
- Every number in the ad account says 'scale' while the business behind it quietly says 'slow down'.
- Why an agency's fee structure can shape its advice, and the three rules that protect you.
- What breaks first when the ads start working — and it's rarely in the ad account.
5Module 5 — Running Paid Like a Pro
The professional habits that keep an account clean, watched and reported without spin, then all nine courses on a single page.
Lesson 5.1 — Account management and hygiene
- How your agency might own your Google Ads account today without anyone meaning it to.
- Why 'nothing has gone wrong yet' is exactly how these access stories usually begin.
- The monthly hygiene check that takes under an hour and protects every test you'll run.
Lesson 5.2 — Automation, rules and AI assistants as guardrails
- The Friday rule that switched off a perfectly healthy campaign by Monday morning.
- Why connecting an AI assistant to your ad account can hand it more power than you meant to.
- The 'CTR spiral' an automated rule can drive your ads into, and Google's own advice for avoiding it.
Lesson 5.3 — Reporting on paid performance to stakeholders and clients
- Why most ad reports are a screenshot tour that never answers the owner's real question.
- The GA4 setting worth changing today, or next year's comparisons come up empty.
- How to break bad news so a client can live with it — and what happens if they find it first.
Lesson 5.4 — Troubleshooting underperforming campaigns
- The five symptoms almost every underperforming campaign fits into, and why you name one first.
- Why fixing two things in the same week feels efficient and leaves you none the wiser.
- Four cast cases where the obvious fix would have been exactly the wrong one.
Lesson 5.5 — Bringing the whole programme together
- Nine courses, nine big ideas — and why not one of them is a button.
- Your 90-day plan, week by week, from break-even figures to your first big test read properly.
- How the final assessment works, and the three habits to carry into every account you touch.
Flexible Online Learning & Friendly Dedicated Tutors
Choose between self-paced syllabus study, live weekly group coaching sessions, or intensive coaching with built-in career opportunities.
Online Self-Paced
Learn on your own schedule
Develop industry-leading skills entirely on your own schedule. Enjoy permanent access to pristine video guides and professional tutor review workflows.
- Your chosen course package(s)
- Professional, fun and easy-to-use learning platform
- Student support 7 days a week
- Tutor-marked assessments
- Official certification pathways
Blended Learning
Self-paced + live group coaching
Get the best of both worlds. Learn at your own pace while joining live sessions and workshops to stay on track.
- Lifetime access to help with real work after you qualify
- A free monthly live workshop on broad marketing strategy
- Private community access for peer support
- Voice channel for networking & work sessions
Coaching Intensive
Maximum support, tailored to you
The ultimate accelerated path. Partner directly with dedicated marketing experts to map bespoke campaigns and secure direct agency placements.
- 2× live weekly intensive coaching sessions with our founder & expert coaches
- Exclusive access to a premium space for Coaching Intensive members
- Priority access to support, our founder and coaches
- Real-life job opportunities
- Real-life networking opportunities
Choose Your Paid Advertising Course Package
Bundle up and save versus buying courses individually. Pick the learning style that suits you — switch below to see each price.
Essentials
The core skills to plan, launch and run profitable campaigns on Meta.
Self-Paced (one-off)
Platform access · tutor support · community · tutor-marked assessments
5 courses included
- 01. Foundations
- 02. Strategy & Funnel
- 03. Ad Creative
- 04. Google Ads
- 05. Meta Ads
- 06. LinkedIn Ads
- 07. Landing Pages
- 08. AOV & ROAS
- 09. Testing & Scaling
Elite
Everything in Essentials, plus Google Ads and the testing that scales what works.
Self-Paced (one-off)
Platform access · tutor support · community · tutor-marked assessments
7 courses included
- 01. Foundations
- 02. Strategy & Funnel
- 03. Ad Creative
- 04. Google Ads
- 05. Meta Ads
- 06. LinkedIn Ads
- 07. Landing Pages
- 08. AOV & ROAS
- 09. Testing & Scaling
Ultimate
Every paid advertising course we make — the complete, no-gaps arsenal.
Self-Paced (one-off)
Platform access · tutor support · community · tutor-marked assessments
All 9 courses
- 01. Foundations
- 02. Strategy & Funnel
- 03. Ad Creative
- 04. Google Ads
- 05. Meta Ads
- 06. LinkedIn Ads
- 07. Landing Pages
- 08. AOV & ROAS
- 09. Testing & Scaling
Struck-through prices show the equivalent value bought separately — courses at £149 each, plus the live coaching on Blended and Intensive — so every package saves you the same amount on all three tiers. Prices are one-off, per package.
Official Certificate Pathways
Get official certifications and bonus resources from the likes of Google, HubSpot, Anthropic and more to boost your CV and accelerate your career.
How We Build Our Paid Advertising Courses
Each academy program is structured to pack pure actionable utility, combining theoretical curriculum, verified demos, and certified tutor feedback.
Spec Content
Professionally written lessons that are easy to understand, fun to learn, and jam-packed with valuable information.
Knowledge Checks
Test your skills after every lesson with exciting & challenging multiple-choice questionnaires.
Official Certifications
Expand your knowledge further with structured pathways to official certifications from industry-recognised leaders like Google, HubSpot, and more.
On-Demand Support
Messaging, community, group Q&As or Coaching Intensive — we look after everyone.
Marked Assessments
Do what we teach, get marked with feedback, and earn a real certificate at the end of it all.
We're Making Education Fun Again
Our Testing, Optimisation & Scaling Course is built like a game. You start one quick lesson, and an hour later you're still going: keeping your streak alive, unlocking achievements and levelling up through test sizing, holdout tests and budget steps the platforms can absorb. Each lesson ends with a knowledge check, so the XP you collect is earned. As the final course in the programme, it pulls everything together, and we made it hard to put down so you reach the finish line with a 90-day plan in hand.
Testing, Optimisation & Scaling Course — Frequently Asked Questions
Clear answers to the questions advertisers ask before they enrol on our ad testing training.
More About Our Online Paid Advertising Courses
Can I study ad testing online around my job?
Why do so many ad tests give the wrong answer?
What should I know before starting this ad testing course?
How much time does Testing, Optimisation & Scaling need?
Which paid ads packages include testing and scaling?
Will I earn a certificate for Testing, Optimisation & Scaling?
What does this PPC optimisation training cover that others skip?
Which course pairs well with Testing, Optimisation & Scaling?
Download The Full Paid Advertising Curriculum
Get the complete 250-lesson breakdown across all 9 paid advertising courses — every module, every lesson — sent straight to your inbox. Or enquire and we'll help you choose the right paid advertising course or package.
