Inconsistencies between Training Narratives , Exam Questions and Exam Answers

Academy HubSpot Academy Support
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My name is Doug Hartman and I am doing the Basic SEO Certification Course. I have done it twice and the last time missed passing by 1 point.

45 required I got 44.

I did not record the number of the question but I am sure we can resolve this without knowing the question number.

Exam Question. True or False. All link building tactics require building a relationship in order to work

My answer ‘False’ - I got it wrong

Reason for my answer - ALL link building … emphasis on ‘ALL’.

In my world ‘All’ includes "Internal links’ as well as ‘backlinks’.

I know you have to do it for 'backlinks, but ‘Internal Links’?

As you create all your own internal links, how do you build a relationship with yourself?

Training note hammers the importance of building relationships with backlinks but says nothing about relationships with ‘internal links ’ so the statement must be ’ False’

I entered ‘False’ and got it wrong

Suggestion. Take out the word ‘All’ let the question read

True or False 'Backlink building requires … There is no more ambiguity

Exam Question - True or False 'You should use hyphens, underscores, or spaces between words in your URL

The first time I did the exam I said ‘True’ because as per the training notes and I quote:- Taken from On-Page and Technical SEO Training

"Best Practices for Writing URLs

  • Include your primary keyword.
  • Use hyphens between words.
  • Keep them short and simple.
  • Describe the page contents,

I answer ‘True’ Reason - Training notes say you should use hyphens but not underscore and no spaces - so it’s half right

The second time I did the exam, knowing that I said ‘True’ the first time and got it wrong I say ‘False’ the second time and get it right -

but I know that’s not right because you should use ‘hyphens’.

How do I say “True use Hyphens” but False when it comes to using ‘underscores or spacers.’

You cannot do that -

If 'True ’ was wrong the first time. Stands to reason ‘False’ must be the right answer the second time. So even if you know it is ‘True’ you should use ‘hyphens’ just say ‘False’ and hope for the best.

As I said in the beginning I failed the second time by 1 point

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Hi Doug! Rachel Nagrecha here from HubSpot Academy. Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback on the phrasing of these T/F questions, as well as for explaining your thought process as you evaluated which answer to choose. Your suggestions for how we might rephrase the questions to avoid “tricking” the learner are well taken. T/F questions can be especially tricky when the question appears to assess if you can tell that part of the statement is true (as with your example of hyphens) but not all of it is true. I’ll share this feedback with the team -- thank you again!

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Editing the Editor,

Hi Rachel,

I am writing to you because I honestly don’t know who is the correct or appropriate person within HubSpot to contact.

I don’t think the Community platform is the correct place so as you answered my previous query regarding inconsistencies in exam questions

I am sending this to you and will ask that you pass it on to the responsible person.

It has to do with ‘inconsistencies ’ between what the presenter in the training videos for the Content Marketing Certification course says and what is printed in the corresponding transcribed training notes. In a nutshell, it amounts to bad editing, and as the presenter in the video "Effective Blog writing Tips’ says. and I quote "

“Finally, during the editing process, you ensure that the piece lacks any errors that could damage your credibility and the trust that you’ve built with the reader. Editing shows your audience that you care about their reading experience” The poor editing did spoil my reading experience .

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