The quality score is an attribute that Ads assigns to keywords in your account. This score directly affects the cost per click and therefore campaign performance.
A low quality score leads to a higher cost per click, which in turn leads to fewer clicks within budget. A higher quality score results in a lower cost per click. The position of an ad is calculated by multiplying the quality score by the maximum CPC. When it improves, the ad position will also improve. So it pays to optimize the quality score. In this blog you will read how to improve your quality score in Google Ads.
This is the key question this blog is about. How exactly the score is calculated is not entirely clear. After all, Google does not reveal its algorithms lightly. But some things are known. For example, the following things directly affect the quality score:
We will now show you, through the above aspects, a roadmap to improve your quality score.
Start by making ads more relevant by choosing one theme per ad group. However, related keywords that you think belong to the same theme may still be better broken down. For example, consider the brand name Timberland and Timberland jacket ladies. These seem to belong to the same theme, but in the landing page example, you can see that they would be better split up. Having the keywords from an ad group reflected in the ad text increases relevance.
The landing page is the page a visitor lands on after clicking on an ad. Google looks for relevance between keywords and landing pages. This is another reason to break down keywords as far as possible into very specific ad groups. The landing page should also match the expectation a visitor has. After all, someone clicks on the ad with a certain expectation and the landing page should match this. Below is a great example where the expectation I have does not match the landing page.
A while back I was looking for a women's Timberland jacket, but the ad then sent me to an overview page of the brand. Visitors are much more likely to leave the site because the result does not directly match their search intent. So check regularly to see if the keywords where an ad is shown actually match the landing page.
Google calculates how likely someone is to click on the ad after performing a search. This is also known as the expected click rate. One way to increase click frequency is to use "keyword insertion" in the ad title. The words someone uses in their search are then automatically used in the ad title. When someone's exact search query is in the ad title, they are more likely to click on it. To do this, use the code {KeyWord: keyword} and replace "keyword" with a keyword from your ad group.
Another way to increase the expected click rate is to use ad extensions. For example, you can add a call extension that will display a phone number with the ad. This is especially convenient when someone performs a search from their mobile. But you can also emphasize your company's USPs by using highlight extensions. The extensions are not shown by default by Google.
This blog contains some tips that you can use yourself to improve quality score in Google Ads. If you would like more information you can also contact me. Hopefully the tips will help you get more return from your Ads campaigns.
