Understanding Your AdWords Quality Score
What is a Quality Score?
Your AdWords Quality Score is a 1 – 10 number given to each keyword in your ad campaign. It’s Google’s way of telling you how well it expects your ad to perform, and how likely it is to display your ad.
Each keyword’s quality score is calculated by estimating the expected clickthrough rate, ad relevancy and landing page relevancy. The more likely a searcher is to find the information they’re looking for by clicking on your ad, the higher your score will be.
Remember: Google is looking out for their customers, and only want to show the best, most helpful ads they can.
Where can I find it?
You can find your Quality Score by heading to the ‘Keywords’ tab on your AdWords dashboard. To get there, first go to the ‘Campaign’ tab, then click on ‘Keywords.’ Locate the ‘Status’ column, and hover above or click on the white speech bubble next to each keyword.
It’ll list your Quality Score, as well as your expected clickthrough rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. Each of these will be rated as either Below Average, Average or Above Average.
Why is it important?
Your final ad rank on Google’s search page will weigh your Quality Score against factors like the amount you bid, geographic performance and device targeting.
While your score isn’t the only factor that goes into your ranking, it can still affect anything from your ad position to your cost-per-click. The higher your score, the better your chances of your ad landing on the top of the search results page. In fact, a high Quality Score can land you on the top of the Google search page, even if your bid is slightly lower than the competition. Google will always choose a more relevant ad over any other option.
How do I improve my score?
Even top marketers struggle to achieve ‘Above Average’ ratings – but that doesn’t mean a high Quality Score is out of your reach. Here’s what you can do:
Tightly segment keywords within your ad groups.
Create ad groups that focus on three or less keywords. Identify a keyword that’s important to your business, then build an ad, an ad group, and any ad extensions around that specific word or phrase.
Use that keyword while creating your ad – in the headline, in the description lines, even in the display URL. Having your keyword exactly match the text within your ad will instantly boost your ad relevancy. Although it can be tedious, creating new ads for each unique keyword is the only way to consistently earn a high ad relevancy rating.
Match your keywords to the content on your landing page.
Make sure each ad group has its own unique landing page. Always use specific landing pages when you have the option. If your website has dedicated pages for each separate tour or activity you offer, you should never send an ad back to your homepage. Always direct it to the page that would be most relevant to the searcher.
For example, if your business runs whale watching tours by both boat and by kayak, you should create two separate ad groups, with two distinct ads and two unique landing pages.
Revist, restructure, repeat.
Your Quality Score can change over time based on your ad’s performance. While it’s tempting to set it and forget it, it’s important that you check back on your ad groups to audit their success. If you have keywords that aren’t performing, don’t be afraid to make changes or stop bidding on them altogether.
The bottom line:
When it comes to building your AdWords campaign, think quality, not quantity. While bidding on more keywords may seem like the shortest route to more customers, more conversions, and more revenue, it can actually slow you down. Create specific ads that link to relevant landing pages, and your Quality Score and ROI will start to increase.
Looking for more AdWords help? Check out our experts’ advice here.
