To truly master Pay-Per-Click and Google Ads, you need to understand Quality Score. Not only does the Quality Score have an influence over the cost of your campaign, but also how effective the ads perform.
Our PPC marketing experts have put together the following guide to get you up to speed, covering what the Quality Score means, how it is calculated and ways in which you can improve yours today.
What is the ‘Quality Score’ in PPC?
Quality Score is a diagnostic tool that gives you a sense of how well your ad quality compares to other advertisers. The score is measured on a scale from 1-10 and is available at the keyword level.
A higher Quality Score will mean that your ad and landing page are more relevant and useful to someone searching for your keyword, in comparison to other advertisers.
How is the Quality Score calculated?
The Quality Score is calculated based on the combined performance of three components:
- Expected click-through rate: the likelihood your ad will be clicked when it is shown.
- Ad relevancy: how closely your ad matches the intent behind a user’s search.
- Landing page experience: how relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click the ad.
Score: WordStream
Each of these components is evaluated with the status of ‘Above average, ‘Average’, or ‘Below average’. This evaluation is based on the previous 90-day period.
Why the Quality Score Matters
The main reason that the Quality Score is so important is because of cost. According to Google, the higher the Quality Score, the less you will pay per click for your ads. Even if there is low competition for your keywords, you may still end up paying your maximum CPC if your ad quality is low.
From a value perspective, the Quality Score can help you to better optimise your campaign for better performance and results. Knowing where you fail in each component can allow you to ensure users have a positive experience at each stage of their journey. For example, if your landing page has a ‘Below average’ Quality Score, you know you need to make improvements to this stage of the ad experience.
How to Improve Your Quality Score
Improving your Quality Score has a direct correlation to the success of your Google Ads campaign and how well your ads perform. By optimising your Quality Score, you’ll be setting yourself up for a higher return on investment.
Here are just a few ways in which you can improve your Quality Score:
1. Optimise your landing page
Follow the landing page best practices to produce a fully-optimised page that connects directly with your ad and provides a cohesive experience for users.
2. Keyword research & organisation
By discovering new and highly relevant keywords for your campaign, you can contribute to the overall traffic of your landing page. Don’t forget to explore long-tail opportunities as well. With your keywords listed, it’s time to split them into organised groups so they can be more effectively tied to individual ad campaigns.
3. Improve ad copy
One of the best ways to increase the click-through rate of your ads is by improving the ad copy. You can test out different ad copy options to see which generates the most clicks.
4. Add negative keywords
Research, identify, and exclude the irrelevant search terms that are wasting your budget. This will help to streamline the campaign by ensuring all the budget is focused on the relevant searches, thus improving the ad relevancy.
PPC marketing agency topclick has an excellent team with proven experience setting up, optimising, and maintaining PPC ads across Google and Bing. We understand that no client is the same, so our campaigns are tailored to each individual goal.
Our team has experience across multiple industries generating leads, calls, sales, traffic, and app installs. Drawing on our wealth of knowledge we can help you decide what type of campaign best suits your needs. Contact us today for more information.