Quality score is a metric in Google Ads. Running on a scale of 1-10, higher quality scores denote better quality advertisements. How Google determines the quality score is based on the expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience.
It’s good to know that a quality score isn’t the ultimate metric of success when creating a PPC (pay-per-click) campaign. That said, Google states quality scores should be regarded as a ‘general indicator of which areas to focus on to improve ad quality’.
Ensuring quality and relevance across all aspects of a Google Ads campaign will likely lead to better results overall, hence it’s well worth taking note of any low quality scores so that these can be improved.
Don’t know where to start with all things Google Ads? As PPC specialists, our team here Imaginaire can oversee all aspects of your campaigns, including improving your Google Ads quality score.
In the meantime, here is what you need to know.
Review Quality Score
Beyond giving a score out of 10, Google will also give you a run down of the elements we mentioned above (expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience) which work in tandem to generate your overall score.
So, it’s worth clicking on these elements in the Google Ads dashboard to see which aspects are working for or against your campaign. Doing so will ensure that any adjustments made are in the right place, rather than changing something that actually scored highly.
Improve Ad Relevance
It’s probably not a surprise that many of the steps to boost your Google Ads quality score will relate to the three main components that a quality score is based on – improving ad relevance is no exception.
Similar to SEO, PPC also works best when content meets user expectations. That’s because if a PPC campaign uses certain keywords but these don’t relate to the content or actions on the page that users click on, users will instantly leave the page. Not only will this lower the quality score, but it will also lower conversions.
Negative keywords are just one example of how to improve ad relevance. This involves removing words which are spelled the same as the keyword you’re trying to target (i.e. wine glasses and glasses as in spectacles) so that users don’t get shown irrelevant ads.
Improve The Click Through Rate (CTR) Of The Ad
The whole idea of a PPC campaign is that users will click on your ad. While you might use less of your ad budget when ads aren’t getting many clicks, Google will deem this a huge negative. If so, the CTR rate will be deemed ‘average’ or ‘below average’.
Advertisers need to work out why users aren’t clicking on their ad, which can sometimes be easier said than done.
Though some points for improvement often include:
- – Re-writing the ad headings and body copy so that the ad is more compelling.
- – Including actionable words and phrases such as ‘shop now’ and ‘free delivery’.
- – Ensuring the ad offers maximum relevance based on specific user searches (search intent).
- – Experimenting with different variables such as location targeting and times that the ad is shown to find the most optimum settings.
Update Your Landing Page (Relevance + User Experience)
Any PPC campaign isn’t actually the final step of getting a sale. Instead it’s there to drive traffic to the place where sales happen (aka your website).
Therefore, Google also considers the end destination of a PPC campaign when weighing up a quality score.
There are lots of aspects that can create a poor experience for website users. As website designers ourselves here at Imaginaire, it’s our job to identify and remedy such issues before they cause a problem such as low quality scores within your PPC campaign.
In a nutshell, some of the top website errors include:
- – Websites that aren’t responsive (fails to load correctly on mobile or tablet devices)
- – Websites or pages that are slow to load
- – Not updating code, plugins or security certificates causing page errors
- – Complicated website navigation meaning users give up and exit the page
- – Poor web design
These errors are far from exhaustive. Though something all website errors have in common is that they will most certainly negatively impact all areas of a business, if users cannot access the page or complete conversional aspects as a result.
Imaginaire – PPC Specialists Nottingham
Having any trouble finding success on Google Ads? Whether it’s your PPC campaigns at fault or even your landing page experience – Imaginaire is here to help.
As a digital marketing agency based in Nottingham, we offer a full spectrum of services covering all your business marketing needs.
For any help or advice on Google Ads quality scores or anything else we’ve mentioned in this post, drop us a message or give us a call on 0115 697 1541.
