How to improve Quality Score in Google Ads?

Search network ads are still one of the main branches of Google Ads. Despite the emergence of new types of campaigns from time to time, Search ones still form the backbone of many advertising accounts. Therefore, it is important that the ads we create are of the highest possible quality. Whether our ad gets clicked on by a customer depends on whether we stand out from the competition positively. However, it is not true that only headlines, text, and keywords affect the quality score and CTR that our ad gets.

What is Quality Score? 

Simply put, it is the “score” that Google gives our advertising. It allows us to compare the quality of our ads against the competition. This way, you know which ad should be improved. The ratings are presented on a scale of 1 to 10, and we can preview them at the keyword level. This seems like an odd way to do it — since we’re talking about specific ads, it’s the ads that should be rated, not the keyword. However, it makes sense when we look at the ad from the user’s side. He is the one who types the keyword into the search engine, and he is the one who views the ads. If the ad doesn’t show what the customer was looking for, it means the keyword is poorly chosen (or the ad content needs improvement).

It is worth remembering that the quality score does not affect bidding rates or positions in auctions. It only relates to the user’s experience when interacting with the ad after searching for specific keywords.

What influences the quality score?

Google states that only three factors affect Quality Score. They are:

• Click-through rate (CTR)
• Advertising accuracy
• Quality of the landing page

If we want our advertising to achieve the highest possible quality score, we should especially look at these elements. 

Click-through rate (CTR)

What CTR is, most people who deal with marketing know. However, as a matter of chronicle duty, I will remind you that CTR (click-through rate) is the ratio of the number of clicks on an ad to the number of total impressions. 

It is used to determine the effectiveness of advertising and keyword selection. It seems logical: if the keywords are well-chosen and the ad is attractive to the customer, the probability that he will click on the ad is higher. The higher the CTR is, the more true our ads are.

How to improve predicted CTR? 

1. Check whether the keywords in the ad group match the ad content. If the keywords are about winter footwear, and in the content of the ad the headlines encourage the purchase of sandals, then something is wrong.
2. Correct the headlines and ad text. When creating a flexible search advertising, we have a preview of the ad quality rating. Effectiveness rated at “average” is a minimum.

3. Use texts that call to action. So-called CTAs often significantly affect the CTR of an ad.
4. Stand out from the competition. Let your ad attract customers with originality and encouraging content. Here you can highlight, for example, a product feature or advantage of your company.

Advertising relevance

This factor has already been addressed above, as it is related to click-through rate. Relevance refers to the degree to which the content of the ad matches the query that the user typed into the search engine. 

How to improve ad relevance?

1. Select relevant keywords. The ad must be related thematically and in terms of content to the chosen keywords. The more precise the keywords, the better, however, this carries with it the creation of multiple variants of ads.
2. Create multiple variants of ads and test their effectiveness. Such actions help to see which ads are more relevant and better attract customers.
3. Tailor your target audience. Advertising should speak to the needs and interests of users. 

Landing page quality

It is the degree of likelihood that the content of the landing page is what the user is looking for. The content of the page should reflect what the ad is about and what the potential customer was looking for. In the case where a user clicks on an ad for winter footwear, the landing page should feature boots and trappers, not sandals or flip-flops. In addition, the factor takes into account the ease of navigating the site or the speed of loading content.

How to improve the quality of a landing page?

1. Match your ads to the content of the page. Overly generic ads or directing all traffic to the homepage may not be the best solution.
2. Check whether the site meets UX standards. Customers are more likely to leave a site if navigating through it is unintuitive.
3. Adapt the site for mobile devices and tablets. Just because a site looks good on a computer browser doesn’t mean it’s the same on mobile devices. The percentage of people who browse the Internet specifically using smartphones is growing every year.
4. Make your website load faster. If your website content takes too long to load, your rejection rate will be higher. You can do this, for example, via Google’s dedicated PageSpeed Insights 

What is Google PageSpeed Insights?

Google PageSpeed Insights is a free tool developed by Google that measures website performance and speed. It provides valuable information and suggestions for optimizing your site’s performance on mobile devices and desktop computers.

To use the tool, go to PageSpeed Insights and paste the link to the site you want to test into the box in the center of the page. The tool will analyze the site’s content and show a performance score on a 100-point scale. The higher the score, the better the performance and loading speed of our site. If the score is low, at the bottom of the page you will find suggestions on what to do to improve it.

Quality advertising is no problem for us!

Creating quality ads can be tiring, especially when you don’t know how to go about it! Our specialists know how to do it. We are an experienced team that perfectly understands all the mechanisms of Google Ads. We will run your campaign with attention to every detail!

Contact us!

What-doesn’t-influence-quality-result?

Although the ad quality score is determined by historical data, not all dimensions and settings affect it. The quality score will not change if:

1. You increase the rates at the keywords in our ad group.
2. Transfer ad groups to another campaign or to another Google Ads account.
3. You will increase your campaign budget.
4. You will increase the number of conversions gained from a campaign or ad group.
5. You will add or modify ad extensions

The above factors are relevant to, for example, ad ranking, ad effectiveness or ad frequency. These criteria are more important than the ad quality score, so it’s still worth taking them into account when running an account (but not if you only care about the quality score). 

How to check the quality score on our account?

As I mentioned at the beginning, the quality score of ads relates to keywords, and so you will find it… Well, just in the keyword preview. To do this, go to the selected campaign and select the “Keywords → Search Keywords” tab. 

When previewing Quality Score for the first time, you need to add a new column to the preview. We do this by selecting the “Columns” option (above the data, below the chart) and then pointing to the “Modify” option. Here we find the “Quality score” segment, expand it and select the dimensions we are interested in. We then save the changes and return to the keywords.

As you can see in the screenshot, the column with the quality score will be visible in the right part of our table. 

Why is it a good idea to regularly check the quality score?

Periodic monitoring of ad quality is important, especially when our ads “catch” a large number of impressions. The ads are then constantly exposed in front of a wide audience, so it is significant to keep their quality score high. Regularly checking your ad quality scores will allow you to identify potential problems and make appropriate adjustments. This allows you to optimize content, keywords, and segmentation to increase the effectiveness of your ads and achieve better results. Monitoring ad quality should be considered a routine activity, carried out regularly in cooperation with the Google Ads agency.

Should we be concerned about our ad quality score?

This question can be answered in the most general way — both yes and no. A higher quality score means a better chance that our ad will attract attention and encourage clicks. This is crucial to achieving the desired results. Of course, we can’t underestimate other factors, such as competition or advertising budget, but focusing on the quality of our ads is a pretty important issue. After all, we want our ads to be not only effective, but also relevant and interesting to the audience. This will help us stand out from the competition and increase the chances of our campaign’s success.

Of course, one should not go to extremes and panic if the quality result does not meet our expectations. It is essential to regularly monitor, analyze and take appropriate action to improve the quality of ads. It’s an ongoing process that requires testing, optimizing and adjusting our strategies.

In summary, it is worth paying attention to the ad quality score, as it has a direct impact on the effectiveness of our campaigns. Taking care of high quality ads is one of the steps to achieve better results. Let’s not forget that our ads are the face of our brand, so it’s worth ensuring that they are attractive, professional and valuable to potential customers.