Pay-per-click advertising can play an important role in your clients’ campaigns (or even your own marketing strategy).
As you may already know, PPC can be a great way to reach new customers and drive website traffic within a short period of time. But while PPC ads can be highly effective, managing them can be quite complicated.
In order to save valuable time and resources, many of our partners choose to outsource PPC ad management to supplement their SEO efforts. At Semify, we can provide you with the expertise your ad campaigns need to see real results.
But whether you choose to become a white label PPC reseller or you’re handling your client pay-per-click campaigns yourself, there are a few things you’ll want to know about PPC management.
For instance, you’ll want to be familiar with your Google Ads quality score. While it’s certainly not the only aspect of PPC management you should learn about, it plays an important role in both ad performance and cost.
If you’ve ever wondered, “what is quality score for Google Ads and why does it matter?,” you’ll want to keep reading. And if you’re curious as to how to improve quality score in Google Ads or how to even find it, we’ll answer those questions, too.
What is Quality Score For Google Ads?
First of all, we need to define what is quality score as it pertains to Google Ads.
Quality score refers to the way in which Google rates your ads compared to others that are advertising in the same space. It’s a metric delivered on a 1-10 scale that is meant to inform you of your ad’s relevance.
Note that quality score is actually a keyword metric; each ad keyword will have its own quality score. Likewise, your quality score doesn’t necessarily say anything about your ad copy or about your overall ad quality. It simply means that your ad’s keywords (and the landing page to which your ad is linked) are a better or worse match for search intent compared to other ads that are similar to yours.
The higher the score, the more likely your ad will be to succeed. That’s because Google’s analysis will show that your ad is more likely to resonate with your target audience.
Google determines an ad’s quality score by analyzing how similar advertisements containing your keywords have performed over a three-month period.
According to Google support, your PPC ad quality score is calculated by combining three different performance factors:
- Ad Relevance – how well your ad aligns with a web searcher’s intent
- Expected Click-Through Rate – how likely it is that your ad will be clicked when it appears
- Landing Page Relevance – how valuable and pertinent a landing page is to those who click on your ad
Google evaluates each of these factors and denotes them as “below average,” “average,” or “above average” as compared to those similar ads for the same keyword during the last 90 days. If Google assigns anything other than the “above average” category to these components, that will potentially lower your overall quality score.
Remember: the term “quality score” is a little deceiving. Really, this measurement is about relevance and the likelihood of ad success. While those do play a part in an ad’s quality, there are other elements that can impact a user’s experience with an ad that will fall outside the quality score calculation.
Google explicitly states, “Quality Score is not a key performance indicator and should not be optimized or aggregated with the rest of your data.” It’s merely an indication of how valuable and appropriate users who search for those keywords will find your ads to be.
That said, the Google Ad rank quality score connection exists – and your ad’s relevancy will almost certainly have an impact on how successful your campaign will be.
Now that you know the answer to the “what is quality score for Google Ads” question, it’s time to talk about the importance of this metric.
Why Does My Quality Score For Google Ads Matter?
There are a couple of main reasons why you’ll want to pay attention to quality score when managing your PPC ads.
In Google Ads, quality score can be a good indicator of how well your ad will perform – and how much it could potentially cost you to run. The higher your quality score is, the more likely it is that your ad will be successful. Conversely, an ad with a lower quality score will typically cost more per click.
Understandably, you’ll want your PPC ad campaigns to be as fruitful as possible. You’ll want to connect in a meaningful way with your target audience so you can acquire more clicks and conversions.
Google wants to serve the most relevant ads to web users for a very practical reason. Providing valuable information is always the top priority for Google, but it’s not just because they like helping web visitors. That’s also how Google makes money! Since advertisers are charged for these ads only when they’re clicked, Google won’t earn those fees if the ads are considered to be irrelevant by searchers.
It makes financial sense for both marketers and search engines to provide the most suitable ads for a given keyword search. Your ads will be more likely to be clicked – and you’ll have a greater chance of making a sale – if your ads are well-aligned with user intent. If they’re not, you’ll stand to lose out on potential earnings and you could actually damage your brand reputation in the process.
Your quality score for Google Ads can let you know when everything looks great. But it can also tell you when there’s room for improvement.
For example, your ad might be getting a lot of clicks, but conversions may be low. If your landing page relevance has received a “below average” score, it’s pretty obvious that the page to which you’re directing users doesn’t align with what they might expect when they click your ad.
In this scenario, your ads won’t be cost-effective. Your cost per click (CPC) will be higher – not just because users will abandon your website after clicking an ad, but also because Google actually charges more for ads with a lower quality score!
Although quality score doesn’t directly factor into the ad bidding process, it can impact how much you’ll pay for your ads. This is where the Google ad rank quality score connection comes in. Having a higher quality score can have a positive impact on how your ad is ranked. Having a higher ad rank, in turn, can result in lower ad auction costs.
If your quality score is low, you could actually end up paying more for the same exact ad position as another brand, assuming the other brand has a higher quality score. In other words, the Google ad rank quality score link could hurt your ability to run ads affordably.
Since no one wants to pay more when they don’t have to, it makes sense to do whatever you can to improve your Google Ads quality score. Not only will this help you reach the right customers, but it’ll allow you to keep your budget in check.
Armed with this information, you can make any necessary adjustments to your ads so that you meet user expectations. In so doing, you’ll likely increase both your quality score and your conversion rate while reducing your cost-per-click.
Where Can I Find My Google Ads Quality Score?
You now know the answer to the what is quality score in Google Ads question and why you should care about it. So how can you figure out how to find quality score in Google Ads?
Your quality score is fairly easy to navigate to within your Google Ads account. However, if you want to know how to check Google Ads quality scores, you won’t find them in a default column. Instead, you’ll need to manually add them to your account.
Once you’re signed into your Google Ads account, select “Keywords” from the left-hand menu. Then, click the columns icon in the upper right-hand corner of that table. You’ll then be able to open and add the Quality Score section under “Modify columns for keywords.” Click apply to see your quality scores populate for your ads.
Now that you know how to find quality score in Google Ads, you’ll be able to note how both past and present ads measure up. If you like what you see, you’re probably on the right track. But if you’re seeing lower scores than you expected, it may be time to think about making some adjustments.
Can I Learn How to Improve Quality Score in Google Ads?
Knowing how to check Google Ads quality scores will serve as only the first step. You’ll also need to know how to improve those scores.
To earn a high quality score, your ad needs to have a good click-through rate and provide relevance both within the ad itself and as it pertains to the landing page you’ve chosen.
So what do you do if Google thinks your ad is subpar in terms of quality and relevance? The answer is simple: make some changes to your ads.
To improve your quality score, you’ll first want to see how Google has categorized your ad relevance, landing page relevance, and expected click-through rate (CTR). Anything that’s been designated as “average” or “below average” should take priority. Anything that currently scores as “above average” really isn’t worth improving.
According to Search Engine Land, expected CTR and landing page relevance have a bigger impact on quality score than ad relevance. If you have to choose between the three, ad relevance should probably be last on your list.
With that in mind, here are a few steps you can take when you’re learning how to improve quality score in Google Ads campaigns.
Address Site Speed Issues
One of our first suggestions when improving your quality score for Google Ads is to look at the speed of your website. We know that Google cares about user experience, so the Google Ad rank quality score connection might come up here.
If you’re sending web users to a slow website when they click your ad, they’re going to abandon the page in droves. Think With Google reports that the probability of a visitor leaving a site increases by 32% as page load time goes from 1 second to 3 seconds.
That means you have no time to waste. Speeding up the site in question can improve landing page relevance and remove barriers to ad campaign success.
Ensure Landing Pages Meet Expectations
As mentioned earlier, landing page relevance matters a lot when Google calculates your ad quality score. When we refer to landing page relevance, what we’re really talking about is whether the page connected to your ad is aligned with the expectations you’ve set with web users.
Is the landing page specific to the content discussed in your ad? Does it provide information that’s easy to find? Is the page itself functioning as it should? If you can’t answer any of these questions with a resounding “yes,” you’ll want to make some changes.
Prioritize Mobile Users
We mentioned above that site speed can impact the success of your ad. The same can be said for mobile-friendly design. If your website isn’t providing a good experience for mobile users but the majority of people who click on your ad are doing so from their smartphones, your quality score will suffer.
Recent data shows that mobile traffic accounts for at least half of all web traffic, with mobile devices generating 54.8% of website traffic worldwide in Q1 of 2021. Make sure your website is accessible on all devices and that you remove intrusive interstitials so as not to frustrate mobile visitors.
Change Your Keywords and Ad Groups
Although it may be last on the list, ad relevance is still essential. You may need to switch up your keywords if your ad relevance is “below average” to ensure that you’ve chosen the best keywords for your needs and for your ad groups.
All of the keywords within a given ad group should be within the same category. If you’re trying to advertise for a bunch of different products or services, you’ll probably need different ad groups for each category to improve your relevancy. Then, you can also use different landing pages for each ad group.
Note that in some cases, your keywords might not have enough ads for comparison, resulting in an incomplete quality score. You may want to rethink your keywords in this situation, as well.
Try Different Ad Types
Another mistake our account managers sometimes see at the start of campaigns is a failure to take advantage of different ad types. You can choose from a few different options:
- Responsive search ads allow you to enter headlines and descriptions. Google will create an ad any time one would normally appear in an effort to improve relevance.
- Expanded text ads are written entirely by the agency owner, client, or account manager, offering more control over copy.
- Dynamic search ads allow Google to build the ad as it sees fit after being provided only a landing page.
Each of these ad types comes with its potential benefits and drawbacks. We’ve sometimes seen expanded text ads come with lower quality scores due to poor writing or descriptions that are too short for the 90-character limit. In many situations, taking advantage of Google’s capabilities can really work in your favor by increasing quality score and overall effectiveness.
Entice Your Audience
Google essentially evaluates how clickable your ad will be, which means it’s important to think about how your customer’s feelings will impact their behavior.
Whether you’re testing a new call-to-action (CTA) or writing more compelling ad copy, you’ll want to play on urgency and emotion.
To improve your expected click-through rate, think about including the unique benefits of your product or service, special offers, and more specific language. Make an effort to connect with your customers and include powerful CTAs with words like “try,” “buy,” “order,” find,” “sign up,” “get a quote,” and more.
Consider adding social proof, as well. Just as featuring real numbers on a website can increase subscriptions by 20% due to increased credibility, featuring data to back up your claims in ads can convince customers to take the leap.
Become a PPC Reseller
We know it’s difficult to manage pay-per-click advertising campaigns on your own. Understanding how to write effective copy, choose the right keywords, improve landing pages, determine ad groups, and other critical tasks can be a lot to handle – especially when you have an entire business to run.
That’s why many of our partners have chosen to outsource their PPC management to us. As your Google Ads-certified partner, we’ll take care of these details and help your clients make meaningful progress with their marketing strategy.
If you’re stumped on how to improve your quality score or you’re simply overwhelmed with PPC management, we’re here to help free up your resources and improve results.
To learn more about joining our white label PPC reseller program, get in touch with us today.