The Basics of Your Google Ad Quality Score

What is a Quality Score?

Research done by Google Ads shows us that the value of a Google Ad is $2 for every $1 spent. That’s massive! But as you can expect, Google wants to make sure they’re putting the best possible, highest quality results forward to earn that double return. They’re not willing to just give this away, and that’s where the Google Ads Quality Score comes in.

Google Ads Help Pages tell us “Quality Score is an estimate of the quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages. Higher quality ads can lead to lower prices and better ad positions.” 

Simple, right?

Not exactly.

Until we tell you more. 

The quality of your ads is calculated within milliseconds every single time it has the potential to appear in the search results. And quality determines its placement. But it’s so important to know that the Quality Score you see (we’ll teach you how to find that shortly) isn’t exactly what is used in those calculations. But what Quality Score DOES do is calculate your performance on three key pieces that give you the most bang for your buck:

1. Expected clickthrough rate: The likelihood that your ad will be clicked.
2. Ad relevance: How closely your ad matches the intent behind a user's search.
3. Landing page experience: How relevant, transparent and easy-to-navigate your page is for users.

Each of these factors can get a rating of below average, average, and above average. This gives you a rating from 1 - 10, and Google Ads refers to this score as a ‘diagnostic tool’. So the next step in using this tool is understanding how to check it.

Checking your Quality Score

From your Google Ads Landing Page, navigate to Campaigns, and then Keywords. In the upper right corner of the table, click the columns icon, then select Modify columns.

• Click the “Quality score” section. To see the current quality score and its component statuses, choose any of the following to add to your statistics table:
  • Quality Score shows you an estimate of how relevant your ads, keywords, and landing page are to a person who sees your ad. Higher Quality Scores typically lead to lower costs and better ad positions.
  • Exp. CTR measures how likely it is that your ad will be clicked when shown. This score is based on the past clickthrough performance of your ads. They exclude the effects of ad position and other factors that affect the visibility of your ad, such as extensions.
  • Ad Relevance measures how closely your keyword matches the message in your ads. A below-average score may mean that your ads are too general or specific to answer the user’s query, or that this keyword isn’t relevant to your business.
  • Landing Page Exper. estimates how relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click your ad. It takes into account factors such as how well your landing page content matches a person’s search term, and how easy it is for people to navigate your page.
• Click Apply. Boom. Below is a screenshot of how these columns will look after you apply. 

Why this matters:

If there’s something everyone can agree on, its that Google is highly invested in making sure their users are given exactly what they’re looking for in the quickest, most efficient way. With 20 years under their belt and over 65,000 searches and clicks happening every second, they benefit the most when the highest quality results are at the user’s fingertips. 

This is important because it is the closest we can get to understanding the auction that happens every time a search happens, and ultimately gives us insight into where your ad will place. With a low-quality score, there’s a possibility your ad and landing page may not ever appear in searches. So yeah. Pretty damn important.

Armed with this information, you’re about ready to decipher the mystery that Quality Scores can be. Don’t worry, you aren’t completely on your own. Come back to us when you’ve got a good grasp of what we’ve taught you, and we’ll show you some great tips on how to improve those scores!

If you want more advanced, in-depth tips and methods from myself and other experts, join our premium group at www.joinadleaks.com.