If you’ve just decided that you want to hire an advertising expert to run a pay-per-click campaign for you, there are a few things you’ll want to know. A concept known as Quality Score is at the top of that list, of course, because it has an enormous influence on the cost and effectiveness of your paid search campaigns.  

To put it in relatable terms, you might think of the relationship between the two like a bank loan.  Your credit score can affect whether or not you qualify for a loan and ultimately determines how high your interest rate will be.  Well, a similar concept applies to Google’s Quality Score, as it affects how your PPC ads perform and how much you pay for each click.  

So, what exactly is Quality Score?  Let’s take a closer look.

Quality Score

Quality Score is Google’s rating of the quality and relevance of both your PPC ads and your keywords. It is essentially used to determine your CPC, or cost per click.  It is then multiplied by your maximum bid to determine your ad rank in the ad auction process. Your Score depends on a number of factors, including:

  • Your CTR, or click-through rate 
  • Your landing page quality and relevance
  • Your overall AdWords account performance
  • The relevance of each keyword to its ad group
  • The relevance of your ad text

Now, no one really knows exactly how each factor weights on the Quality Score algorithm (except Google), but we do know that your click-through rate is the most important factor.  This, after all, is a given, because when more people see your ad and click on it, that act alone is a strong indication that your ads are in fact relevant to your users.  Thus, Google rewards you with higher ad rankings and lower costs.   

The Benefits of Improving Your Quality Score

There are a great many benefits that come with improving your Quality Score.  We already know that when you improve your Score you also improve your PPC success rate.  So, by optimizing your Quality Scores, you’re automatically setting yourself up for higher returns on investment, which is, of course, the overall goal of any business or venture.  

This is possible because higher Quality Scores correlate with a lower cost per conversion (not to be confused with cost per click).  It’s not how much you pay for each click but how much you pay when someone takes the action that you want them to take, like making a product purchase or downloading a free eBook. It is understood that not every click will result in a conversion, but your cost per conversion is generally going to be higher than your cost per click.  Fortunately, one of the wonderful benefits of a strong Quality Score is that it lowers both your cost per click and your cost per conversion.  So, the better you are at meeting your prospect’s needs, the less Google will charge you for the ad click.

How to Increase Your Score

To see these benefits, you must increase your Quality Score.  So, how do you go about doing that?  Well, since Quality Score determines where and how often your ads appear, it’s important to boost your ratings by consistently updating and maintaining your account.  You can do this by focusing on the following:  

  • Keyword Research – Take the time to find new and highly relevant keywords to add to your campaigns.
  • Keyword Organization – Split keywords into organized groups that can be more effectively tied to individual ad campaigns.
  • Add Negative Keywords – Be proactive in identifying and excluding irrelevant search terms that are a drain on your budget.   
  • Optimize Landing Pages – From keyword to conversion, create pages that connect directly with your ad groups and provide a cohesive experience for visitors.
  • Refine Ad Text – Test PPC ad copy that is more targeted to individual ad groups.

What it all basically comes down to is the understanding that Quality Score is essentially a measure of relevance, and improving keyword Quality Score is just a matter of structuring your PPC campaigns into small, concise groups of keywords.  Remember, low Quality Scores are most often a result of a disconnect between keywords, ad groups, ad text, and landing page content, but you can land that high Quality Score when your AdWords account contains organized keywords in appropriate keyword groups, ad text that corresponds with certain ad groups, and landing pages that connect with the ad text’s offer.  

There is no quick, foolproof solution to improving your Quality Score formula, but if you start paying closer attention to relevance, then your scores are sure to improve.

Are you searching for a Chicago Adwords expert?

Your team at Realnets has extensive experience in all manner of pay-per-click advertising, and we would love to help you get the most from your advertising campaigns. Contact us today to begin.