In order to master PPC (pay per click), you must have a good understanding of AdWords’ ‘Quality Score’ and how it is calculated. Quality Score can have a huge influence over the effectiveness and cost of your PPC campaigns. In a similar way to how your credit score can influence whether you will be granted a loan or credit card, Quality Score will affect how your ads perform and how much you will pay for every click.
What is ‘Quality Score’?
Quality Score is the method used by Google AdWords in order to determine the relevance and quality of both your PPC ads and keywords. The result is used to work out your CPC (cost per click). This figure is then multiplied by your maximum bid and the result is used to work out where your ad ranks in the AdWords auction process. The Quality Score you’re given depends on:
• your click-through rate (CTR)
• relevance of each keyword to its ad group
• landing page relevance and quality
• relevance of your ad copy
• your AdWords account performance historically
The higher your Quality Score, the higher your ad ranking on Google’s home page and the cheaper your CPC will be. A good Quality Score generally means that your cost per click will be lower. A low cost per click means a lower cost per conversion, so it is more likely that you will make a profit on that particular campaign or ad.
How to improve your Quality Score
Since having a good Quality Score is important in terms of presenting your ad to potential customers and in boosting your profits, it’s helpful if you have an understanding of how to improve it.
Keywords
Keywords are essential to improving your Quality Score. Invest time in researching new, highly relevant keywords and add them to your campaigns. Think about long-tail keywords too, that can increase your overall traffic. You should also split your keywords into smaller, well-organised groups, which you can tie to your individual ad campaigns.
It’s also important to rule out any negative keywords that are not relevant to your campaign. These will only serve to attract visitors who are not interested in your ad; remember that every click costs you money and negative keywords will simply waste your budget.
Ad text
The more effective your ad text, the more likely you are to be rewarded with a higher Quality Score. Test your PPC ad copy and make sure that it is targeted to your individual ad groups. Remember, that the more effective your ad, the better your CTR, and the higher your Quality Score will be.
Landing pages
When designing landing pages, make sure that they are relevant to the ad groups they are connected to so that visitors are provided with a cohesive landing page experience, from keyword through to conversion.
In summary
You can see that Quality Score is a measure of the relevance of your keywords to your ads and campaign. Through carefully structuring your PPC campaigns into smaller, organised groups of highly relevant keywords, you can generally improve your Quality Score. More effective keyword research and organisation can also help to improve the relevance and specificity of your website content and ads, greatly improving your chances of reaching the right audience and boosting your conversion rates.
If you are looking for a professional AdWords agency who can make sure that your quality score is always audited, speak to our team and we will be happy to show you how it is done.
