How to Improve the Quality Score of Your Google Ads
There are many ways to drive traffic to your website, but many of them take time to start driving results. One of the best ways to speed up the process and start driving high-quality traffic quickly is through PPC (pay-per-click) ads on Google.
But, it’s important to realize that not all PPC campaigns are made equal. When you want to make the most of your investment and run the most profitable campaigns for your business, it pays to pay attention to Google’s Quality Score.
What is Google’s Ad Quality Score?
The Google Ad Quality Score is a metric that Google uses to measure the quality of your ads. This score is used to determine how likely it is that someone will click on your ad, and also affects your bid price.
Your Quality Score is not a key performance indicator but rather a diagnostic tool. In general, the higher your Quality Score, the better. A higher Quality Score means you’ll get more traffic for less money.
Why does your ad Quality Score matter?
Ad Quality Score matters because Google Ads is a pay-to-play platform. The higher your Quality Score, the less you’ll need to pay per click. Google also favors ads with higher Quality Scores, so they are more likely to be shown in a prime location on the search results page.
Factors that impact Google Ad Quality Score
Google takes a variety of factors into account when calculating your ad’s Quality Score. These include:
- The relevance of your keywords to your ads and landing page
- The click-through rate (CTR) of your ads
- Your quality and relevance score for the keyword being targeted
- The quality and relevance of your landing page
- Your ad’s historical clickthrough rates and conversion rates
9 tips to improve your Google Ad Quality Score
Here are nine tips to help you boost your Google Ad Quality Score:
#1. Build a strong foundation with keyword research
Keyword research is the foundation of a successful PPC campaign. Choose keywords that are relevant to your business and match the intent of your target audience.
If you’re not sure what keywords to target, start by looking at your Google Search Console data to see which queries are driving traffic to your website.
Once you have a list of relevant keywords, use Google’s Keyword Planner tool to get an estimate of how much traffic those keywords could bring you. This will help you determine which keywords are worth targeting.
#2. Organize your keywords into ad groups
Once you have a list of relevant keywords, the next step is to organize them into ad groups. Ad groups help you keep your keywords organized and make it easier to create targeted ads.
Start by creating a separate ad group for each product or service you offer. Then, add relevant keywords to each ad group. Google recommends adding around 20-25 keywords per ad group.
It’s best to have one main service or product per ad group. Furthermore, all of the keywords utilized in an ad group should be related. This will improve the relevance of your ad and increase your Quality Score.
When creating your ads, make sure to use the same keyword in the headline and the body of your ad. This will help Google match your ads with the right queries.
#3. Include the keyword in your ad headline, ad copy and landing page content
Including your target keyword in your ad headline, ad copy and landing page content is important for two reasons. First, it helps Google match your ad to the right queries. Second, it shows Google that your ad is relevant to what users are searching for.
Make sure to use the keyword naturally in your headlines and copy. Don’t stuff your ad with keywords just for the sake of including them. This will not only make your ad look spammy, but it will also hurt your Quality Score.
In addition, make sure your landing page content is relevant to the keywords you’re targeting. If users click on your ad and land on a page that has nothing to do with what they were looking for, they’ll likely leave without taking any action. This will also hurt your Quality Score.
#4. Write ad copy that is relevant and compelling
In order to get users to click on your ad, you need to write compelling copy that’s relevant to what they’re searching for. Your ad should clearly state what you’re offering and highlight the benefits of doing business with you.
Use strong call-to-action phrases, like “buy now,” “shop today” and “get a free quote.” And be sure to test different versions of your ad to see which ones generate the highest click-through rates.
Ads with high click-through rates will have a positive impact on your Quality Score.
Ad copy is not one-size-fits-all. As tempting as it may be, don’t try to use the same ad copy for every product or service. Increase the relevance of your ads by writing unique copy for each keyword.
#5. Use negative keywords to your advantage
The last thing any small business wants is to waste their ad budget getting in front of Google users who aren’t interested in what they have to offer.
Negative keywords can be a powerful tool for improving your Google Ad Quality Score. By adding negative keywords to your campaign, you can help ensure that your ads are not shown to users who are not interested in what you’re selling.
For example, if you sell women’s clothing, you may want to add negative keywords like “men” and “boys.” This will help Google know that your ads should not be shown to users who are searching for men’s or boys’ clothing.
You can also use negative keywords to exclude certain locations from your campaign. This is especially useful for businesses that only serve a specific area.
To find negative keywords, Google provides a few different tools, including the Google Ads Keyword Planner and Google Trends.
#6. Develop a highly relevant landing page
When a Google user clicks on your ad, they should be taken to a landing page that’s relevant to what they’re looking for.
For example, if you’re running an ad for your snow removal service, the landing page should be about snow removal. It should not be your home page or a page about your other services.
The more relevant your landing page is to the keywords you’re targeting, the higher your Quality Score will be. Google will also give you a higher click-through rate if users are taken to a highly relevant landing page.
To ensure that your landing pages are highly relevant, make sure to include the keyword in the URL and on the page itself. You should also include a compelling call-to-action (CTA) and make it easy for users to take the next step.
Finally, your landing page should load quickly and be mobile-friendly. Google penalizes sites that are slow to load and are not optimized for mobile devices.
#7. Add as many ad extensions as possible
Ad extensions are a great way to improve the quality of your Google ads. By adding extensions, you can provide users with more information about your business, product or service.
There are many different types of ad extensions, including callouts, site links, structured snippets and call extensions. Google also offers a few different types of location-based extensions.
Ad extensions have a positive impact on your Google Ad Quality Score, and they also help to increase your click-through rate. Plus, they make your ads bigger, which means they’ll take up more of the user’s screen.
#8. Work on your site speed
As mentioned earlier, Google penalizes sites that are slow to load and are not mobile-friendly. If you want to improve your Google Ad Quality Score, you need to work on site speed and mobile optimization.
There are a few different ways to improve site speed. One of the best ways is to optimize and reduce the size of your images. Large, unoptimized images are one of the main things that can slow a website down.
You can also improve site speed by using a caching plugin, compressing your code and disabling certain plugins that aren’t necessary.
If you’re not sure how well your website performs on mobile devices or how quickly your web pages load, Google offers free tools. Check out Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test and PageSpeed Insights.
#9. Continuously monitor and optimize your ads
The best way to improve your Google Ad Quality Score is to continuously monitor and optimize your ads. This means making changes to your keywords, landing pages and ad extensions on a regular basis.
Small changes in how you word your headline, ad copy or CTA can make a big difference in how well your ads perform. Monitoring your ads on a regular basis will keep you in the know about what’s working and what’s not.
By testing your ads, you can stop investing in ads that are not performing up to your standards and start investing more in the ads that are driving the best results.
Regularly testing and optimizing your Google Ads can help you boost your Quality Score, capture more market share and connect with more high-quality leads.
A high Quality Score is just one aspect of successful PPC advertising on Google. Make the most of your advertising budget, get in front of the right audience and drive leads with Marketing 360®.
With Marketing 360 Ads, you can run ads across the channels most popular with your customer base, from Google to Facebook. Plus, we have a team of ad specialists who are ready to help.
