What is quality score and how can it improve your SEM?

Google uses lots of factors for giving quality score like CTR, relevant keywords in title, description, landing page, bounce rate etc. It’s an important factor for Google search ads for deciding ads placement and bids etc.

Expected click-through rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience are not the only factors of the Quality Score or QS - they are the factors Google lets us know. The SEM results might differ drastically if five people search for the same term on Google. Factors like personal search history, location, device, etc., also play into the Quality score and therefore effectively into the Ad Rank. The expected click-through rate might differ on every single search, but the other two factors should be relatively stable. If these were the only three factors playing into the QS, all searches for one term should look very similar. My tip: Optimise your QS, but don't rely too much on the number Google provides you.

Quality Score, a crucial metric in SEM, evaluates the relevance and quality of your ad content and keywords. Improving SEM with Quality Score: Relevance: Align ad copy with keywords and landing pages. Keyword Selection: Opt for targeted and relevant keywords. Landing Page Quality: Optimize for a seamless user experience. Ad Copy: Craft compelling, relevant ad content. CTR (Click-Through Rate): Strive for a higher CTR by delivering valuable content. Example: A well-optimized campaign on "Best Running Shoes" with aligned ad content and a user-friendly landing page can achieve a high Quality Score, leading to improved ad performance and lower costs.

Quality Score is a metric used in Search Engine Marketing (SEM), specifically in Google Ads. It is a rating system that Google uses to measure the relevance and quality of your advertisements and the landing pages they link to. Relevance of Keywords: Quality Score considers how relevant your chosen keywords are to your ad group and the content of your ads. Ensure that your keywords are closely related to your ad copy and landing page content. Ad Relevance: The relevance of your ad copy to the chosen keywords is crucial. Make sure your ad text aligns with the user's search intent and includes the targeted keywords. Landing Page Experience: Google assesses the quality and relevance of your landing page.

Refrain from relying too much on the number you'll see in your account. Use it to spot keywords that won't serve because of their quality. Track your Quality Score (QS) over time and analyze how it correlates with your CPCs, Impr. Share and CTR. This way, you will be able to know where to put in your effort. You won't be able to achieve a 10 QS on all your keywords, but this is not even necessary. Work data-driven: Choose a keyword that gets enough traffic, improve its QS, and document the impact on your KPIs. Then, manage your account accordingly, but remember to repeat the test periodically with different keywords.

In Google Ads, you'll need to add the Quality Score columns to your search keyword reports. You can do this by following these steps: 1. Navigate to Campaigns > Audience, keywords & content > Search keywords in the main menu. 2. Select Columns > Modify Columns 3. Expand the Quality Score section, then select the appropriate metric you want to see. I recommend including: quality score, landing page exp, ad relevance, and expected CTR.

Make sure that keywords are relevant to the product being offered and that there is a matching landing page. One lever for quick improvements is to adapt ad texts and landing pages to the languages of the keywords entered (using different Ad Groups).

If you followed all the guidelines, you might, in some cases, hit the ceiling anyway, where all three factors (Expected clickthrough rate, Ad relevance, and Landing page experience) show “Above average”, but you are far away from a good Quality Score (QS). In this case, it might help to follow one of the following tactics: - Leverage your Ad Assets like Sitelinks, Price Extensions, Call Outs, etc. This might help improve the Expected CTR - Increase your bids. This might sound counterintuitive if you want to be as effective as possible, but if you manage to increase your Impression Share, the Expected CTR might also be improved even further. If you see an improvement in the QS, revert your changes.

This is one of the primary reason why success rate differs between SEM experts and ads done by common users. Now a days with tutorials anyone can set up ads. But quality score optimisation comes with ab testing experience and practical trials. There are factors which can insist AI ads algorithm to prioritize the ads among other competitive bidding. Those factors cumulatively contribute quality score. Some of the examples here - Landing page relevancy - Ad relevancy - Ad copy strength - Ad account age & learnings - Campaign age & learnings - Historical CTR & user journey signals