Decoding Google Ad's Quality Score: How to optimise your campaigns

The quality of your Google Ads campaigns could be losing you money right now. A study by WordStream found that the average small and medium-sized business in the US is wasting about 25% of the Google Ads budget on underperforming campaigns. So in today’s podcast, I really want to take a look into the three factors that are used to calculate your quality score in Google Ads. We’re going to look at how they impact your overall campaign and account success as well.

Hi, my name is Jordan McFadyen. Welcome to the Marketing Mindset podcast. This podcast is really a bit of a challenge to both you and I to always be reassessing the marketing tactics that we’re using to achieve success from within our marketing strategies. What I like to do is share new thoughts and ideas to help you move away from random acts of marketing, and actually help for you to start succeeding using a long-term marketing strategy as well.

And before we dive into today’s topic, look, I just want to say a really quick thanks. We started recording this podcast a few months ago. We’re a few episodes deep now, and just getting some really good feedback from some of the listeners. So a big thank you to all of those that are listening on a regular basis, starting to get some good ideas and tactics out of this as well. Just starting to think about those marketing strategies as well. So I do thank you for taking the time to enjoy, and if you do enjoy some of the podcasts and content that we share, really encourage you to hit follow. It really is the best way to support what we do, and helps me justify making more pieces of content for this audience as well. So a big thank you again for jumping in.

And today what we’re going to be having a look at is a bit of a deep dive into the world of quality scores, and quality scores when we have a look at pay-per-click advertising, PPC advertising. We’re going to be discussing firstly what it even is, and what a quality score is. We’re going to have a look at how it works, and also share a few tips on how you can actually look to improve your quality score. You can think of today’s podcast as really like a checklist that you need to consider if you’re seeing your ad quality number drop significantly.

So within the Google Ads platform, all of your ads, they have quality numbers associated to them. And if you start to see that those numbers are dropping, and not just by one or two points, because they naturally are going to do that, but if it’s a few big drops from some of your keywords or some of your ads, there’s things you need to do and you need to fix it. And all the factors we’re going to discuss today are going to help you determine where your main issues potentially are actually sitting right now.

The other thing I just want to say was this podcast is going to be really valuable to those of you who have identified as part of your marketing strategy that Google Ads or Google Search is a big part of your strategy for the year. So let’s say that you’re really looking to build leads, or you’re looking to build more brand awareness. Potentially, you’re on Google Ads right now. This podcast is really going to provide that checklist of things, so that you can make sure that they are performing at their optimal. And this is something that even I do now with our campaigns, that we’ll go through on a regular basis and make sure that we’re always determining and assessing our quality scores at all times.

So firstly, I just want to cover what is the quality score in the first place. Quality score is obviously a pretty essential component really of a pay-per-click advertising campaign. Specifically in Google Ads, a lot of what we’re talking about here today as well does also translate to Bing Ads, in case you were on Bing. Not that I think that many people are advertising on Bing right now, but that could change with their advancements into AI. So potentially something you want to have a bit of a look at.

But specifically when it comes to PPC advertising, so pay-per-click advertising, it’s really that rating system that’s going to measure the quality and the relevance of your keywords. It’s going to measure the relevance of your ad text and the ad copy, and also the big one, the landing pages, in relation to a user’s search query. The rating ranges from about 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest quality score that you can get, and 1, obviously, that’s alarm bells.

And the whole point of a Google quality score, and the quality score in general, is it really does determine and affect your ad’s performance, and ultimately it’s going to influence your cost per click and your ad position. So those two are massive. We’ve got to make sure that your ad is seen as high up a Google search result as possible, and also that it’s not going to cost you that much. So we’ve got to aim for the high quality score, because you are then going to see way better ad placement and potentially a lower CPC as well. Lower CPC, obviously, it’s so much better for our budgets. And that’s why, if we are running Google Ads, this podcast topic is really important, especially with some of the economic challenges that we’re facing at the moment as well.

So there are three main factors that Google takes into consideration when they’re looking at the quality score. The first one is the click-through rate, the ad relevance, and the landing page experience. So those are the three things we’re going to cover today. And I guess the overarching thing that I just want to get across as well is that Google want people to use Google, and so they want people to have a good experience. That’s probably the best way to think about it.

So if you can provide an ad or a campaign that is relevant to a certain search term, is relevant to your core business, and that you provide a website landing page experience that just makes that whole experience smooth, Google’s going to reward you for that with lower cost per click and higher rankings. So essentially, the main thing we’re going to get across here is that the better your campaigns and the better well-thought-out your campaigns are, the potentially cheaper that they’re going to be, and the better ad rank you’re going to get, because Google’s going to reward you because you are giving users of the Google platform a good experience.

They’re going to Google with this particular problem or particular desire, and your ad is satisfying that problem or that desire, and is answering them straight away. And that’s obviously why we go to Google. So if we can show Google that we’re doing that, they’re going to reward us.

Let’s go through those three key things. Click-through rate is the first one, the CTR. This is really looking at the percentage of people who are actually clicking on your ad in the first place after seeing it. And obviously, Google want to look at your CTR, because that’s going to indicate that your ad is relevant, it’s appealing to users, and that they’re actually getting some value out of it.

Ad relevance is that second thing that they’re looking at. And this is actually calculated by analysing how closely your ad text, your ad copy, matches the intent behind a user’s search query. So it’s making sure that if someone is putting in a certain search query into Google with a certain intent behind it, whether they’re looking to research or they’re looking to actually purchase, what is their intent that they’ve got behind their search query? Google’s ad system is going to consider the keywords used in the ad text, the headline, the description, and it’s going to compare them to the search term that the user has actually typed into Google. And then it’s going to give you an ad relevance score. So just something to think about. And this is where you’ve got to make sure that the search terms match closely with the ad copy that you’ve got.

And then finally, we’ve got to have a look at that landing page experience as well. So landing page is obviously where you’re sending users at the end. That landing page experience is calculated by having a look and evaluating the overall user experience metrics on the landing page. This is going back to even relevance. So it’s the same thing: even if they see your ad, is the landing page relevant to the original search term? Is the quality on your landing page actually decent quality? It’s actually answering a question. It’s actually providing a service. It’s kind of answering that desire that the user, the searcher, has got. Is it easy to navigate? Is it trustworthiness? Was it easy to load? Was it mobile friendly? Does the landing page open on a mobile nice as well? These are all things that is going to help calculate your landing page experience score.

So that’s the three components that I think you need to be focusing on when you’re trying to assess how good your campaigns are actually doing. So the question now is, how do we actually ensure that we can improve our quality score?

So if we break it down and have a look at your click-through rate firstly. Obviously with a click-through rate, here’s some of the things that, as a bit of a checklist, I would encourage you to go through and work out. Firstly, have a look at your ad copy. Is it compelling enough? Make sure that your ad copy is clear. It’s persuasive ad copy that is really highlighting the benefit of your product and service. And make sure as well that the ad copy that you’re using on your ads includes a really good call to action, because you actually want to encourage users to click your ad in the first place. So you’ve got to read it and go, actually, that’s really interesting. Or, that is exactly what I’m after. And encourage that click.

The second big one here in terms of your click-through rate is making sure that you’re actually using relevant keywords that’s related to your business, your product or your service. And be really specific with that as well. Use relevant keywords that are closely matching the search intent of that target audience that you’ve identified as part of your actual marketing strategy. And that’s obviously going to increase the likelihood that someone is going to see your ad. It’s going to be so relevant to them, because you’ve targeted so perfectly to them as a target audience, using language that they are familiar with. And they’re obviously going to click on it. It turns into a no-brainer.

Using some of the other tools that Google provides you as well is a great way to include and increase your click-through rate. So Google not only just gives you the ad itself, but there’s things called the ad extensions. So using all the ad extensions and the different assets that Google provide can also be really good. This is things like your site links, your call-out text, your structured snippets. All of these different ad extensions that Google provides and allows you to use provide that additional info, and increase the visibility of your ads as well.

And I think the big thing as well with those ad extensions and also the ad copy, and this goes with all the different things we’re going to chat about today, is just making sure that you are testing and refining what parts of the section you are sending people to, what kind of ad copy you are using. Continuously test different ad variations, different headlines, different descriptions, and try and find and identify the most effective ad copy for your target audience. And remember, it all goes back. I think I say this on every podcast as well. Everything we talk about goes back to your target audience. Provide an experience for your target.

Let’s have a look at ad relevance. This is the second lever that we need to check. So here’s the checklist that you need to be going through here. How can we improve your overall ad relevance? Firstly, precise keyword selection. That’s the first thing I’ll say. Make sure that you are choosing keywords that really are close to matching your search intent of your target audience. I want you to think about how you can avoid going too broad with your keywords, and make sure that you’re focusing on specific long-tail keywords that are directly related back to your product and service. So that comes down to your keyword research, having a look at your organic strategy, how people are finding you there, and really testing and defining the searches.

There’s a great report that I use a lot on Google Ads. It’s called the Search Term Report. Give it a Google and you’ll soon see where to find it. And that’s actually showing you the exact search terms that people are actually using to get through to your website and get through your Google ad campaign. So check out that report, because it gives you a lot of insight into your keyword selections, and making sure: are they precise enough? Should you be adding negative keywords, to make sure that you are really focusing and narrowing down your keyword selection?

That second one as well is also just thinking about what we would call keyword grouping. So thinking around how you can organise your keywords into some tightly themed ad groups, which again is going to help you create real targeted ads that speak around that specific query that your audience has. So let’s say that you did digital marketing like what we do, and you wanted to do some ads just around email marketing, for example. I would literally create an ad group that’s specific to email marketing, all the keywords that relate to email marketing. Because you don’t want someone who is looking for email marketing then to be served an ad that just talks about digital marketing, or talks about content creation or something like that. We’re going to make sure that the search term that they are using clearly buckets them into the ad that they’re going to actually see at the end of the day as well. So that’s what I’d say around keyword grouping.

The other one is really then taking that research that you’ve done and just tailoring that ad copy. And this goes nicely to what I was just saying around the keyword grouping. Because essentially what you want to do is you want to take that keyword group that you’ve got, and you want to make sure that the ad copy is really tailored towards that as well. So again, let’s say it was email marketing, the ad copy then needs to focus on email marketing, and why people should be using you to help them with their email marketing, or your email marketing tool, or anything like that. They’ve obviously got an intent for looking for something to do with email marketing, and your ad copy needs to reflect that as well. It doesn’t need to then go back to a generic term. So you’ve got to make sure your headlines and your descriptions are really clear, they’re really compelling, and they’re really, and this is a big one, really relevant to the search query. Relevance is really the key.

Now, I just want to say a little extra bit in here as well, that you can actually take this to the next level as well. And just so you’re aware about what you can do, it does require a bit more technical know-how, but I just want you to understand some of the possibilities that are available for you to explore. Because Google does allow advertisers to actually improve their click-through rate and their relevance by using what’s called dynamic keyword insertion. And what that means is you can actually insert dynamic keywords that are more relevant to a user’s search query, which makes your ad so much more relevant and personalised as well.

So done in the right way, and to be fair, we probably need a whole podcast on just this topic, but done in the right way, this can actually be a really great way of being able to increase that click-through rate and make sure that the ad copy is actually relevant, because you’re actually pulling their search query and putting it into your ad just like that. So again, you’ve got to be careful about where you use it, but it’s possible, and it can be really powerful when used correctly as well.

And the final lever, the final checklist we’re going to go through, is thinking about improving your landing page experience. And this is a big part of your overall quality score, and improving the landing page experience can be achieved through a lot of different practical steps, real easy steps. Here’s a few recommendations that I’ll suggest you have a look at.

Firstly, thinking about aligning your content with that user intent. Again, we go right back to thinking about that target audience, the target person, what their intent was. What were they thinking when they put a certain keyword into Google? And make sure that your landing page directly addresses that searcher’s query and matches the messaging in your ad as well. That’s the thing: we’ve got to think about this as a journey. It’s their search query. They then see that you answer their query in your ad, but then the minute they jump on your landing page, it’s got to be really clear that your business is also going to either satisfy their desire or going to solve their problem.

And that goes into my second tip as well. Make sure that your headlines, when you land on that web page, are clear and concise. We’re going to use headlines that clearly communicate your value proposition, or your main message of that particular landing page. We want to really help users understand really quickly what your offer is, and encourage them to stay on the page. We don’t want them to bounce back to Google, because that’s not going to help anyone. What we want to do is we’re going to make sure that the minute they land on your landing page, it’s very clear about the problem you solve, or the desire that you can fulfil for that client, and get that across really quickly.

The third thing I want to discuss is mobile optimisation. Make sure that all the pages, and to be fair, this is across everything to do with your website. Make sure that your website is optimised for mobile devices using responsive design. Make sure it’s using images that are small enough to be able to load fast. The buttons are big enough so they can actually click. It’s really clear about what they’re supposed to do. What this is going to do is, again, ensure a smooth experience for users when they’re on their phone or on a tablet, which majority, if you had a look at your report now, majority of people are going to be searching while they’re on their phone. Make sure that it’s actually loading and optimised for mobile.

And that leads into the load time as well. Make sure you’re minimising the actual time that it takes for a landing page to even load. You’re paying money to Google for someone to click on your ad. The minute they click, that money’s gone. So you’ve got to make sure that the minute they click, that page is going to load up real quick, and it’s going to be really compelling. Otherwise, you’ve just wasted that click. If someone clicks it, and they sit, and wait, and wait some more, there’s only so much time people are going to wait before they’re going to click the X, leave your website, and go searching for another ad. You’ve still paid for that. So you’ve got to make sure that it is loading really quick, and reduce that bounce rate at all times as well.

And just make sure that the page itself is really easy to navigate. It’s got a clear layout. Make it easy for visitors to find the info that they actually need. And that it’s really clear and prominent CTAs across the website, calls to action. We’re going to guide visitors towards that desired action. Again, you’ve paid for a user to come to your website. So you’ve got to try in every way to make sure that you get what you want out of that particular campaign, which goes back to your marketing strategy, about the KPI that you’re actually looking for. And then reviewing and making sure that your calls to action on that website are actually going to help you to be able to hit those KPIs, those goals that you’ve got.

And then finally, I would say as well, incorporate trust signals. Now, I’ve just recorded a podcast for next week around the E-A-T principles. This is Google’s guidelines around how your website page and your website should be structured. And the E-A-T acronym is a big part of what they teach. And the T of E-A-T is trust, trustworthiness. And so I would take that and employ that back to your Google ad campaigns as well.

Incorporate these trust signals across your landing page: customer testimonials. Put your reviews on there. Show the awards that you’ve won. Show the conferences that you’ve spoken at. Show some before and after photos of some of the clients after using your product. Show video testimonials. Anything that really increases visitor confidence in you as a person. Because again, you’ve paid for that click. So you may as well take it the best shot as well.

And look, I know that as we’ve gone through these three different levers here today of what makes up a Google ad quality score, there is a heap to consider. However, I just want you to think that if your marketing strategy clearly defines that pay-per-click advertising is one of your core tactics, and it’s simply not getting the results that you were hoping, this is what you need to be doing. These are the changes you need to be making to your campaigns and to your copy to increase results. It’s not going to get better if you just leave it there to sit and wither away and spend all your ad budget.

You don’t want to fall into that bucket of throwing away 25% of your ad budget on wasted campaign ad spend. You’d hate to lose all that ad spend literally due to a low ad rank. So this could be the sign that you need just to go through and review those campaigns. Again, if PPC, pay-per-click, Google search, if they are big parts of your marketing strategy in general, these are the things that you need to be looking at and reviewing and checking against your KPIs as well.

So please, use today’s podcast as a checklist. And if you want me to feature any more practical tips on how to improve your site’s campaigns, so that you can give your team better direction or give yourself better direction on where you need to be heading, please email me any podcast topic ideas at jordan@donebynine.com. More than happy to hear from you. If you just include the word “podcast topic idea” as a subject line, I’ll make sure I get onto it nice and quick, because I’m always looking for new ideas and topics and tactics to share, to make sure that you’re actually really utilising your marketing campaigns.

And look, if you’ve enjoyed today’s podcast, please do consider hitting that follow button or giving us a star rating. It really is the best way to support this little podcast. It makes it much easier for me to justify spending the time to put together this content for you. So a quick follow or a star rating is really appreciated. And I do hope that you’ve got a lot of information, a lot of ideas out of today’s podcast. And we’ll see you next week on the next episode of the Marketing Mindset podcast.