Introduction
The difference between the success or failure of an online marketing campaign can at times be a very fine line indeed, and this is true of the Google AdWords scheme, and in particular with regard to the Quality Score of adverts.
What is a Quality Score?
For a definition, over to Google for this one who say that “Quality Score is the basis for measuring the quality and relevance of your ads and determining your minimum CPC bid for Google and the search network. To encourage relevant and successful ads within AdWords, our system defines a Quality Score to set your keyword status, minimum CPC bid, and ad rank for the ad auction”.
Fundamentally it is a number assigned by Google to each one of your ad keywords, based upon a variety of factors, including the relevance of your ad text to the search query that may lead to a click upon the ad, the quality of the landing page (the page the user is taken to after an ad is clicked), your account history, and your geographic account history in the area where the ad is being shown. Of course, how much weight is given to each of these factors and how the algorithm is worked out precisely by Google are secrets, no doubt partly to make it harder for people to abuse the system.
Why is my Quality Score important?
For two very simple reasons – your ads will cost less to be placed, and the better the position that you will find your ads placed in. Therefore, the higher the Quality Score, the higher the likelihood of greater return on your ad campaign for a lower cost. You can view your own Quality Score within your Google AdWords account from the reports on your account, the Keyword Analysis page, and in your main account statistics.
How do I increase my Quality Score?
The key here is relevance. Your ads need to match your website, and your website needs to match your ads as closely as possible. Make sure that the text copy on the landing page and the keywords on that page match the keywords of your ad. Make sure that your landing page links well to other pages on your site, and maximize the copy on those pages to include your ad keywords to highlight relevance to Google.
It is worth experimenting with the four match options (broad, exact, phrase and negative) for your keywords, and keep track of which is working. Start with exact match, as this is more often than not the best option.
Clarence A. Grasty
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