How to Improve Your Google Ads Quality Score
When it comes to PPC strategies, Google Ads is one of the most important tools at your disposal. The biggest search engine in the world sees 5.6 billion queries a day, and there are a plethora of brands all competing to ensure theirs is the one taking most of that traffic. An effect Google Ads campaign can be incredibly lucrative for any business, but you wonder how you can ensure yours are successful.
One of the best ways is by monitoring and improving your Quality Score. This is a measurement that can ultimately guide you to making better PPC ads and lowering the price of both clicks and conversions. Below, we’ll detail what it is and how you can improve your Google Ads quality score.
What is the Quality Score?
Simply put, the Quality Score is a metric Google uses to determine how your ads compare to other brands on Google. You’ll be given a value of 1-10, with one being the lowest and ten the highest. If your ads are relevant to a user’s search query and offer an effective answer, then you’re much more likely to get a high score. The Quality Score is useful as it can pinpoint certain areas of your campaigns where you may need to improve, such as keyword targeting and landing pages.
Why Your Quality Score Matters
The Quality Score isn’t just an arbitrary number, it’s Google telling you how effective your ads are in the eyes of the prospective customer. The factors it takes into account are key in maximising the success of your campaigns and there is a clear correlation between high-Quality Scores and both low-cost clicks and conversion. The cheaper the cost of conversion, the better your return on investment will be.
How to Improve Google Ads Quality Score
Check the Metrics
Three key elements are taken into consideration when evaluating the score; the expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. Each of these is judged independently and given a rating of ‘above average’, ‘average’ or ‘below average’. Using this, you can see which parts of your Google campaigns need work. For example, if your landing page experience is below average, then you may want to focus on creating new ones.
Keyword Research and Targeting
Keywords are immensely important in driving SEO and organic campaigns, and Google Ads is no different. One of the metrics the Quality Score uses is ad relevance and this determines whether your ads are actually relevant to the keywords targeted. If your score is low in this regard, then there are a few things you can do to boost the rating.
The first is to constantly carry out keyword research. While some keywords may be effective when you start actioning your Google strategy, if you don’t seek out new ones then you won’t be able to build upon the initial success. Doing this will not only improve the quality of your own campaigns but may also provide entirely new audiences and angles that your competitors may be missing out on.
Tailor Ad Text
Tailoring ads to the specific search terms and keywords targeted is immensely important. A generic ad is far less effective than one which is made with the audience in mind. If a prospective customer sees ad copy that directly offers the answer they are looking for, then they will be much more likely to click through the link and possibly convert.
Make Ad Copy Engaging
While tailoring your copy to certain audiences and keywords is beneficial, you still need to craft engaging ad text that will entice people to your brand. First, consider what you want the end result of the customer journey to be and modify your call to action accordingly. If it’s simply purchasing a product, then something along the lines of ‘buy now’ is fine, but if you’re trying to get them to sign up for a free trial, then a different CTA is needed.
An effective way of getting people to click the link is by offering a financial incentive in the copy. Simply stating that there’s free delivery can be the difference between someone visiting your site or not.
Craft Effective Landing Pages
We’ve already mentioned this, but it’s crucial enough to warrant its own section. Landing pages are the place you direct your audience to. Because of this, if there are any issues, then they’re going to immediately stand out and put people off. One of the biggest problems is when a landing page isn’t directly connected to the ad they clicked on.
For example, that someone looking for a necklace has clicked one of your ads targeting the keyword ‘necklace’. If they were directed to a catalogue page for general jewellery, as opposed to a page focused on necklaces, they may leave the site quickly as the page isn’t relevant to their specific query.
This is the same for the messaging you use. If the tone and style of your landing pages are completely different to your paid ads, then this may throw people off. Consistency across all of your channels is vital for building brand trust with the consumer.
Let Social Nucleus Help
These steps can help raise your Quality Score and make your Google Ads much more successful. However, this is just one component of a marketing campaign and there are numerous other things you need to consider. If you’re completely neglecting Facebook ads for example, then there is a huge market you’re missing out on.
Of course, running all of these things at the same time is a lot of work, especially if you’re not an expert. If you’re struggling, then Social Nucleus can help! We have account managers, graphic designers and copywriters on hand to take care of every aspect of your digital marketing. If you want to find out more, get in touch and take your PPC campaigns to the next level.