What is Quality Score and how do you actually improve it?
It is a diagnostic: ad relevance, expected CTR, and the page you send people to.
Quality Score is a 1 to 10 diagnostic, not a score to game. Google's own help documentation says plainly that Quality Score "is not a key performance indicator and should not be optimized," and that it "is not an input in the ad auction." Read it as a symptom, then fix the cause.
The three components
Google lists them as expected clickthrough rate, or the likelihood your ad gets clicked when shown; ad relevance, or how closely your ad matches the intent behind the search; and landing page experience, or how relevant and useful your page is to people who click. Each is reported as below average, average or above average, and that breakdown is far more useful than the number itself.
What a low score is usually telling you
- Low ad relevance almost always means the ad group is too broad. The ad cannot speak to every keyword in it, so it speaks to none of them.
- Low expected CTR usually means your offer is not differentiated on the results page, or you are bidding on terms with an intent you cannot satisfy.
- Low landing page experience means the page does not answer the search. This is the one worth most of your attention.
Fix the landing page, because that is where the money is
The page should answer the exact search, in the same words the searcher used, with the offer visible without scrolling. Practically: headline that matches the ad, one clear action, a short form, a phone number that works on mobile, proof near the form, and fast load on a phone. If a visitor has to figure out whether you do the thing they searched for, you have lost them regardless of what the score says.
We will not quote you a percentage of CPC savings from improving Quality Score. Google is explicit that the score is diagnostic rather than an auction input, and any specific savings figure you see online is someone's account, not yours. Improve relevance because it produces better leads. Cheaper clicks are a side effect, not the goal.
Related: How does LevelUp Digital approach paid media strategy?, What Is a CRO Strategy?, our website design and UX services, and our PPC advertising page.