Quality Score Elements: Part 2 Ad Relevance
What is a quality score?
When looking through your Google Ads campaign, you may come across something called a “quality score” that is applied to both your text ads and keywords. This value is scored on a rating from 1 - 10 and gives you a little more insight as to how Google defines a good quality ad running in your campaign. While it can be a little daunting when you see a score of 3/10, it only means that some areas of improvement can help your overall campaign performance.
Quality score is not something that needs to have your full attention at all times. Instead, a more productive way of looking at it is through understanding how each component can help better your ads through user experience and Google recommendations.
What are the three components:
Three main components are considered when Google gives your ads or keywords a ranking. These three measurements are:
Landing page experience (read part 1 of this series)
Ad relevance
Expected CTR (click-through rate)
For this blog, we are going to be focusing on the ad relevance, but don’t worry! This is a 3 part series breaking down quality scores on a fundamental level. If you would like to learn more about expected CTR and ad relevance, please visit our other blogs!
Digging into ad relevance:
What does this mean?
In your Google Ads campaign, ad relevance can be something that makes or breaks how likely users are to click on your ads and land on your website. This metric of quality score relies heavily on the ad text that you use for each individual ad you are running. That means Google takes a look at the wording and phrasing you are using, and compares it to:
The keywords you are bidding for
The search results your ads are popping up for
How is it measured?
While there isn’t a definitive way to calculate how ad relevance is measured within your campaign, there are a couple of things to consider when creating original copy for your ads. Some things to keep in mind are:
Identifiable keywords: When you are creating ads, you want to make sure that the keywords you are bidding for are included throughout the ad text. This means using the keywords throughout both the headlines and descriptions so that Google has a clear understanding that your ad text is related to the keywords you are advertising for.
Landing pages: Choosing a landing page for your ads means finding the pages on your website that have the most relevant information for the user. For example, if you are bidding for keywords like “anxiety therapy” then your landing page should be a representative of that service. This can help to build ad relevance by letting Google and the user know that you are ready and willing to provide the information necessary to move the user along in the conversion funnel.
Clear messaging: While unlimited characters for headlines and descriptions would be ideal, it is not possible within Google Ads. That is why the message that you send to the user should be clear and concise at every point. This helps them to quickly identify what you are advertising for and determine whether or not it aligns with the service they need.
Why is it important & how does it help?
While the quality score may not play the most crucial role in a campaign, it can shed some insight as to how well Google deems your ads to be in your target market. Ad relevance may feel small in the grand scheme of things, but the data itself shows how users are interacting with the ads you have been running, and what can be done to improve their experience. Ultimately, the three components that make up your quality score don’t have much power individually, but together they can help you understand how to make adjustments to your campaign in order to show up better compared to your competitors.
What can I do for my ads:
-
By dividing up your keywords into their ad groups, you are allowing them to stand on their own within the campaign. This makes it easier to create ad copy that specifically pertains to what you are advertising for, rather than creating one ad that acts as a catch-all for the different keywords you are targeting. It can also help to keep your ads structured and organized throughout the back end of the campaign.
-
Sometimes your messaging won’t reach the right audience, and you’ll need to tweak the language you use in order to show up in front of the targeted users. Instead of only relying on one ad to help you find those users, utilizing multiple ads in one ad group can help improve your visibility along with determining which ad texts work more for your campaign.
-
Ensuring that the landing pages you are sending the ads to are aligned with the keywords and ad text you are running is crucial to helping Google determine whether your ad is relevant or not. Your ad text could hit all the check marks above, but if your landing page does not provide the necessary information that the user is searching for then your ad relevance data may be skewed.
-
When users are searching for a product or service, they want to feel seen and validated in the results without blatantly feeling like they are being catered to. Creating compelling ad text comes with understanding your target audience and how they would like to be advertised too. While some prefer to see ad text that is straight to the point, others are looking to go on a journey to find the product/service that feels right for them.
Conclusion: Small improvements can make a big difference
Advertising your services on a market is a game of showing up in front of the right people at the right time. When just a small aspect of your formula to do so is off, it could cause obstacles further down the road in your campaigns. In order to stay ahead of the curve, paying attention to the small details of your campaign performance like quality score and ad relevance can make a big difference in how users experience your ads.
If you are in the process of learning how to build a better quality score or improve your overall ad relevance, feel free to reach out to our digital marketing experts to learn more!
