Quality Score is Google’s way of keeping its users happy, and high Quality Scores save YOU, the advertiser, a lot of money. So how does this system work? How can you check and improve your Google Ads Quality Score? Read on to find out! WordStream’s free Google Ads Performance Grader is the single easiest way to find out how your Quality Scores measure up to similar businesses, as well as get actionable insights on how you can raise your scores. Read on to learn everything you need to know.
WordStream’s free Google Ads Performance Grader is a free tool that runs an instant audit of your Google Ads account and scores you in four key areas: Quality Score, account activity, impression share, and wasted spend.
The Quality Score report will show you:
If you want to learn more about the components of Quality Score, stick around. If you’re just here to check your Quality Score, see how it stacks up to your competitors, and get real insights into how to improve it, go ahead and take our Free Google Ads Performance Grader for a spin.
Quality Score for Google and the Search Network is a dynamic metric assigned to each of your keywords in Google Ads. It’s calculated using a proprietary formula and measures how relevant your keyword is to your ad group and to a user’s search query. Quality Score is measured on a scale from 1-10.
Quality Score is important because the higher a keyword’s Quality Score, the lower its cost per click (CPC) and the better its ad position. Why? Because Google doesn’t make money if users don’t click on its ads, so it benefits Google to serve ads that are relevant and trustworthy.
Here’s how the Google Ads auction works:
When your ad gets entered into the Google Ads auction, Google will first calculate your Quality Score. It will then multiply your Quality Score by your maximum bid to determine your Ad Rank. The ads with the highest Ad Rank scores are the ones that show. Google then calculates your cost per click by taking the Ad Rank score of the ad below yours, dividing it by your Quality Score, then adding one cent.
That’s a mouthful (and you can catch the full visual and explanation in the link above), but the important thing to know is that because of these formulas, higher Quality Scores equate to higher ad positions at lower costs.
High Quality Scores are obviously important if you want to get the best advertising value and rate of return possible. The question then becomes, how are the scores calculated? Google reports that the core components of Quality Score are as follows:
So basically, you need to:
The most difficult thing here is the never-ending maintenance. Achieving high Quality Scores and managing PPC campaigns is an iterative process. It requires close attention to the factors mentioned above, and periodic adjustment.
WordStream’s Quality Score tools are uniquely designed to help search marketers carry out the proven best practices that improve relevance and raise Quality Scores. Find out how you can raise your Quality Scores with our free Google Ads Performance Grader.