10 Facts About Ads Quality Straight From Google

In the SEM world, there are constant discussions taking place on how to improve Quality Scores. Although we’ll never receive the Quality Score algorithm, we’ll take what we can get when Google gives us tidbits of information.

Here are 10 things you should know about Ads Quality – straight from Google’s mouth:

1. There might not be ads on all search results, even for queries that advertisers are bidding on.
2. Just because there is low competition for a keyword doesn’t mean that it will be inexpensive.
3. Your ad position is not a factor in your Quality Score.
4. Your bid primarily impacts your rank, not your Quality Score.
5. Quality is given extra consideration when determining which ads appear in the top slots.
6. Your ad conversion rate doesn’t affect your Quality Score.
7. A few bad days of performance will not ruin your Quality Scores.
8. Quality Score doesn’t suffer when your ads are showing infrequently or not showing due to pausing or budgeting.
9. Restructuring your account doesn’t cause you to lose your historical Quality Score information.
10. Google doesn’t keep track of your landing page experience history.

You can find Google’s details about the above list here. Additionally, I recommend you watch this introductory video explaining the ad auction by Chief Economist at Google, Hal Varian.

It’s important that you digest Quality Score information with caution. There are many more details that are factored into Quality Score that are not reflected here. Need a couple of tips to get you heading in the right direction? First, be sure to construct your account structure so that campaigns, ad groups, keywords and ads are tightly themed and created in an organized and logical manner. Also, it’s important that your ads, keywords and landing pages are of quality and highly relevant.

We are barely scratching the surface with this topic. What are some high-level tips you have for improving Quality Scores?

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

Image credit: North Charleston

Improve the Quality Score of Your Landing Pages

Google is treating paid search more and more like natural search. More specifically, they are giving preference to "quality" pages that provide a positive user experience. Of course, "quality", as defined by Google, mainly refers to providing unique, useful content.

Many of us marketers have long followed conversion optimization guidelines of summing up content in bullet points and removing navigation from landing pages to laser focus the pages on the conversion action. While this may be good practice for maximizing conversion rates, it's not the best practice for pleasing Google and moving your ads to a higher position for a lower bid amount.

One problem with "conversion-focused" landing pages, so to speak, is that they will often have high bounce rates. The bounce rate of a landing page directly affects quality score. By removing navigation from the landing page, those who do not perform a conversion action (i.e. filling out a form) will bounce from the page (leave the website without viewing a second page).

Additionally, by summarizing information into bullet points to relay the main messaging easily to the user, you may also be compromising quality score. Much the way Google loves lots of content in natural search, they are placing more emphasis on this in paid search. The more quality information you provide, the higher your ads will show on the search engine results page.

With all this in mind, the obvious question is "How does one optimize for conversion without sacrificing quality score?" The answer is fairly simple. Think of your landing page as a microsite. By creating a "microsite" for your pay per click campaign, you can provide lots of quality content, decrease the bounce rate, and still display a conversion-friendly layout.

In most cases, you will still want to remove the main website navigation to prevent users from getting lost or distracted from the action you want them to take. Rather, replace it with several pages that split up the content.

For example, on the main landing page you can have a few bullet points, maybe an image and/or video, and a form (if submitting a form is the action you want users to take. In addition, you can have links to other pages, all of which having the form in the same place. This way, if users don't fill out the form right away, they may view a second page rather than bouncing.

Some possible additional pages of your microsite could be testimonials, broader product/service descriptions, and company information. Make sure to test different pages to find what works best for your campaigns.

Improve Your Quality Score

When advertising in Google AdWords, quality score can mean the difference between profitable and break-even campaigns. Small tweaks to your campaign can be enough to improve your quality score enough to lower your cost per click. Especially if you are in a field with growing competition, you may see the cost per click of your keywords rising to the point that you just can't make any money. By raising that quality score, you may just be able to get the cost back down and start making money again.

The simplest way to improve your quality score is to take the time to break your campaigns down to highly specific ad groups. Instead of a single ad group with 20 somewhat similar keyword phrases, break it into four or five ad groups with four or five keyword phrases in each. For the ads in a specific ad group, include the keyword phrases in the ad copy. On the landing page for that ad group, include the wording you used in the ads. By simply separating keywords into ad groups, you will improve the relevancy of your ads and landing pages and effectively lower your cost per click.