How and Why to Improve Google Adwords Quality Score

Google Adwords is a very powerful online marketing tool. With its own reporting and integration with Google Analytics, it allows advertisers to see a level of granularity and ROI reporting equaled to very few advertising platforms. Having the data available is extremely important when determining success of an advertising effort. That being said, it’s important to understand how the system works to maximize return on investment. In Google Adwords bid amount is a factor in how your ad performs but “Quality Score” is even more important for getting the highest possible ROI.
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Having a high Ad rank ultimately determines how, where, and if your ad will be seen. Ad rank is calculated by bid amount, Quality Score, extensions and other ad formats. Of course, the bid is something pretty straightforward--the higher you bid, the more likely you are to receive a high Ad rank. What's a little more vague is the Quality Score and how the components therein--relevance, clickthrough rates, and landing page experience--impact your score.

With AdWords API, developers can create programs that make the management of large AdWords accounts more efficient. In the latest version of AdWords API, users are now able to download Quality Score information by and large.

Using the new version of AdWords API, Brad Geddes, Author of Advanced Google Adwords, was able to breakdown the Quality Score and determine the impact each factor has on the overall score. In an article he wrote for Search Engine Land, he developed a simple formula by which you can determine the breakdown of your Quality Score.
The Quality Score is affected by several factors: CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience. Until now, it was unclear how much of an impact each of these factors had on the Quality Score and what areas should be targeted for improvement. Now, determining where your ad's weaknesses lie is as simple as plugging in numbers.
The Importance of The Quality ScoreThe Quality Score is, as the name implies, a score from 1-10 (1 being the lowest, 10 the highest) that determines the quality of every search keyword in an AdWords account. Having a high-quality score decreases the cost-per-click for the specified ad and increases your average ad position. Although the CPC can vary depending on what other companies you are competing with, in general, having a higher Quality Score can boost your position while lowering the cost per click compared to competitors with lower quality scores.

Quality Score BreakdownBeforehand, determining the impact each factor (CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience) had on each keyword and Ad was difficult. One would have to hover over each keyword to see the factors at hand, and even then, there wasn't a numerical breakdown. Let's say you had a quality score of 10/10. It wouldn't give you a number that determines what score you got per factor. Instead, it would tell you whether each factor was below average, average, or above average.
 
The team at AdAlysis was able to analyze and dissect many Quality Scores to determine how each of these individual factors is weighed. With this table, you can you can see how each component impacts a Quality Score. This will help you to figure out exactly where to apply your focus in your ad campaign:

Based on this table, it seems as if the landing page experience and the CTR have the greatest impact on the overall Quality Score. The formula to use, then, is, 1 + Landing Page Experience + Ad Relevance + CTR = Quality Score. Let's say you're above average on both Landing Page Experience and CTR, but just average on your Ad Relevance. Then you Quality Score is: 1 + 3.5 + 3.5 + 1 = 9. Of course, you knew your Quality Score beforehand, but now you understand the impact of each component on your overall score in individual, numerical values.
 
Improving Your Quality ScoreAlthough users are now able to implement this formula with their own Quality Scores, the methods for improving the Quality Score have not changed drastically. Having a high-quality landing page with high-impact keywords will reel in higher CTRs and a larger pool of visitors. Now, however, you can fully understand the formula behind your Quality Score and focus your efforts on the factors of greatest importance.
 
What This Means for You With the new AdWords API, managing Quality Scores becomes a little easier. Instead of jumping on a vague notion that your ad relevance is below average and focusing your efforts on fixing that, you now understand that ad relevance has the lowest impact on the overall Quality Score.
Dissecting the Quality Score allows you to fully understand the impact each search keyword has on your advertisements. With this formula, advertisers can effectively raise Quality Scores across the board, saving money and time, and increasing exposure all the while.

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Common Adwords Quality Score Questions:
Q. How long does it take to improve quality score?
A. By optimizing ads, and landing pages quality scores can be effected quickly. Within a couple of days, often times faster.

Q. How do you improve quality score (quality score factors)?

• Relevance of your ad to the keyword (try to group keyword campaigns as close to ach other as possible)
  
• Relevance of your ad to your landing page (use multiple, specific" landing pages for keyword groups)
  
• Historical performance of your account (remove or fix low quality score keywords regularly)
  
• The click-through rate of your ad (write quality, targeted ads for your keyword campaigns)
  

Q. How often does google calculate quality score
A. Every time you submit new keywords, or make changes to existing keywords.

Q. How to get 10/10 quality score adwords
A. It is an ongoing process