Google Quality Score

Before Google came out with the ‘Quality Score’ for each of the keywords in a PPC campaign, sponsored search on Google was not based upon having a relevant landing page. Marketers could essentially buy sponsored placements with no risk of penalty. Granted, CPC as well as CTR were a factor, but not like today. Now things on Google are much different with the addition of Google Quality Score.

A Quality Score is calculated every time your keyword matches a search query. This Quality Score determines the cost you are going to pay for that click, first page bid estimate as well as where your ad is going to be ranked. Quality Score helps Google show only the most relevant ads to each Search Query. Without Quality Score you could essentially see an ad for Britney Spears when looking for ex. food recipes as long as they bid higher than someone else.

To ensure that you have the best Quality Score available you should keep keywords in tight knit ad groups, with all the keywords being as closely related as possible. The ads associated with the keywords should all advertise the same product or service, and ads should be closely related to the keywords. The landing page you are using should also be highly relevant to the keywords and ads. Bottom line is, the more relevant the keywords and ads are to the landing page, the better your Google Quality Score will be. In turn, Google will be more likely to show your ads, your ads will be in a better position and you will be paying less for those clicks.