The Tale of Google Quality Score (QS), Minimum Bids & PPC Management

Nothing has puzzled online advertisers as much as the Google Quality Score. What is the significance of the Quality Score? How is it calculated? Why is it important to effective PPC Managements? What can I do to improve the quality score of my site consistently?

Simply put, the Quality Score is a dynamic variable allocated to each keyword: its sole purpose is to measure the relationship among the advertiser's set of keywords, text ads, and the user's actual search query. Generally, QS is utilized in assigning a score or a minimum bid, and is calculated using a complicated algorithm designed by Google. The algorithm is a function of a myriad of factors, including, but not limited to the following:

Minimum Bid:

• The keyword's historical click-through rate (CTR) on Google (CTR on the Google Content Network is NOT considered)
• The relevance of the keyword to the ads in its ad group
• The quality of the landing page
• The advertiser's account history, which is measured by the CTR of all the ads and keywords in the account
• The historical CTR of the display URLs in the ad group

Most advertisers deem the nature of the Quality Score too complex and tend to ignore the possible benefits of improving its components. Specifically, higher QS may mean not only decreased marketing costs (i.e. CPC's), but also an increase in Conversion Rates resulting in a greater profit margin (ROAS).

So what can an advertiser do in order to harness and improve the elements of the score? Here are some basic, yet crucial guidelines to consider:

1. Organization & Relevancy. Ad Groups should contain only as many words as can share a common ad creative. Abstain from using the Google DKI (Dynamic Keyword Insertion) feature to load up the ad group with keywords and phrases that are not common enough – this will hurt your QS.
2. Negative Keywords. Narrow down traffic to users who are more likely to convert by weeding out irrelevant themes. These prevent the ad being shown in poorly targeted SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), which lowers your CTR and, therefore, your AdRank/Quality Score.
3. Ad Text/Keyword Relationship. Keep in mind that your text ads should represent your Ad Groups as accurately as possible for the best outcome. Refrain from using text ads that are too broad, or ones that fail to capture the theme of your ad group's keywords.
4. Landing Page Optimization. Google has recently started to implement the relevancy of the landing page into the overall quality score. Developing a unique, honest, consumer friendly and easy-to-use landing page has become a priority among successful advertisers. Most recently, Google has announced that landing page loading time will be an additional factor in assigning Quality Score.

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isoTree excels in targeting a broad audience with intense and specific advertising that is monitored and enhanced on a continuous basis. To date, isoTree has invested into both technology and human resources in order to further its large-scale Landing Page Optimization Project, an effort which will make the process of creating QS-friendly content easy, effective, and quantifiable.