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If you decide to start a campaign on Google Ads, it's a good idea to pay immediate attention to your quality score. This score, along with your maximum Cost Per Click (CPC), determines the position of your ad. To achieve a good result with your campaign, it is important that your ad ranks high on the list, but at the same time, you naturally don't want to make a loss. In this article, you will learn in 6 minutes how Google Ads works, how to increase your quality score, and what other methods you can use to make your ad even more successful.
Google Ads, formerly Google Adwords, is the program you use to buy ad space on all Google websites and those of its partners. There are different types of ads possible, and they are placed in one of Google's two networks: the Search Network or the Display Network.
Ads on the Display Network: The Google Display Network consists of all well-known Google websites (Gmail, Photos, YouTube, etc.). On this network, you can place a banner or advertise with an image. When someone clicks on your ad, they are led to the website you have specified.
Ads on the Search Network: The Search Network includes Google Search, Google Shopping, and Google Maps. The websites of Google's search partners are also part of this. The well-known ads above the search engine results are placed in this way, and if you want your company to appear on Google Maps, you can also use this option.
Payments for Google Ads are settled as Cost Per Click. Each time someone clicks on your ad, you pay this amount. This person is thus brought to your website by Google, where it is then up to you to convert them. A well-functioning website that attracts attention and is user-friendly is therefore essential.
You specify the payment by bidding on a keyword. You bid for an ad space on the search results page when a certain keyword is entered. When a searcher types this word, theoretically, the advertiser who has bid the highest amount will be first. However, if someone with a lower bid but a higher quality score competes with your position, there is a chance that the spot will go to the one with the lower bid.
The importance of your ad is determined by Google by giving it a score for that spot. Every advertiser who wants to advertise on that keyword is assessed in this way, and whoever has the highest score wins the spot. The score is calculated by multiplying your maximum CPC by your quality score.
For example, let's say you have a quality score of 3 and you bid a maximum of ₹60 per click; your score is 3 x 60 = 180. Someone who only bids ₹35 per click but has a quality score of 6 gets a total score of 3.5 x 6 = 210 and wins the spot. This advertiser bids ₹25 less per click but still gets priority. And that is partly because they paid attention to the quality score.
The reason Google designed a quality score is to ensure that the ads that appear are as relevant as possible to the keyword that has been typed. By choosing the advertiser who bids ₹35 per click, they may lose money, but in return, the searcher sees an ad that better fits what they are looking for. Or at least, one that seems to fit better.
For Google, a relevant ad is also better, of course, because it is clicked on more. In this way, they earn back the money they lost by choosing the cheaper bidder. However, it is quite possible that your product is just as relevant, but your settings give you a lower quality score. And that is therefore actually unfair. The good news is that this can be easily remedied with a few steps.
Before we move on to the ways you can improve your quality score, it's a good idea to explain the underlying idea. If you know how Google calculates the quality score, you can also better determine how to improve it. Google Ads looks at a number of important points before you get a score, namely:
The quality of the landing page.
The expected number of clicks for your ad (Click Through Rate, or CTR).
The relevance of your ad to the keyword that was typed.
Your account history and the CTR of your ads.
The performance of your entire Google Ads account.
Google's quality score is a number from 1 to 10, and it indicates how relevant your keywords are to your ad. A score of 10 is the best, and a score of 1 is the worst you can get. You can easily find your current quality score by going to the keywords tab and looking at the quality score column. You also see your quality score when you look at the white speech bubble in the status column next to a keyword.
If you can't see your quality scores, it's possible that these columns still need to be added to your keywords report. You can then get to see your current quality score, as well as scores from the past. If you want to add columns, first go to the campaign you are interested in. Select the 'keywords' section and then you can choose 'customize columns' in the top right. In the menu that appears, select the section called 'quality score'.
Now you see the overall quality score in the statistics, but also its different components, such as the quality of the landing page, the expected CTR, and the ad relevance. Google Ads even makes it possible for you to assess which of these points you should focus on to increase the quality score.
Before we get into the ways you can improve your quality score, you need to know what a good quality score actually is. As already mentioned, a rating from 1 to 10 is assigned, with 10 being the best. If you see a 1 or a 2, your ad will simply not be shown, and it's definitely time to take action. With a score of 5 or less, your ad will be shown more often than not. You then have to bid a higher amount per click to get the ad space. That in turn means that your campaign may not be very profitable.
A score of 6 is average. If your campaign has a score of 7 or higher, you will notice that you can start saving more and more. You now get an ad space based on your quality score and not the amount you bid. If you can achieve this score, you not only have a good chance that your ad will be placed, but you will also have to pay less for your campaign.
With this information in mind, you can get to work. There are a number of ways to improve your quality score and thus get a high position from Google by bidding less.
The landing page is the page of your website where the visitor ends up when they click on your ad. You specify this yourself, and the link you choose is very important. Too often, a standard homepage is used, while it is much better to take the visitor directly to the product. To then prevent them from leaving your website again, you can optimize your landing page in the following ways.
Responsive: Make sure your landing page is responsive. This means that it is suitable for use on mobile devices. More and more people use their phone and tablet when searching for products and services, and it would be a shame if someone left your website because it is not clear on that device.
Loading speed: Check the speed of your landing page and your website. If it is slow, it may be time to remove some videos and images or to choose a new host. Searchers who end up on a page that loads slowly will quickly leave.
Unique content: Choose the landing page based on the product being searched for and thus provide unique content. If someone searches for 'leather women's shoes,' you send them to a different landing page than someone who has only searched for 'women's shoes.'
Keywords: Add the important keywords to your landing page. This makes it more relevant to Google because there is a match with the ad.
Good navigation options: Send the visitor to a specific landing page, but make sure that easy navigation to other products or pages is then available. You do this, for example, by adding a call-to-action to your landing page, by showing a breadcrumb trail, or by using internal links. Do not disrupt this ease of navigation, for example by using pop-ups, because Google will not appreciate that.
Reliable: Make sure your website is reliable, clear, and user-friendly. Your search engine optimization must be in perfect order so that Google approves your entire website.
Contact details: Make the contact details of your company clearly visible and ensure you are easy to reach.
The question, therefore, is how you get people to click on your ad.
Before you set up an ad campaign on Google Ads, it is good to know that Google does look at your past and the quality of the ads you have placed before. Your CTR is particularly important to Google because it indicates how many people have clicked on your previous ads.
It is therefore only logical that Google lowers your quality score if your CTR has never been high. That's why it's important that you achieve a high CTR from the moment you start Google Ads. You don't want your past to haunt you later. You can keep your CTR high from day 1 by applying the following measures.
Relevant ads: Spend a lot of time on filling in your first ad. The intention is that it is seen by Google as as relevant as possible. So set up your account correctly and well, and ensure that your ads perfectly match the keyword that was typed.
Bid higher: For your CTR, it's better to bid a bit higher for your CPC in the beginning. This will cause Google to place you in a higher position, which is beneficial for your CTR. This is important because Google looks at your account history and will therefore see that you have had a good position from the start. However, do not forget that Google also includes your current ads, so it is not wise to put your position at risk later.
Clear texts: Write clear texts in your ad and then look at the ads of the competitors. Indicate your Unique Selling Points, use capital letters to attract attention, and show the searcher that you are different from the rest. Also, write an active text that prompts the searcher to take action. At the same time, your ad must, of course, continue to appear professional, and the trick is to find a good balance.
Extensions: Then immediately add a number of extensions. These are links to specific other pages on your website, such as the opening hours of your shop or the page with offers. This gives the searcher the opportunity to go directly to another and perhaps better landing page than the one you had in mind.
Create test ads: Finally, it is wise in the beginning to create several ads and test which approach yields the most. Because you only pay per click, you will not suffer too much financially. The only problem is that your history is affected by this, so still think carefully about the test ads you place and make sure your CTR does not drop.
For Google, it is of great importance that the searcher only sees relevant ads. This not only promotes the searcher's experience but also brings Google more clicks, which means they receive more money. So ask yourself what the searcher is looking for when they type a certain keyword. And does your ad match that or not?
To an ad that is not relevant, you can link a new keyword or you can adjust the ad itself, if necessary. Whatever you do, if you show the searcher an ad that does not match the search term entered, the chance that you will close a sale also becomes smaller for you. You improve the relevance of your ad in relation to the keywords to which you link it in the following ways.
Add keywords: It may sound obvious, but also include the keywords you have selected in the texts of your ads. Google will then automatically see these as more relevant, but this also has an advantage for the searcher. Someone who has searched for 'quality women's shoes' will be much more likely to click on an ad that also contains these words.
Add structure: Take the time to properly structure your Google Ads account and not place your campaigns in one ad group, but to create multiple ad groups. In this way, your ads become more specific, and that increases relevance. At the same time, you can ensure that the visitor ends up on the right landing page. If you see keywords that have received a low quality score, you can create a separate group for them to boost them. You will have to put some time and effort into designing your account, but ultimately, this has a large number of advantages for you and for Google.
Use negative keywords: Finally, it is always a good idea to use the so-called negative keywords. These are keywords that are excluded from your ads. The example of women's shoes illustrates this well. If your keyword is 'buy shoes,' but you only sell women's shoes, you can exclude the words 'men's' or 'children's'. In this way, your ad does not appear when searching for children's shoes, and this cannot lower your quality score.
Now you can get started with improving your quality score on Google Ads, but we cannot end without making you aware of a number of points that you should not forget. The quality score is important, but it is not the only thing you should focus on when you are creating a campaign. It takes quite a long time to really master Google Ads. Ultimately, it comes down to the number of conversions you get with your ads.
The quality score is relevant because Google looks at your history and you don't want it to negatively affect your ads later. It is also relevant because with a higher quality score, you can enter a lower CPC. If you have paused keywords, don't forget that they continue to count towards the total quality score and that they are then calculated with the last score achieved. And finally, it is wise that you monitor your quality score regularly, because it can change from one moment to the next.
As already mentioned, the quality score is not all that matters if you want to run a successful Google Ads campaign. A high score is useful, but it mainly comes from good ads and well-structured campaigns, which means that your quality score automatically follows when you are successful. Google Ads is not the most user-friendly program to work with, and the competition is fierce. ANA digital media can help you set up your campaigns correctly so that you only have to maintain them yourself. Until then, we give you some tips here with which you can make your collaboration with Google Ads a success.
One of the biggest mistakes made by people who work with Google Ads is that not enough time is spent setting up a structured campaign. Google gives you all the possibilities to reach your target audience as targeted as possible, and that often results in a higher conversion. Therefore, use the option to neatly group your ads and keywords within your campaign.
Simply explained, you use one ad for women's shoes and another for men's shoes, and no one ever sees the wrong one. If you link too many keywords to one ad, the ad automatically becomes less relevant. And that has a negative effect on your quality score. You send the searcher directly to the product they are actually trying to find, and that results in a greater chance that you will sell it.
Ads uses different methods with which your ad is linked to certain keywords. If you use these correctly, you focus on exactly the right target audience. A distinction is made between three types of keywords.
Exact keywords: With this method, Google will only show your ad if the keyword is typed exactly. Even a small typo or a plural of your keyword is not included. This sounds restrictive, but on the other hand, it gives you the unique opportunity to reach a very small and detailed target audience.
Phrase keywords: You can also instruct Google to search in a phrase context. This means that the entire sentence you enter must be typed. Sometimes this can be useful because there is probably little competition for a phrase. An example of this is 'buy shoes for men in Manchester.'
Broad keywords: A final option you have is to use broad keywords. You then pass on a word, and all variants are included. These are variants of your keyword (shoes for men, men's shoes, men's shoe, and so on), but also synonyms of them and keywords with spelling mistakes.
It may cost you some time in the beginning, but if you try out different ads and see how they do, you can learn a lot from them. Therefore, create ads with different titles, with a link to different landing pages, and with different descriptions. See which of your ads yields the best results and then also look at the quality scores per ad. Find out why one ad does better than another and make your future ads this way to become successful faster.
In Google Ads, you bid an amount per click. It is then important to calculate how much one click yields you in revenue. Let's say you bid ₹50 per click, and out of 100 clicks, you can get 20 customers. You have then paid a total of ₹5,000, but how much have you earned from this? It is very important that you calculate this as quickly as you can, because then you can better estimate how much you can bid per click at most. It makes little sense to start an Ads campaign if you pay more to Google than you get in revenue from it.
A competitor analysis is a good idea in many parts of marketing, and a Google Ads campaign is no exception. By looking at what your competitors are doing, you not only see why they score better (or worse) than you, but you also determine where there are profits to be made for you. There are only a limited number of ad spaces per keyword, so to have a better chance of getting them, you use keywords that have little competition.
Look at the ads that appear for a certain keyword, imagine yourself being a customer, and evaluate the different landing pages. Which competitor would you continue with and why? You can use this information to make your own campaign better. And through the 'auction insights' option in Google Ads, you can view the statistics of your competitors to a limited extent.
If your company has a regional coverage, there is little point in recruiting customers who do not fall within that area. For example, if you sell men's shoes in London, someone from Liverpool has little use for your ad. Google Ads has radius targeting for that, and this is a very useful option to use. By focusing only on a certain region, you make the competition smaller and the target audience more specific. Enter a maximum distance and define your work area.
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If you link your Ads account to your Google Analytics account, you will suddenly see significantly more data. And if you like this, you can optimize your ads and keep them up to date live. The great advantage of online marketing is that it is directly measurable and that you can adjust your ad while your campaign is live. That was, of course, not possible with an ad in the newspaper before.
By making this link, you import goals and transactions from Google Analytics into Ads, and you use remarketing from Google Analytics. With this, you target certain audiences in Ads. In this way, you gain significantly more insight into how you can better apply your Ads campaign to your target audience.
The best ad texts stimulate searchers and encourage them to respond to your ad. So address your customers directly and make sure they see at a glance why your product is the best. Also, use positive words and an active text, instead of passive. Try to avoid technical jargon, unless it specifically fits your target audience. When writing your texts, imagine that you are someone from your target audience.
It is not the case, especially not in the beginning, that a Google Ads campaign will immediately bring you a lot of money. Especially not if you have placed a number of test ads. By working on your quality score and making your ads better and better, you will notice that you can bid a lower and lower amount and that you therefore spend less money on your campaign monthly. If you do not expect much in the beginning, but are constantly working on improving and analysing your current campaigns, you will eventually become very successful in this way. If you do not do this, there is a good chance that you will quickly give up on advertising through Google. And that would be a shame.
We help you get off to a brilliant start in Google Ads. By ensuring that you set up relevant campaigns from the start, your quality score will also remain good. ANA digital media is the online marketing specialist for your business, and we provide your company with more leads by coordinating and maintaining your Google Ads campaign.
In addition, we give a good structure to your account, from which you will reap the benefits later. Once your campaign is running, you can take over yourself if you wish. The specialists at ANA digital media are aware of the latest developments, and we use the most modern tools to make your website and company even more successful.
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