Part I – Understanding Quality Score

One of Google’s driving philosophies is to provide users with helpful, relevant information. This is true in searches, but also in the advertisements they display, which should be of great importance to businesses utilizing PPC advertising in their marketing. Using highly relevant keywords, text ads, and landing pages helps to build a high quality score, which, for advertisers, translates into higher positions, increased clicks, and lower costs.

Google – The “Go-To” Search Engine

Google uses a sophisticated formula to decide which websites appear, and in what order, for any given keyword search. Their unique approach, called page rank, evaluates a site on a number of factors, including:

• The content (primarily text) on the site
• How many other websites link to the site
• The importance of those linking websites

The page rank formula is what differentiated Google when they introduced their search engine, and continues to provide highly relevant results superior to any other service out there.

Applying Search Relevancy to Ads, Too

On the top and side of Google’s search results are “Sponsored Links.” These are pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements that are relevant to the user’s search query. To determine what ads to display, and in what order to show them, Google also uses a ranking system, called ad rank, which is a combination of auction-style bidding and a number that measures relevance, termed quality score.

Having a high quality score is important because:

• Your ad will receive a higher position within the sponsored links
• You will pay a lower cost per click

Since your quality score directly affects your position and price, it is important to understand how the whole process works.

Determining Position

Every time someone performs a keyword search, Google checks to see which ads want to be shown. They then rank them in order based on their ad rank score, which is the amount the advertiser is willing to pay for a click multiplied by the keyword’s quality score (formula here).

It is not simply your bid amount that determines position (as many people believe). That is half of it.

Ad Rank = Bid X Quality Score

Now, Google shows you a quality score in your account next to each keyword. You can either hover over the speech bubble in the “Status” column to see it, or better yet, add a column for QS by clicking the “Columns” button right under the keyword tab, and selecting the “Qual. Score” checkbox (and save).

This is a number that approximates your quality score. They won’t divulge your actual quality score (the one that is used in the equation), but here are two things I believe to be true about it:

1. Your actual score is a very precise number, that increases or decreases by percentage points.
2. The actual quality score is created for a keyword-ad pair, because each keyword is going to have a different CTR depending on which ad it is paired with.

How Google Calculates Quality Score

Google will not tell us exactly what goes into calculating quality score, however they do give us some basic information. A quality score is given to each keyword, and is determined by three main factors:

1. Click-through rate (CTR)
2. Keyword and ad text relevancy
3. Landing page quality and relevancy

Component #1: Click-Through Rate

The most important factor in computing a keyword’s quality score is click-through rate, both for the keyword itself, as well as the average for all the keywords in an account.

(To understand why CTR is so important, keep in mind that Google is a public company whose number one objective is to earn money for their shareholders. In 2009, Google did over $23 billion in sales, 95% of which came from PPC ads. Remember, you only pay for an ad – and they only collect money for an ad — when someone clicks on it. Therefore, they want to show the ads that are most likely to generate a click!)

Ideally, in every search result Google would like to display an ad with a 100% CTR. That would be their economic maximum. So obviously, they strive to get as close to that as possible.

Back in 2006, before quality score existed, they simply used CTR alone to help determine which ads to show and where. However, unscrupulous marketers were purchasing ordinary keywords, like “recipes” or “bicycles,” and then showing ads for unrelated websites, such as pornography or moneymaking schemes. To combat this, they began to measure relevancy.

Component #2: Relevancy

Relevancy means that your keyword, ad, and landing page are thematically related and consistent. Essentially, you should buy keywords, write ads, and offer a website for a product or service you truly provide.

Relevance and click-through rate are closely related; the more relevant your ad is to what the user searched for, the more likely they are to click on it.

Here’s what I recommend for extending relevance across your keywords, ad text, and landing page:

1. Begin by sticking to a small group of highly coveted keywords

Think about the keywords you would like to appear on the first page of search results for. Try and get inside your customer’s head and choose the phrases they would use when researching to buy your type of product or service.

2. Break your keywords into very small ad groups.

You want to show very relevant ads to each keyword.

3. Make sure they keyword appears two times in the ad text.

Use this formula when writing ad text (and remember, simpler is more effective):

Headline (25 char) = Use the exact keyword and state what your offer.

Line 1 (35 char) = Use the keyword again and 1 thing that either differentiates you from your competition, or highlights your unique selling proposition (USP).

Line 2 (35 char) = Mention an incentive or promotion, then end with a call to action.

Display URL (35 char) = http://www.YourDomain.com/Keyword – Remember, this is simply a display URL; adding a keyword to the end will not affect the actual landing page

4. Be sure to direct the ad to a landing page that includes your keywords.

You don’t want to get spammy and go overboard, but they keywords should be mentioned two or three times on the page. You can either choose an existing page on your site that is appropriate, or create a new landing page.

Remember, you want the user to “convert” on your landing page, so make it easy for them.

If you sell products directly on your site, send them to the page for the product you’re advertising (where a big “Add to Cart” button is).

If you are offering a free download, send them to a specific page about it that has the sign-up form.

Component #3: Landing Page

The final component, worth approximately 10% of your QS, is based on the page a user lands on after clicking your ad, known as the landing page.

In addition to using keywords on your landing page (as mentioned above), and a couple of other technical items (pages load quickly, no pop-ups), this component is really about the integrity of your business. Google wants to make sure you are a legitimate business conducting ethical online commerce.

They are looking for:

• Relevant and original content
• A “Contact Us” link that includes your physical address, phone and fax numbers, and a form or e-mail link
• Explicit opt-in and privacy policy information (transparency)

A “good” quality score is a seven or higher. Part two in this series will focus on how to achieve a high quality score, whether you’re building a new account or trying to improve an existing one.