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Earlier this week, AdWords was updated to give advertisers more insight into why their Quality Score is what it is. Whereas previously, we were only given a number on a 1-10 scale indicating the quality of our keywords, now we’re given slightly more detailed reasons as to why. The metrics (expected CTR, ad relevancy, and landing page experience) are rated above average, average, or below average on a keyword basis, which still may not sound as detailed as you’d like. So I decided to dig a little deeper and find out just what those rankings really mean.
Expected CTR
This metric is based on how likely your keyword is to generate a click on its related ad. Google determines this by measuring how well your keyword has performed in the past as well as your ad’s position. An important thing to note here is that they only look at exact match types when determining the expected CTR.
Above Average or Average status means that Google can’t find any major problems with the keyword’s expected CTR compared to all other keywords across AdWords. A Below Average status means that the keyword should be considered for a change that would make it more specific. Alternatively, your ad text could be altered to be more relevant to your keywords.
Keep in mind it’s very possible for a keyword to have a high Quality Score despite a low expected CTR or vice versa because there are several factors that go into determining a quality score. The metric is solely intended to draw your attention to areas that may potentially be improved.
Ad Relevance
This measures how tightly your keyword matches your ads, simply put. Google says this is based on the message of your ad and the keyword that triggered it.
Above Average or Average status means that there are no severe issues with the relevance of your keyword compared to all other keywords across AdWords. A Below average scoring indicates that your keyword might not be specific enough of that your ad group could be too broad for that keyword.
As with Expected CTR, it’s still quite possible that you’ll have a high Quality Score and low ad relevance (or vice versa) depending on the other Quality Score determining factors.
Landing Page Experience
With this metric, basically Google is letting you know whether or not your landing page has what it takes to convert. Is it a useful page? Are the keywords, ads, and landing page text related? Combine that with a clear, easy to navigate page and you should do just fine.
An Above Average or Average score means that there are no problems with your landing page while a Below Average status means that you should consider looking over your landing pages and making sure that ads are sending visitors to the most relevant page possible.
Hopefully that helps answers any questions you might have still had after Google launched its expanded, yet vague Quality Score rankings for your keywords. Again, none of the mentioned factors necessarily ruin Quality Scores on their own, but they do provide insight as to what you can look into to raise a score.
The post Delving Deeper Into the New Quality Score Status Factors appeared first on Google AdWords Management Software - WordWatch.
