Google Ads Quality Score and How to Improve It

If you have tried to run Google ads for your business, you may have heard of something called "quality score." It's one of those things that can do or break your advertising campaigns. But what exactly is it? And why does it matter so much?

Let's divide it into simple language - without jargon, no gutter, so you can see how it affects your advertising online and what you can do to increase.

What’s Quality Score, Anyway?

Think about the quality score as Google's way of measuring how good your ads are. It is a number from 1 to 10 and is based on three main things:

• How likely people are to click your ad (your expected click-through rate).
• How closely your ad matches what people are searching for (ad relevance).
• What happens after people click (landing page experience things like page speed, relevance, and ease of use).

The better your score, the less you usually pay for each click. And higher scores often help your ad show up in better spots on the page.

Why Should You Care?

Here is the business: When you spend money on ads, you want to make the most of each dollar. A high quality score helps you do this. Lowest costs, better ad placement, and more clicks and side-beads like a winning win, right?

For anyone who runs ads be it a local restaurant, plumber or marketing agency that offers SEO design services or website design services - improving your quality score can save money and attract more customers.

How to Improve Your Quality Score (In Plain English!)

Let's talk about the steps you can follow to increase your quality score. These are real world tips that you can put into action today.

1. Start With the Right Keywords

Your ads should match what your customers are searching for. Tools like Google’s Keyword Planner are helpful for finding the right terms.

If you’re a local business, think about adding location-based keywords. For example:

• “Website design services in Denver”
• “SEO service near me”
• “Best local SEO for restaurants”

These are the kind of specific, targeted phrases that tend to work well.

2. Organize Your Ads Into Focused Groups

One mistake I see all the time? People lump a bunch of random keywords into one ad group. That makes it hard to write ads that really match what people want.

Instead, make smaller ad groups that are tightly focused. For instance:

• One ad group just for “website design services.”
• Another one for “local SEO.”
• Another for “facebook ads agency.”

When your ad group is focused, your ads can be more relevant. Google notices that, and your Quality Score goes up.

3. Write Ads That Grab Attention

The text of your ad must be clear, captivating and correspond to what your customers are looking for. Here are some quick tips:

• Use the word -main chair on the headline and description.
• Be honest and clear about what you are offering.
• Add a strong call to action, as "get a free appointment" or "make your call today".

If you are a marketing agency that offers SEO service, not only say "SEO that works".” Show why it matters! Maybe:

“Affordable seo services Brisbane Rank Higher, Get More Customers Today!”

4. Make Sure Your Landing Page Delivers

Google doesn't just care about your ad - it cares about what happens after click.

If your destination page is slow, confused or not corresponding to what your ad promised, people will come out quickly. This impairs your quality score and budget.

Here’s how to fix it:

• Make your landing page load quickly. Use Google PageSpeed Insights to see how it’s doing.
• Keep it focused on what your ad promised.If your ad speaks about "SEO Local", don't send them to a generic homepage - show it a page on local SEO!
• Make sure it is compatible with mobile so most people browse their phones today.
• If you are in the website design business business, treat your destination page as a showcase of your best work.Clean design builds trust!

5. Add Some Extras (Ad Extensions!)

Ad extensions don’t directly raise your Quality Score, but they do help your ads stand out and get more clicks. And more clicks usually mean a higher expected click-through rate, which does improve your score.

Think about adding:

• Sitelink extensions (links to specific pages on your site).
• Callout extensions (quick selling points like “Free Audit” or “24/7 Service”).
• Location extensions if you’re doing local SEO for your brick-and-mortar business.

6. Keep Testing and Improving

The best campaigns are always evolving. Check in on your data regularly. What's working? What’s not?

A/B test your ads. Try different headlines, descriptions, and landing pages to see what gets the best results.

Watch your search terms report. Make sure your ads are showing up for the right kinds of searches. If not, add negative keywords to weed out irrelevant clicks.

Use Google Analytics to see which ads are actually driving sales or leads.

How Does This Tie Into SEO, Facebook Ads, and Web Design?

Everything’s connected. Google Ads Quality Score focuses on relevance and user experience, which is also what Google looks for in SEO. If your website is fast and relevant, it helps your paid ads and your organic rankings.

Local SEO is another piece of the puzzle especially if you want to show up in the Map Pack or for “near me” searches. Good landing pages with local content help both SEO and your paid campaigns.

Even if you’re running Facebook Ads, the idea is similar: show relevant content to the right people, and make sure your landing page follows through. A well-designed site builds trust, no matter where the visitor came from.

Featured Image by Freepik.