Quality Score is Google's rating of the quality and relevance of your keywords, ads, and landing pages. It directly influences your ad rank, cost per click, and overall campaign profitability. A higher Quality Score means better ad positions at lower costs — effectively getting more clicks and conversions for the same budget. This guide explains how Quality Score works, what factors drive it, and specific actions to improve it.

How Quality Score Works

Components of Quality Score

Google calculates Quality Score (1-10) for each keyword based on three components, each rated as Below Average, Average, or Above Average:

• Expected Click-Through Rate (CTR): How likely users are to click your ad when shown for this keyword
• Ad Relevance: How closely your ad copy matches the intent behind the keyword
• Landing Page Experience: How relevant, useful, and easy to navigate your landing page is for the searcher

Impact on Ad Auction

Quality Score directly affects your Ad Rank, which determines both position and cost. The formula is approximately: Ad Rank = Max CPC Bid × Quality Score. This means an advertiser with a $5 bid and Quality Score of 8 can outrank a competitor bidding $10 with a Quality Score of 3. Improving Quality Score is often more cost-effective than increasing bids.

Improving Expected CTR

Expected CTR reflects how compelling your ad copy is relative to other advertisers targeting the same keyword. Improve it by writing highly relevant, specific headlines that match the keyword's search intent. Include the keyword in at least 2-3 headlines, highlight unique value propositions, and use numbers or specific offers that differentiate your ad.

High-CTR ad copy tactics:

1. Mirror search intent: If the keyword is "SEO agency Vancouver," include that exact phrase in a headline
2. Use power words: "Free," "Proven," "Guaranteed," and specific numbers draw clicks
3. Include CTAs: Direct action language like "Get Your Free Audit" or "Start Today"
4. Leverage extensions: Sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets increase overall CTR — see our campaign launch SOP

Improving Ad Relevance

Ad relevance measures how closely your ad matches the keyword's intent. Improve it by organizing tightly themed ad groups where every keyword shares clear intent alignment with the ad copy. An ad group mixing "SEO services," "web design," and "Google Ads management" will have poor ad relevance because no single ad can be relevant to all three topics.

Follow our account structure guide to organize campaigns and ad groups by intent theme. Each ad group should contain 5-20 closely related keywords that can be addressed by the same landing page and ad copy.

Improving Landing Page Experience

Relevance and Content Quality

The landing page must deliver on the ad's promise. If the ad promotes "Free SEO Audit," the landing page must prominently offer a free SEO audit — not redirect to a generic services page. Message match between keyword, ad, and landing page is the most controllable factor in landing page experience scoring.

Technical Performance

Landing page experience also includes page speed, mobile usability, and navigation clarity. A slow-loading page with poor mobile layout will receive a below-average rating regardless of content quality. Follow our site speed guide and landing page checklist to ensure technical requirements are met.

Monitoring and Optimization

Review Quality Scores weekly during active optimization and monthly during maintenance periods. Focus on keywords with below-average component ratings — these represent the clearest improvement opportunities. Track Quality Score changes alongside CPC and conversion metrics in your monthly reporting to demonstrate the cost-efficiency impact of quality improvements.