Your Guide to Google Ads Quality Score

If you’ve ever found yourself frustrated with Google Ads’ performance—or wondering why your competitor’s ads seem to be everywhere while yours are MIA—you’re not alone. The secret sauce behind it all? Google Ads Quality Score.

It’s a tiny number that holds a massive amount of power over your campaigns. Quality Score is Google’s way of rewarding relevance and penalising wasted space. The better your score, the cheaper your clicks, the higher your rankings, and the happier your ROI.

But don’t worry—we’re about to unpack exactly what goes into your Quality Score and how you can improve it without losing your sanity. If you’d like to get in touch with professionals who know the ins and outs of Google’s advertising network, contact Yikes! Marketing.

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What is Google Ads quality score?

Let’s start with the basics: Quality Score is Google’s metric for rating the relevance and quality of your keywords, ads, and landing pages. It’s a number between 1 and 10, and it plays a key role in determining:

• Ad rank: Where your ad shows up in search results.
• Cost-per-click (CPC): What you’ll pay for each click.

Google’s ultimate goal is to provide the best experience for users. Ads that align closely with what users are searching for—and deliver value when they click—get rewarded with higher Quality Scores.

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What determines your quality score?

Quality Score is based on historical impressions for exact searches of your keyword, but it’s not that simple. Google’s algorithm takes a whole range of factors into account, including:

1. The effectiveness and relevance of your landing page

When someone clicks your ad, Google expects your landing page to deliver on the promise made in your ad copy. If your ad says “affordable dog grooming,” but your landing page is an e-commerce site selling dog toys, Google will dock points.

What Google looks for in your landing page:

1. Relevance: Does the landing page match the intent of the ad?
2. User experience: Is it easy to navigate, fast to load, and mobile-friendly?
3. Transparency: Does the page feel trustworthy and clear about its purpose?

Pro tip: Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights can help optimise your landing page speed, and clear calls-to-action (CTAs) can guide users seamlessly toward conversion.

2. The devices used in search

In 2024, mobile accounts for over 60% of all Google searches, which means your ads (and landing pages) need to shine on smaller screens. If your landing page looks clunky or loads at a snail’s pace on mobile, you’re in trouble.

Google adjusts Quality Scores based on how well your ads perform across different devices. So if desktop users are clicking like crazy, but mobile users bounce immediately, your score could take a hit.

Pro tip: Run regular checks to ensure your site is mobile-friendly and optimise for voice search queries (e.g., “Where’s the best pizza near me?”) since mobile users often use this feature.

3. The location of the user

Imagine you’re a local florist running ads for “same-day flower delivery.” A user searching for flowers in your city is far more likely to engage with your ad than someone browsing from another state. Google knows this, which is why location relevance is a major factor in Quality Score.

How to optimise for location:

• Use location extensions to highlight your address or service area
• Create geo-targeted campaigns tailored to specific cities or regions
• Add location-specific keywords like “flower delivery in Brisbane”

Example: If you’re running a Brisbane-based café, bidding on keywords like “best coffee near me” combined with geo-targeting will boost your relevance to local users, helping improve both your Quality Score and conversions.

4. The time of day

Yes, even the clock can affect your Quality Score. Google considers when your audience is most active and engaged. If you’re running ads for a late-night pizza joint, for example, your ads won’t perform well during breakfast hours—and Google will notice.

How to optimise for time:

• Use ad scheduling to run your ads during peak hours
• Review performance data in Google Ads to see when your audience is most active
• Adjust your bids to increase visibility during high-conversion times

Example: A gym offering early morning boot camps could schedule ads to appear from 5:00 AM to 9:00 AM, aligning with user intent and improving performance metrics.

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How to improve your Google Ads quality score

Now that you know what goes into your Quality Score, let’s talk about how to improve it. Here are actionable strategies to level up every component of your campaigns:

1. Match keywords with intent

Relevance is the cornerstone of Quality Score. Be certain your keywords, ads, and landing pages align perfectly with what users are searching for.

How to nail it:

• Use exact-match and phrase-match keywords for precision
• Group related keywords into tightly focused ad groups
• Write ad copy that mirrors the searcher’s query

Example: If someone searches for “vegan meal delivery Sydney,” your ad should specifically mention vegan meal delivery and highlight your Sydney-based service in the headline or description.

2. Optimise your CTR (click-through rate)

Google heavily weights your CTR when calculating Quality Score. The higher your CTR, the more relevant your ad appears to users.

Tips to improve CTR:

• Write compelling ad copy that stands out (e.g., use power words like “limited-time offer” or “free delivery”)
• Add ad extensions such as sitelinks, callouts, or reviews to make your ad more engaging
• Use A/B testing to identify the best-performing headlines and descriptions

3. Focus on landing page quality

As we’ve covered, your landing page plays a huge role in Quality Score. Here are our quick wins for landing page optimisation:

1. Keep the design clean and mobile-friendly.
2. Use high-quality visuals that load quickly.
3. Include clear CTAs like “Get a free quote” or “Start your trial.”
4. Ensure the page loads in under 3 seconds—every extra second of loading time can drop conversions by 7%.

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4. Leverage Google’s tools

Don’t guess—use the tools Google gives you to refine your campaigns by checking out the following tool:

• Google Ads Recommendations: Find specific actions to improve Quality Score
• Auction Insights: See how your ads stack up against competitors
• Search Terms Report: Identify keywords you might be missing or irrelevant ones to exclude

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Why quality score matters: the bigger picture

Improving your Quality Score isn’t just about saving a few bucks on CPC (though that’s a nice bonus). It’s about ensuring your ads:

Show up more often – Higher scores mean better ad placements.

Drive better results – Relevant ads lead to more clicks, higher conversions, and happier customers.

Maximise ROI – A good Quality Score reduces your cost per click, allowing you to stretch your budget further.

According to WordStream, improving your Quality Score from 5 to 7 can reduce CPC by 28%, while a score of 9–10 can lower costs by up to 50%.

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Aim for quality over quantity

Quality Score is like a report card for your Google Ads campaigns, and the good news is that you’re in control of the grades. By aligning your keywords, ads, and landing pages with user intent—and optimising for location, device, and time—you’ll be on your way to better rankings, lower costs, and more conversions.

At Yikes! Marketing, we live and breathe Google Ads. If you’re ready to take your campaigns to the next level, let’s chat. Together, we’ll craft a strategy that gets you the results (and Quality Score) you deserve. Reach out today!

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