Quality Score Hacking (Your Way to the Bank)
Google AdWords
1. What is Quality Score2. How its calculated3. Myth busting4. Hacking it - more competitive, for less cost!
A decade of
QUALITY SCOREand a brief overview
Aims to produce a
HIGH QUALITY EXPERIENCEfor Google customers
Every keyword is
GRADEDon a 10 point scale
Calculated
EVERYTIMEads are shown
You can only see
TODAYSSCOREnot historical
MARKS OUT OF 10• High quality experience for Google customers• Every keyword graded on a 10 point scale• Calculated every single time ads are shown• Account level Quality Score is real• You can only see what your QS is today, not historically
Quality Score
COMPONENTS
Most important component is
CLICK-THROUGHRATEor CTR, for short
CTR is around
65 %of the algorithm
Relevance of the
KEYWORDTO THE AD
Your account
HISTORYincluding deleted
The quality of your
LANDINGPAGEexperience
COMPONENTS OF QUALITY SCORE• Click-through Rate (CTR)• Historical CTR (expected vs actual)• Relevance of the keyword to the Ad• Your account history• Quality of your landing page experience• Landing page load times• Expected impact of extensions and ad formats are factored • Device and location bias
WHAT’S A GOOD CTR?• 2% is not the average CTR• It looks more like 5 - 6%• You should aim higher
AD RANK
Advertiser with highest Ad Rank wins the auction
AD RANK =CPC bid × Quality Score
EXAMPLE AUCTIONHere’s one I made earlier
MAX BID X QUALITY SCORE = AD RANK
Max CPC Bid
Quality Score Ad Rank Position
James £1.50 9 13.5Olivia £2.00 5 10Robert £3.00 3 9Jason £3.50 2 7
MAX BID X QUALITY SCORE = AD RANK
Max CPC Bid
Quality Score Ad Rank Position
James £1.50 9 13.5 1Olivia £2.00 5 10 2Robert £3.00 3 9 3Jason £3.50 2 7 4
AD RANK BELOW / YOUR QS = PRICE
Max CPC Bid
Quality Score Ad Rank Actual CPC
James £1.50 9 13.5Olivia £2.00 5 10Robert £3.00 3 9Jason £3.50 2 7
AD RANK BELOW / YOUR QS =*PRICE
Max CPC Bid
Quality Score Ad Rank Actual CPC
James £1.50 9 13.5 £1.12Olivia £2.00 5 10 £1.81Robert £3.00 3 9 £2.34Jason £3.50 2 7 Highest
*price +0.01
Lets fell those
QUALITY SCOREMYTHS
Quality Score benefits from
HIGH ADPOSITION
BUSTED!• Google factors in ad position• Understands higher positions attract higher CTR• Quality Score calculation compensates for that!
Higher Quality Score makes
MORESALES
BUSTED!• What improves is CPA (Cost per Acquisition)• That’s not more sales • That’s paying less for sales
Your Display Network score
AFFECTSSEARCH
BUSTED!• The criteria to determine Display QS is different• Your performance on one, does not affect the other
Increasing your bid
BOOSTSSCORE
BUSTED!• Your bid is not part of the QS calculation• You just end up paying more
Deleting low QS areas
INCREASESSCORE
BUSTED!• Historical performance is still factored• Time is a great healer
QS GRADES
• 1 - 3, awful • 4 - 6, average• 7 - 8, good • 9 - 10, great
HACK 1 - FOCUS• F*ck 80/20• Focus on top 5-10% of spend• Biggest impact on performance
HACK 2 - SHARPENQuick rule of thumb:• 1 - 3, awful – delete these!• 4 - 6, average – optimise these first• 7 - 8, good – fix after• 9 - 10, great – leave these
HACK 2.1 - SHARPEN• Go from average (5) to good, to great• Strip out low CTR keywords in to new Ad Groups• Confidently bid up top performers
HACK 3 - BRANCH OUT• SKAGs!• Single Keyword Ad Groups• Highly relevant Ad to search term• Don’t neglect the destination
HACK 4 - EASY SWING• Branded keywords• Product/service search term +brand• Easy win
HACK 5 - SPRUCE UP• Deploy your best Google-Consumer™ ads• Method: Ad CTR x Conversion Rate = score• Export ad data and use a spreadsheet, it’s quicker!
HACK 6 – LAZY SWING• Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI)• Quick fix, an interim measure
HACK 7 - BLOSSOM• Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA)• Higher CTR, boost in Quality Score• Good for business
Quality Score impacts Ad RankAd Rank impacts Cost per Click (CPC)
Cost per Click impacts Cost per Acquisition (CPA)
…and CPA always wins!
GOLDEN RULERelevancy for GoogleContinuity for User