5 Ways to Boost Your PPC Quality Score and Increase Traffic to Your Offers
If you want to succeed with Pay-Per-Click advertising, be mindful of your Quality Score – which determines the order your ad is listed. All three major search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing) use some variation of the QS to gauge both the rank and cost-per-click of your ads.
In late 2008, Google revealed that QS was used to decide the ads that it showed over organic search results, adding that a high QS can lead to lower costs and higher ad positions.
While we aren’t sure exactly how QS is calculated, we do know several factors that Google AdWords considers. Understanding and maximizing your use of these aspects can help you increase your score and move up in the search rankings – that means driving more traffic to your offers.
Being familiar with Google AdWords is the key to inbound success. The most recent Google update, for example, addresses alternative devices (cellphones, tablets, Google Glass, etc.) and how well you target them into your QS. Here are five factors that could help you improve your score.
1. Keyword/Ad Relevance – This is crucial to your score, along with Keyword/Search Query relevance. When choosing keywords, make sure they are as closely related to your ad copy as possible. Just as when you’re considering keywords and search terms, put yourself in your customers’ shoes and ask what search terms they would enter to find you. Keeping your keywords centered on your ad copy and search criteria can raise your QS.
2. Landing Page Quality – Landing pages are judged based on their relevance, transparency and ease of navigation. Make sure you focus on relevant keywords in your PPC ads. Keep your copy concise and layer in secondary search terms, but don’t cram your page with keywords. This can raise flags with AdWords and negatively affect your QS.
3. CTR – Google examines several different clickthrough rates including your keyword CTR, your URL’s CTR, and the overall CTR of your ads and keywords. Improve your CTR by sticking to relevant keywords and content.
4. Geographic Performance Rates – Is your account drawing from the geographic regions you are targeting in your ads? If you’re advertising your product or service in a particular area, make sure that you have a market there.
5. Targeted Devices – As part of Google’s most recent software update, you are now being judged by your performance on different devices like desktops, tablets and smartphones. Each device generates its own QS. Include elements of responsive design to your site so the viewing experience is optimal across devices. This can result in a higher overall QS.
There is an obvious theme involved in determining your QS–relevance across the board is critical in terms of keywords, landing page information and geographical targeting. When developing your keywords, make sure they fit well with your ads and content. Simply keeping your approach consistent can result in a rise in your overall QS. Consistency and relevance will boost your site in search rankings and go straight to your bottom line!
PPC Quality
