Google Ads Quality Score: What It Is and How to Improve It

Quality Score is Google's rating of the overall quality and relevance of your keywords, ads, and landing pages. Each keyword in your account receives a Quality Score from 1 (worst) to 10 (best).

Quality Score directly affects your Ad Rank (which determines your ad position and whether your ad shows at all) and your actual CPC (higher Quality Scores mean you pay less per click for the same position).

The formula for Ad Rank is: Ad Rank = Max CPC Bid × Quality Score (simplified). In reality, Google uses more signals, but this illustrates why Quality Score matters — an advertiser with a Quality Score of 8 paying AED 5 per click can outrank an advertiser with a Quality Score of 4 paying AED 9 per click.

### Expected Click-Through Rate (CTR)

How likely Google predicts users will click your ad when it is shown for that keyword, based on your historical CTR performance, adjusted for ad position. This is rated as "Above average," "Average," or "Below average."

How to improve: Write compelling, specific headlines that include the keyword. Use strong calls to action. Include numbers, offers, or differentiators that make users want to click. Test multiple ad variations and pause underperformers.

Ad Relevance

How closely your ad copy matches the intent behind the keyword. If someone searches for "emergency plumber" and your ad headline says "General Home Services," ad relevance will be low.

How to improve: Include your target keyword in at least one headline. Ensure the ad copy directly addresses what the searcher is looking for. Create tightly themed ad groups so each ad can be specific to its keywords.

Landing Page Experience

How relevant, useful, and easy to navigate your landing page is for someone who clicked your ad. Google evaluates page content relevance (does it match what the ad promised?), page load speed, mobile friendliness, ease of navigation, and transparency (clear business identity, contact information, privacy policy).

How to improve: Create dedicated landing pages for each ad group theme rather than sending all traffic to your homepage. Ensure the landing page headline matches the ad headline. Make the conversion action (form, phone number, purchase button) immediately visible. Optimise page speed (under 3 seconds load time). Ensure full mobile responsiveness.

Quality Score does not include your actual bid amount, conversion rate (though landing page experience is related), account-level performance, or real-time auction signals (Quality Score is calculated separately and updated periodically, not in real-time).

In Google Ads, go to Keywords. Click "Columns" > "Modify columns." Under "Quality Score," add the columns for Quality Score, Expected CTR, Ad Relevance, and Landing Page Experience. You can also add historical Quality Score to see how it has changed over time.

### Quick Wins (Days)

Review keywords with Quality Score below 5. Check which component is "Below average." If Expected CTR is low, test new ad copy with more compelling headlines and clearer value propositions. If Ad Relevance is low, ensure your ad group themes are tight and that your keywords appear in your ad headlines.

Medium-Term Improvements (Weeks)

Create dedicated landing pages for your top ad groups. Each landing page should mirror the language and intent of the keywords and ads in that ad group. Improve page speed by compressing images, enabling caching, and minimising code. Make sure your mobile experience is excellent — over 60% of Google searches happen on mobile.

Long-Term Strategy (Months)

Build a well-structured account where every keyword maps to a relevant ad and relevant landing page. This alignment across keyword, ad, and landing page is the foundation of consistently high Quality Scores.

Myth: Quality Score updates in real-time. Reality: Quality Score is updated periodically (often daily) and reflects recent performance trends, not instant changes.

Myth: Pausing keywords resets Quality Score. Reality: When you re-enable a paused keyword, its Quality Score resumes from where it was.

Myth: Quality Score is the only factor in Ad Rank. Reality: Google also considers bid amount, auction-time quality signals, search context (location, device, time), and the expected impact of ad extensions.

Myth: You need a Quality Score of 10 to succeed. Reality: A Quality Score of 7+ is generally considered good. Focus on the components rated "Below average" rather than trying to get every keyword to 10.