12 min read · Google Ads · Last updated July 2026
Quick answer: Quality Score is Google’s 1-10 rating of how relevant your ad is to the searcher. A QS of 7+ typically reduces CPC by 20-50% compared to a QS of 3-4. It’s made up of three components: Expected CTR, Ad Relevance, and Landing Page Experience.
Introduction
Two advertisers are bidding on the same keyword. Advertiser A bids $5 and has a Quality Score of 8. Advertiser B bids $8 and has a Quality Score of 4.
Advertiser A wins the auction — and pays less per click.
This is Quality Score in action. It’s Google’s mechanism for rewarding relevance. Advertisers who write better ads, target better audiences, and send traffic to better landing pages pay less per click and show up higher. Advertisers who don’t get punished with higher CPCs and lower positions.
For any account paying above-market CPCs, improving Quality Score is the highest-ROI optimisation available.
What you’ll learn:
– What each of the three QS components measures
– Why Above Average / Average / Below Average matters more than the 1-10 number
– Practical tactics to improve each component
– How to diagnose which component is dragging down your QS
Table of Contents
- What Quality Score Actually Is
- Component 1: Expected CTR
- Component 2: Ad Relevance
- Component 3: Landing Page Experience
- How QS Affects CPC and Ad Position
- How to Diagnose Low Quality Scores
- Quality Score Improvement Playbook
- FAQ
What Quality Score Actually Is
Quality Score (QS) is a diagnostic metric assigned to each keyword in your account on a 1-10 scale. It’s not a real-time auction metric — it’s a snapshot of historical performance and relevance signals.
What QS is NOT:
– Not used directly in ad auctions (Ad Rank is used instead)
– Not the same as Ad Rank
– Not campaign-level — it’s keyword-level
– Not averaged across your account
Each keyword has its own QS. A campaign with 50 keywords can have QS ranging from 2 to 10 across different keywords.
Google evaluates QS relative to other advertisers bidding on the same keyword. So “Above Average” expected CTR means your expected CTR is higher than the average of all advertisers bidding on that term.
The 1-10 breakdown:
– 1-3: Below average in multiple components. High CPCs, poor ad position.
– 4-6: Average. You’re paying market CPCs.
– 7-8: Good. 15-30% CPC discount vs baseline.
– 9-10: Excellent. 30-50%+ CPC discount. Rare and hard to maintain.
Component 1: Expected CTR
Expected CTR measures how likely your ad is to get clicked when it’s shown for a given keyword — compared to the average advertiser bidding on that same keyword.
This is the most important Quality Score component. It’s also the one most directly under your control through ad copy.
What drives Expected CTR:
– How well your headline matches the search query (keyword insertion, direct mention)
– The emotional pull of your value proposition
– Specificity (numbers, benefits) vs vague claims
– The relevance of your display URL
Ad copy tactics that improve Expected CTR:
Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) carefully. DKI automatically inserts the search query into your ad. {KeyWord:Web Design} becomes “Web Designer Sydney” when someone searches “web designer sydney.” This improves relevance signals — but test it, as it can create awkward headlines.
Match the headline to the intent. Someone searching “emergency plumber sydney” has different intent than “plumber near me.” The first wants urgency cues; the second wants local trust signals.
Include numbers. “500+ Projects Delivered” outperforms “Experienced Agency.” Numbers are specific and credible.
Lead with benefit, not brand. Don’t start your headline with your company name (unless it’s a branded term). Start with what the searcher gets.
Key takeaway: Expected CTR is evaluated at the keyword level against other advertisers. Even a small headline change can shift it from Average to Above Average.
Component 2: Ad Relevance
Ad Relevance measures how closely your ad copy matches the intent of the search query. If someone searches “accounting software for small business” and your ad headline says “Enterprise Finance Solutions,” your ad relevance will be Below Average.
This is usually the easiest component to fix.
How to improve Ad Relevance:
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Reorganise ad groups. If your ad group contains “web design” and “logo design” together, your ad can’t be highly relevant to both. Split them.
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Include the keyword in headlines. The keyword (or a close variant) should appear in at least 2-3 of your 15 RSA headlines.
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Match landing page intent. If your ad is about “Sydney web design” but the landing page is a generic services overview, both ad relevance and landing page experience suffer.
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Avoid stuffing one ad group with all services. A law firm with one ad group covering “family law, criminal law, personal injury” will have Below Average relevance for all three.
Component 3: Landing Page Experience
Landing page experience is how Google rates the page users land on after clicking your ad. It evaluates relevance, transparency, ease of navigation, and load speed.
Google doesn’t crawl your landing pages like a search engine. It uses a combination of Googlebot crawl data and user behaviour signals (like bounce rate and time on page — inferred from click-back rates) to determine landing page experience.
What degrades landing page experience:
– Page loads over 3 seconds on mobile (target under 2 seconds)
– Content doesn’t match what the ad promised
– Hard to navigate or find the conversion point
– No clear indication of what the business does and why you should trust it
– Pop-ups or intrusive overlays blocking content immediately
What improves landing page experience:
– Fast load time (test at PageSpeed Insights)
– Clear headline that echoes the ad’s promise
– Content directly relevant to the search query
– Easy-to-find CTA (phone number, form, button)
– Trust signals (reviews, certifications, case studies)
– Mobile-first design (over 60% of searches are mobile)
How to Diagnose Low Quality Scores
To find QS data, go to your Keywords table and add Quality Score columns: Quality Score, Expected CTR, Ad Relevance, Landing Page Experience.
Look for keywords with QS 1-4. For each one:
1. Is Expected CTR Below Average? → Rewrite ad copy for that keyword.
2. Is Ad Relevance Below Average? → Keyword doesn’t belong in this ad group, or ad doesn’t mention the keyword.
3. Is Landing Page Experience Below Average? → Page speed, content relevance, or message match issue.
Also check: are low-QS keywords in a large, unfocused ad group? That’s usually the root cause. Splitting the ad group often fixes both CTR and Relevance.
FAQ
Q: How long does it take to improve Quality Score?
A: Expected CTR and Ad Relevance can improve within 1-2 weeks of changing ad copy, as new impressions roll in. Landing Page Experience changes take longer — 2-4 weeks for Google to reassess.
Q: My QS shows “—” for a keyword. What does that mean?
A: Not enough impressions to calculate QS. The keyword has had fewer than ~50 impressions. Either it’s very specific (fine) or not getting traffic (investigate why — bid too low?).
Q: Does pausing a low-QS keyword affect other keywords’ Quality Scores?
A: No. Quality Score is calculated at the keyword level. Pausing a keyword doesn’t affect other keywords in the same ad group.
Q: Is QS 10 achievable?
A: Yes, but mainly on branded keywords where your brand name is searched and you’re advertising on it. For competitive non-branded terms, QS 7-8 is an excellent target.
Q: Can I improve Quality Score without changing my landing page?
A: You can improve Expected CTR and Ad Relevance through ad copy changes alone. But if Landing Page Experience is the drag, you must fix the page. Page changes are often the hardest part — but they improve both Quality Score and conversion rate simultaneously.
Conclusion
Quality Score improvement is the highest-leverage activity in any Google Ads account paying above-average CPCs. A systematic improvement from QS 4 to QS 7 can reduce CPCs by 30-40% — equivalent to cutting your budget by a third with the same or better results.
Work through the three components systematically: fix ad copy first (fastest), then landing page experience (slower, higher impact). And always start by tightening your ad group structure — most QS problems trace back to ad groups that are too broad.
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Written by the Ignited Nepal paid acquisition team. ignitednepal.com