How to Improve Your Google Ads Quality Score: A Practical Guide
Quality Score is a 1–10 diagnostic that tells you where your search ads fall short. This guide shows how to read it, diagnose problems and fix each component.
In this article
Quality Score is one of the most talked-about numbers in Google Ads, and one of the most misunderstood. It isn't a goal in itself, and Google doesn't plug it directly into the auction. But it is a very useful diagnostic: it points to the keywords where your ads or landing pages aren't matching what searchers want, and fixing those problems usually means better ad positions and lower costs.
This guide focuses on the practical side: where to find Quality Score, how to read it and what to do when it's low.
What Quality Score Actually Is
Quality Score is a rating from 1 to 10 that Google Ads gives to keywords in Search campaigns. It estimates the quality of your ads and landing pages compared with other advertisers who show ads for the same keyword. A higher number means your ad experience is more relevant and useful than average for that search.
Two points are worth understanding before you start optimizing:
- It's a diagnostic, not an auction input. In each auction, Google calculates ad quality in real time, using the actual search, device, location and other context. Quality Score is a summary of how your keyword tends to perform, designed to help you spot problems.
- It only appears with enough data. New or low-volume keywords may show a dash ("—") instead of a score until there are enough searches matching that keyword exactly.
That said, the signals behind Quality Score are the same kinds of signals that feed into Ad Rank, which decides whether your ad shows, where it appears and what you pay per click. Improving them is one of the most reliable ways to get more from the same budget.
Where to Find Your Quality Score
Quality Score lives at the keyword level:
- Open a Search campaign and go to the Keywords view.
- Click the columns icon and choose to modify columns.
- Under Quality Score, add Quality Score, Exp. CTR, Ad relevance and Landing page exp.
You can also add the "(hist.)" versions of these columns. They show the last known value for the date range you select, which lets you see whether scores improved after you made changes.
The Three Components
Each component is rated Above average, Average or Below average compared with other advertisers on the same keyword. These ratings are where the real diagnostic value lies, because they tell you what to fix.
Expected click-through rate
Expected CTR is Google's estimate of how likely people are to click your ad when it's shown for that keyword, setting aside factors like ad position and assets that change visibility. A below-average rating means that, for this keyword, your ad is less tempting than competitors' ads.
Ad relevance
Ad relevance measures how closely your ad's message matches the intent behind the searches your keyword triggers. A below-average rating usually means the ad group is too broad: one ad is trying to cover keywords that mean different things.
Landing page experience
Landing page experience reflects how relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click your ad. Google looks at whether the page delivers what the ad and the search suggest, whether it's easy to use on any device and whether it loads quickly.
How to Diagnose a Low Quality Score
Don't try to raise every score at once. Work through your account in this order:
- Sort by cost. Focus first on the keywords that spend the most. A score of 3 on a keyword that gets a handful of impressions matters far less than a 5 on your biggest spender.
- Look at the component ratings. Note which of the three components is below average. That tells you whether the problem is your ad copy, your account structure or your landing page.
- Look for patterns. If many keywords in one ad group share the same weak component, the fix is usually at ad group level, such as a better ad, a tighter theme or a new landing page, rather than keyword by keyword.
- Check the search terms report. Low scores often come from keywords matching searches you didn't intend. The search terms report shows what people actually typed.
How to Improve Expected CTR
- Put the searcher's words in your headlines. People scan for confirmation that the ad answers their query. A headline that mirrors the keyword theme is the simplest way to earn the click.
- Make a specific offer. Concrete benefits, such as same-day service, free returns or a free quote, beat vague claims like "best quality".
- Use assets. Sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets and other assets make your ad larger and more useful, which helps people choose you.
- Exclude irrelevant traffic. Adding negative keywords stops your ads from appearing for searches you can't serve, which tend to drag down click-through rate.
- Test continuously. Write responsive search ads with a variety of genuinely different headlines and descriptions, review asset performance and replace the weakest ones.
How to Improve Ad Relevance
- Tighten your ad groups. Group keywords that share the same intent, and give each group ads written specifically for it. "Emergency plumber" and "bathroom renovation" deserve separate ad groups and separate ads, even if you offer both.
- Split mixed themes. If an ad group's keywords would naturally lead to different headlines, that's a sign it should be two ad groups.
- Match the ad to the intent, not just the words. Someone searching "plumber cost" wants pricing information; someone searching "plumber near me" wants availability and location. Write ads that answer the question behind the search.
- Review match types. Broad match can be powerful with good conversion data and smart bidding, but it can also pull in searches your ads don't speak to. Keep an eye on the search terms report and add negatives where needed.
How to Improve Landing Page Experience
- Send people to the most relevant page. If your ad is about a specific product or service, link to that page, not your homepage.
- Deliver what the ad promised. If the ad mentions a discount, free delivery or a specific product, the landing page should show it immediately.
- Make the next step obvious. Keep the page focused on one main goal with a clear call to action, and avoid distractions that pull people away.
- Make it fast and mobile-friendly. Many searches happen on phones. A slow or awkward mobile page frustrates visitors and hurts your rating.
- Be transparent and trustworthy. Clearly explain what you offer, include contact information and make it easy for people to understand who you are.
- Consider dedicated landing pages. For important ad groups, a page built specifically for that audience and offer usually beats a general page.
How Quickly Does Quality Score Change?
Quality Score is recalculated regularly as new data comes in, so you may see changes within days of a fix. In practice, improvements to expected CTR and ad relevance depend on new impressions and clicks accumulating, and landing page changes can take longer to be reflected. Use the historical columns to compare before and after, and give changes enough time and traffic before judging them.
Common Quality Score Myths
- "Quality Score is used directly in the auction." Not quite. The auction uses real-time quality signals; Quality Score is a diagnostic summary.
- "Pausing low-scoring keywords hurts your account." Quality Score is reported at keyword level. Pausing or removing keywords that don't perform is a normal part of account management.
- "Ad strength is the same as Quality Score." Ad strength rates how well your responsive search ad follows best practices, such as variety and number of headlines. It's a helpful guide, but it's a separate measure.
- "Every keyword needs a 10." A score of 10 isn't realistic or necessary for every keyword. Branded keywords often score high, while broad, competitive keywords may never reach the top. Focus on fixing below-average components on the keywords that matter most.
The Bottom Line
Quality Score is best used as a map, not a scoreboard. Check the three component ratings on your highest-spending keywords, work out whether the problem is your ad, your structure or your landing page, and fix the biggest gaps first. The result is ads that match what searchers want, and that's what Google's auction rewards with better positions and more efficient clicks.
