When discussing Quality Score, everyone aims for a perfect 10. However, for certain keywords, achieving that is as improbable as nexus-security doubling my salary to enjoy bourbon and dry-aged ribeyes on a Lake Winnipesaukee veranda. We can fantasize, but it’s unrealistic.

Adding a new keyword to your account means Google automatically sets its initial Quality Score at 6. This score can fluctuate based on factors like anticipated click-through rate (CTR), ad relevance, and landing page experience. However, not all keywords hold the same weight.

This article will explore what constitutes a good Quality Score based on the type of keyword you’re targeting. By understanding this crucial Google Ads metric within its specific context, you can prioritize your optimization efforts effectively.

Here’s a concise overview of the key takeaways:

• A “good” Google Ads Quality Score is subjective and depends on the keyword type.
• Branded keywords should aim for a Quality Score between 8 and 10.
• High-intent commercial keywords ideally have a Quality Score ranging from 7 to 9.
• For low-intent keywords, a Quality Score of 7 is considered good.
• Competitor keywords should strive for a Quality Score of 3 or higher.
• Prioritize improving the Quality Score of high-intent keywords first.

Let’s delve deeper into this topic, including a brief explanation of how Quality Score functions.

Understanding Quality Score

For those unfamiliar or needing a recap, Quality Score is Google’s metric for gauging the quality and relevance of your ad copy and landing page in relation to a specific keyword.

It plays a crucial role in determining your cost per click (CPC) and ad rank for that keyword. Higher relevance and Quality Score translate to better ad rank and lower CPC.

This highlights the significance of Quality Score for your Google Ads campaign’s effectiveness.

Equally vital for performance—from conversion and ROI perspectives—is intent.

If you’re selling mugs with humorous phrases, the keyword “buy novelty mug” holds greater value than “mug” or “what are mugs.” While the latter two might be somewhat relevant to your business, they lack commercial intent. Users searching those terms are less likely to make a purchase.

Therefore, focusing on improving the Quality Scores of broad, informational keywords won’t yield the same return on investment as optimizing high-intent keywords that directly drive conversions.

Surprisingly or not, this principle applies to businesses beyond the fiercely competitive realm of ceramic drinkware.

The Four Categories of Keywords

We can classify keywords into four main groups for this analysis: brand, competitor, high intent, and low intent.

Branded keywords are the easiest to target. You have exclusive rights to your brand name in ad copy (against Google’s guidelines), and competitors are unlikely to utilize it in their URLs or landing pages.

Conversely, achieving a Quality Score of 10 for a competitor’s brand name is nearly impossible. For instance, New Balance would need to spend exorbitantly to outrank Nike for the search term “Nike.”

Between the extremes of brand and competitor keywords lie low-intent (usually informational or navigational) and high-intent (commercial, conversion-oriented, crucial for your AdWords success) keywords. Both are important for your overall AdWords performance (low-intent keywords are excellent for building remarketing audiences). However, treating them with equal importance wastes time and resources.

Now, let’s examine what constitutes a strong Quality Score for each keyword type and explore ways to enhance them if needed.

Achieving a Good Quality Score for Branded Keywords: 8+

While your website should naturally rank first in organic results for your brand name, competitors can occupy the valuable ad space above those listings. (This is even more pronounced on mobile devices.) Thankfully, competitors pay a premium for that privilege.

Despite this, many are prepared to do so.

This emphasizes the need to bid on your own branded keywords. The investment is minimal compared to some high-intent keywords (discussed later), but dominating the search engine results page (SERP) is highly advantageous. High Quality Scores for branded campaigns are relatively easy to attain. If your score is below 8, something is significantly wrong (don’t worry, it’s fixable).

Consider the contributing factors: expected CTR should be high since the user specifically searched for your brand, indicating strong intent, and your ad relevance is inherently high. The only potential drawback is landing page experience, influenced by content, structure, and loading speed.

Take this New Balance ad that appears for a simple brand name search:

The ad copy isn’t overly promotional apart from the “shop now” call to action. It emphasizes brand heritage (“Since 1906,” “For more than 100 years”) and utilizes ad extensions to highlight value propositions and link to popular pages.

You can implement similar strategies.

By directly addressing your audience and directing them to relevant pages, you can achieve a high Quality Score, making your branded keywords highly cost-effective in terms of CPC.

Enhancing Quality Score for Branded Keywords

• Guarantee fast landing page loading speed using the Google PageSpeed Insights tool.
• Don’t hesitate to showcase your brand’s unique attributes in headlines, even if it means placing the CTA in the description.
• Maximize SERP dominance by adding numerous relevant ad extensions to your branded campaigns; this aids user navigation to relevant pages and pushes competitors lower.

Aiming for a Good Quality Score for High-Intent Keywords: 7-9

High-intent commercial keywords are the most critical in your AdWords account and often the priciest. Consequently, maximizing Quality Score for these keywords significantly impacts performance.

Whether you sell affordable jeans or high-end software, high-intent keywords are those reflecting a clear intention to take a specific action aligning with your conversion goal.

Imagine you operate an online flower shop, and someone needs to send flowers for their mother’s birthday two days before the occasion. They search for “buy flowers online” and see…

What stands out about these ads? What do they share in common?

They are all highly relevant and prominently feature CTAs.

Even 1-800-Flowers, a well-established brand, incorporates the exact search term in their ad copy. You’ll also notice mentions of prices and deals, all intended to entice clicks and improve expected CTR for “buy flowers online.”

Before even assessing landing page experience, these advertisers have prioritized ad relevance and CTR optimization, addressing two-thirds of the Quality Score factors. This makes achieving a QS of 6 or 7 attainable through diligent ad testing and well-structured accounts alone.

Landing page optimization requires more resources but significantly influences Quality Score when optimized for speed and relevance. Consider using single keyword ad groups (SKAGs) and ad group-level landing pages for high-intent keywords. Despite the potential effort and cost, this approach ensures semantic relevance and fast loading times, ultimately justifying the investment for these crucial keywords.

Boosting High-Intent Keyword Quality Score

• Utilize SKAGs to isolate high-intent terms, granting more bid control and allowing the exact keyword’s inclusion in ad copy.
• Create dedicated landing pages for your most valuable keywords.
• Include your target keyword in the ad at least twice (but avoid keyword stuffing). Using it in the first headline and URL paths is recommended; incorporate a related term in the description for emphasis without sounding spammy.

What Constitutes a Good Quality Score for Low-Intent Keywords? 7

While low-intent keywords are essential for remarketing and Lookalike audience creation, aiming for a perfect Quality Score of 10 for all keywords is often impractical for most businesses and agencies with limited resources.

Let’s assume you manage AdWords for an online MBA program. This niche is highly competitive, with expensive CPCs often surpassing $30.

Therefore, a more realistic target is recommended: strive for a Quality Score of 7 for non-branded, top-of-funnel keywords.

Google’s default Quality Score of 6 is somewhat misleading, as it’s likely to decline after accumulating a few hundred impressions. Why? Consider the contributing factors.

Google can’t determine CTR for brand new keywords. Grouping similar keywords into a single ad group instead of utilizing SKAGs hinders landing page experience optimization beyond loading speed. This leaves ad relevance, which can also suffer from keyword saturation.

Investing time and effort in maximizing Quality Scores for informational or navigational keywords often doesn’t yield a justifiable ROI. However, you can work towards a Quality Score of 7 for low-intent keywords by creating compelling CTAs (as previously discussed) and maintaining a well-organized account structure.

Limit ad groups to a maximum of 20 keywords, all connected by a common theme (semantic or thematic). Ensuring this similarity helps maintain ad and landing page relevance without spreading your efforts too thin.

Improving Quality Score for Low-Intent Keywords

• Implement campaign-level landing pages to maintain contextual relevance (answering user questions) without excessively granular optimization for keywords not directly tied to revenue.
• Organize keywords into tightly themed ad groups for better association with specific campaigns and landing pages.
• Beyond including the keyword (or its close variant) in ad copy, focus on improving CTR by testing different CTAs in the first and second headlines.

What is a Good Quality Score for Competitor Keywords? 3+

Competitor-branded keywords present the most significant challenge in terms of Quality Score.

The advantages of bidding on your own brand are reversed here. Your perceived lack of “relevance” in Google’s eyes means higher bids are necessary for visibility. Achieving a Quality Score of 3 or higher for a competitor campaign is a considerable accomplishment. Your primary weapon (besides your brand recognition) is highly compelling ad copy.

Let’s illustrate with an example: Here’s the SERP for the search query “HubSpot”:

While HubSpot doesn’t have an ad on this page, they secure the top organic ranking (demonstrating the value of organic presence). Both competing advertisers utilize similar tactics—emphasizing cost differences and offering demos—with one key distinction. One attempts to manipulate Google’s Quality Score algorithm (and users) by misspelling HubSpot. Avoid this practice. While potentially cost-saving, it risks ad disapproval or suspension and lacks ethical integrity.

Instead, concentrate on creating attention-grabbing headlines and irresistible CTAs that overshadow competitors’ offerings.

Strategies to Improve Quality Scores for Competitor Keywords

• Leverage RLSA to increase bids for past website visitors. Their browsing history suggests active comparison shopping, justifying a higher investment.
• Continuously A/B test CTAs to identify what maximizes CTR – crucial for achieving a QS of 3 or higher.
• Craft an unconventional first headline to divert attention from organic results.
• Target non-branded keywords your competitors are bidding on.

Conclusion

Enhancing Quality Scores is an ongoing endeavor, not a one-time task. Aim for the following Quality Scores based on keyword type:

• Branded: 8+
• High Intent: 7-9
• Low Intent: 7
• Competitor: 3+

While a well-structured account and compelling ad copy are crucial for success, the nature of expected CTR necessitates continuous testing to maintain excellent Quality Scores across the board.