Google Ads Quality Score is a diagnostic metric, rated 1 – 10 at the keyword level, that measures how relevant your ads, keywords, and landing pages are to the people searching for your services. A higher score directly reduces your cost-per-click (CPC) and improves your Ad Rank, meaning you pay less and appear higher than competitors bidding more. For digital marketers and business owners in South Africa, this is not a vanity metric. It is the mechanism that determines whether your budget works hard or gets wasted.
Learning to improve Quality Score in Google Ads is one of the highest-return activities in any paid media account. It is also one of the core aspects we cover within our comprehensive Google Ads guide.
What are the main factors that affect your Quality Score?
Google calculates Quality Score using three components: expected click-through rate (CTR), ad relevance, and landing page experience. Each is rated as “above average,” “average,” or “below average.” Together, they produce the final 1 – 10 score assigned to each keyword.
Expected CTR measures how likely your ad is to be clicked when shown for a given keyword. It is the most influential of the three components. Improving from below average to above average on expected CTR alone can shift your Quality Score by 2 – 3 points. That shift has a direct effect on how much you pay per click.
Ad relevance measures how closely your ad copy matches the intent behind the keyword. If someone searches “emergency plumber Cape Town” and your ad talks about general home maintenance, Google rates that as low relevance. The fix is not clever copywriting. It is structural alignment between what the user wants and what your ad promises.
Landing page experience covers relevance, page speed, mobile usability, and trustworthiness. Google evaluates whether the page a user lands on actually delivers what the ad promised. A mismatch here, such as sending a user searching for “accounting software pricing” to your homepage, signals a poor experience and lowers your score.
- Expected CTR: the largest single driver of Quality Score movement
- Ad relevance: determined by keyword-to-ad copy alignment, not just keyword presence
- Landing page experience: affected by speed, mobile design, content relevance, and trust signals
- All three components combine to produce the keyword-level score you see in your account
Check each component’s rating in your Google Ads account by adding the Quality Score columns to your keyword view. This tells you exactly which of the three areas needs attention, rather than guessing.
How can you improve expected CTR to boost Quality Score?
Expected CTR is Google’s prediction of how often your ad will be clicked relative to how often it is shown. You raise it by making your ads more compelling and more relevant to the search query. Here are the most effective steps to take.
Include the primary keyword in Headline 1. Inserting the keyword directly into your first headline signals relevance immediately. Google bolds matched text in search results, which draws the eye and increases clicks.
Use all relevant ad extensions. Sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, and call extensions increase your ad’s physical size on the results page. Ad extensions improve CTR and can add measurable points to your Quality Score within one to two weeks.
Write a clear call to action. Vague phrases like “learn more” underperform against specific ones like “get a free quote today” or “book your consultation.” Tell the user exactly what happens when they click.
Test ad copy regularly. Run at least two ad variations per ad group. After two to four weeks of data, pause the weaker performer and write a new challenger. This process of continuous testing is what separates accounts that plateau from those that keep improving.
Remove broad or irrelevant keywords. Keywords with low search intent or poor match to your offer drag down your expected CTR average. Tighten your keyword list to terms where your ad can genuinely win the click.
Pause underperforming ads promptly. An ad with a consistently low CTR pulls down the expected CTR rating for the entire ad group. Cut it before it does lasting damage to your score.
Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) can automatically insert a user’s search term into your headline, which increases relevance. Use it carefully. If your keyword list is broad or inconsistent, DKI can produce awkward or misleading headlines that hurt CTR instead of helping it.
What steps can you take to increase ad relevance?
Ad relevance improves when your campaign structure matches the way users actually search. Most accounts suffer from ad groups that are too large, covering too many different intents with one generic ad. The fix is to break them apart.
Tightly themed ad groups of 10 – 15 keywords sharing identical intent improve campaign performance and Quality Score within one to two weeks. That is a short timeline for a meaningful gain. The reason it works quickly is that Google can immediately see a stronger match between the keyword, the ad, and the user’s intent.
Here is what effective restructuring looks like in practice:
| Ad group (before) | Ad group (after restructure) |
|---|---|
| “Accounting software” (30 mixed keywords) | “Accounting software pricing” (purchase intent) |
| “Accounting software features” (comparison intent) | |
| “Best accounting software for small business” (research intent) |
Each new ad group gets its own ad copy written specifically for that intent. A user comparing features sees an ad about features. A user ready to buy sees an ad about pricing and a direct call to action.
- Break large ad groups into smaller, intent-specific groups
- Write separate ad copy for each group, matching the keyword theme precisely
- Use negative keywords to filter out searches that do not match your offer
- Avoid grouping “purchase intent” and “research intent” keywords together
- Review the Search Terms report weekly to find irrelevant queries and add them to your negative keyword list
Generic messaging is the most common cause of low ad relevance. If your ad could apply to any business in your industry, it is not relevant enough to score well.
How to optimise your landing page experience
Your landing page is the final test of relevance. Google assesses whether the page a user arrives on actually delivers what the ad promised. Page speed, mobile usability, and content relevance are all critical factors in this rating.
A page that loads in under three seconds is the baseline standard. Slow pages reduce conversions and negatively affect your Quality Score. Use Google PageSpeed Insights to measure your current load time and identify specific elements slowing the page down, such as uncompressed images or render-blocking scripts.
- Match the landing page headline to the ad group’s keyword theme. If your ad says “affordable bookkeeping for small businesses,” the page headline should reflect that exact promise.
- Simplify forms. Ask only for what you need. A form with five fields converts better than one with ten, and a faster form experience signals usability to Google.
- Show trust signals clearly: client reviews, contact details, security badges, and professional accreditations. These reduce bounce rate and improve the quality signal Google receives.
- Make the page fully functional on mobile. More than half of paid search clicks happen on mobile devices. A page that is hard to navigate on a phone will produce a high bounce rate and a poor landing page experience rating.
- Align your call to action with the ad. If the ad offers a free consultation, the page must make that offer immediately visible, not buried below the fold.
Pro Tip: For optimised landing pages that support better Quality Scores, treat each ad group as its own audience. Build or adapt a dedicated page for each major keyword theme rather than sending all traffic to a single generic page.
What are common pitfalls that lower Quality Scores?
Most Quality Score problems trace back to a small number of recurring mistakes. Recognising them early saves weeks of wasted ad spend in rands.
- Broad ad groups with mixed intent. Grouping “buy CRM software” with “what is CRM software” in one ad group produces an ad that satisfies neither searcher. Both keywords suffer.
- Sending traffic to the homepage. A homepage is designed for everyone. An ad landing page should be designed for one specific audience with one specific offer.
- Ignoring the Search Terms report. This report shows the actual queries triggering your ads. Without reviewing it regularly, you accumulate irrelevant clicks that drag down your expected CTR and waste budget.
- Expecting instant results. Quality Score updates take one to four weeks after changes, depending on the type of optimisation. Structural changes, such as rebuilding ad groups, show results faster than ad copy changes alone.
For keywords that have sat at a Quality Score of 1 – 3 for more than 30 days, incremental fixes rarely work. The better approach is a fresh start.
A ‘fresh start’ campaign involves pausing the chronic low-performer and recreating the keyword in a new, hyper-specific campaign with tightly matched ad copy and a dedicated landing page. This resets Google’s diagnostics and gives the keyword a clean performance history to build from. Chronic low-scoring keywords at Quality Score 1 – 3 respond better to this tactic than to any amount of tweaking within the existing structure.
Key takeaways
Improving your Google Ads Quality Score requires consistent alignment between your keywords, ad copy, and landing pages, with expected CTR carrying the greatest weight in the final score.
| Point | Details |
|---|---|
| Quality Score is a 1–10 diagnostic | It measures expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience at keyword level. |
| Expected CTR drives the biggest gains | Moving from below average to above average on CTR can shift your score by 2–3 points. |
| Tight ad group structure improves relevance | Groups of 10–15 keywords with identical intent improve Quality Score within one to two weeks. |
| Landing page speed and relevance matter | Pages loading under three seconds and matching ad promises directly improve your score. |
| Chronic low scores need a fresh start | Keywords stuck at 1–3 for 30+ days respond better to rebuilding than incremental fixes. |
Quality Score is a compass, not a destination
Quality Score is a diagnostic tool. A score of 7 or 8 on a keyword generating strong leads at a low CPC in rands is a better outcome than a score of 10 on a keyword that never converts. The score tells you where the friction is. It does not tell you whether the keyword is worth pursuing in the first place.
The accounts that improve consistently are the ones built on good structure from the start. Tight ad groups, specific landing pages, and a disciplined negative keyword list create the conditions for Quality Score to rise naturally over time. Chasing the score without fixing the structure is like painting over damp walls. The problem returns quickly.
My practical advice: review your Quality Score components monthly, not daily. Make one structural change at a time, wait two to three weeks for data to accumulate, and then assess. Patience and process produce better results than constant tinkering. And when a keyword has been stuck at a low score for more than a month, do not be afraid to pause it and rebuild.
How SCOPE can help you raise your Quality Score
Running a Google Ads account that consistently scores well requires more than a one-time fix. It requires ongoing attention to structure, copy, and landing page performance.
SCOPE is a Cape Town-based digital marketing agency that specialises in Google Ads for service-based businesses. If your account is spending budget without producing the results you need, or if your CPCs feel higher than they should be, get in touch with SCOPE to discuss how a structured approach to Google Ads can reduce your costs and improve your results. You can also explore SCOPE’s Google Ads resources for further guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good Quality Score in Google Ads?
A Quality Score of 7 or above is considered strong. Keywords scoring 7–10 typically achieve lower CPCs and better Ad Rank than the account average.
How long does it take to improve Quality Score?
Score updates take one to four weeks after changes are made. Structural changes, such as rebuilding ad groups, tend to show results faster than ad copy edits alone.
Does Quality Score affect how much I pay per click?
Yes. A higher Quality Score directly lowers your CPC. Keywords with top scores can achieve significantly lower costs per click compared to average-performing keywords, which means your rand budget goes further.
What is the fastest way to improve Quality Score?
Including the primary keyword in Headline 1 of your ad copy is the fastest single change you can make. It improves both expected CTR and ad relevance simultaneously.
Should I delete low Quality Score keywords?
Not immediately. First, check whether the issue is the ad copy, the landing page, or the ad group structure. If the keyword has been at a score of 1–3 for more than 30 days with no improvement, pausing and rebuilding in a fresh campaign is the most effective fix.
