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

Quality Score is the secret weapon in Google Ads that can dramatically reduce your costs while improving your ad positions. Yet most Australian businesses don't understand what it is or how to optimize for it.

This comprehensive guide explains Quality Score, why it matters for your bottom line, and exactly how to improve it to pay less than your competitors for the same clicks.

What Is Google Ads Quality Score?

Quality Score is Google's 1-10 rating of how relevant your ads, keywords, and landing pages are to someone who sees your ad.

Think of it like this: Every time someone searches on Google, an auction happens. Google looks at who's bidding on relevant keywords, how much they're bidding, and their Quality Score to determine Ad Rank.

The formula (simplified): Ad Rank = Your Bid × Quality Score

What this means in practice: If you have a Quality Score of 10/10 and your competitor has 5/10, you could bid half as much and still outrank them.

Why Quality Score Matters

Higher Quality Scores lead to:

✅ Lower cost per click - Pay less than competitors for the same position

✅ Better ad positions - Rank higher even with lower bids

✅ Higher impression share - Show up more often in auctions

✅ Better ROI - Lower costs mean more profit per customer

Real example: Let's say you and a competitor are both targeting "plumber Melbourne."

• Your Quality Score: 10/10
• Their Quality Score: 5/10
• Their bid: $15 per click
• Your bid needed to outrank them: ~$7-8 per click

You're paying nearly half what they pay for a better position. Over a month spending $3,000, that's like getting $6,000 worth of clicks.

The Three Factors That Determine Quality Score

Google evaluates three main factors:

1. Ad Relevance

How closely your ad matches the search intent behind the keywords you're targeting.

Above average: Your ad perfectly matches what people are searching for.

Average: Your ad is somewhat relevant but could be more specific.

Below average: Your ad doesn't clearly address what people are searching for.

2. Expected Click-Through Rate (CTR)

How likely people are to click your ad when they see it, based on historical performance.

Above average: Your ad gets clicked more often than most ads for that keyword.

Average: Your click-through rate is similar to other advertisers.

Below average: People see your ad but rarely click it.

3. Landing Page Experience

How relevant, transparent, and easy-to-navigate your landing page is.

Above average: Your landing page is highly relevant, loads fast, and provides a good user experience.

Average: Your landing page is acceptable but could be improved.

Below average: Your landing page is slow, not mobile-friendly, or irrelevant to the ad.

How to Find Your Quality Score

Quality Scores are visible in your Google Ads account at the keyword level.

How to view:

1. Go to a campaign
2. Click on an ad group
3. Click on "Keywords"
4. Click "Columns"
5. Search for "Quality Score"
6. Add these columns:
   • Quality Score
   • Landing Page Experience
   • Expected CTR
   • Ad Relevance

What you'll see: Each keyword gets a score from 1-10, with 10 being the best.

Note: New keywords or keywords with low traffic may show "—" instead of a number. This doesn't mean they have a bad score; Google simply needs more data.

What Quality Scores Look Like in Real Accounts

Good Quality Scores (7-10/10)

Example keywords from a well-optimized account:

• Main keyword: 9/10
  • Ad Relevance: Above Average
  • Landing Page Experience: Above Average
  • Expected CTR: Above Average
• Secondary keyword: 8/10
  • Ad Relevance: Above Average
  • Landing Page Experience: Average
  • Expected CTR: Above Average

These are excellent. You're paying less than competitors and getting good positions.

Poor Quality Scores (1-5/10)

Example keywords from an unoptimized account:

• Keyword: 3/10
  • Ad Relevance: Below Average
  • Landing Page Experience: Below Average
  • Expected CTR: Below Average
• Keyword: 1/10
  • Ad Relevance: Below Average
  • Landing Page Experience: Below Average
  • Expected CTR: Below Average

These are costing you money. You're paying premium prices for poor positions, and Google might not even show your ads.

How to Improve Ad Relevance

Ad Relevance is about matching your ad copy to the keywords you're targeting.

Create Tightly Themed Ad Groups

Bad structure:

Ad Group: Plumbing Services

• Keywords: plumber near me, drain cleaning, leak repair, water damage restoration, hot water repairs
• One generic ad about all services
• Landing page: Homepage

Why it's bad: One ad can't be relevant to all these different searches.

Good structure:

Ad Group 1: Emergency Plumbing

• Keywords: emergency plumber, 24 hour plumber, urgent plumbing
• Ad focused on emergency services
• Landing page: Emergency plumbing services

Ad Group 2: Drain Cleaning

• Keywords: drain cleaning, blocked drain, drain unblocker
• Ad focused on drain services
• Landing page: Drain cleaning services

Ad Group 3: Leak Repairs

• Keywords: leak repair, pipe leak, water leak
• Ad focused on leak repairs
• Landing page: Leak repair services

Why it's good: Each ad perfectly matches the search intent.

Match Your Ad Copy to Keywords

Example: Targeting "plumber fitzroy"

Bad ad:

Headline: Professional Plumbing Services
Description: We fix all your plumbing problems. 
Call us today for a free quote.

Good ad:

Headline: Plumber Fitzroy | Same-Day Service
Description: Licensed plumbers serving Fitzroy and 
surrounding suburbs. Emergency service available 24/7. 
Call now for free quote.

The good ad includes:

• ✅ The location (Fitzroy)
• ✅ The service (Plumber)
• ✅ Unique selling points (Same-day, 24/7)
• ✅ Clear call-to-action (Call now)

Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion (Carefully)

Dynamic Keyword Insertion automatically inserts the search term into your ad.

Example setup:

Headline: {KeyWord:Plumbing Services} in Melbourne

When someone searches "emergency plumber":

Ad shows: Emergency Plumber in Melbourne

When someone searches "drain cleaning":

Ad shows: Drain Cleaning in Melbourne

Caution: Only use this with tightly themed ad groups. If someone searches "cheap plumber" and your headline says "Cheap Plumber in Melbourne," that might not reflect your brand positioning.

Our small business digital marketing course includes templates for ad group structures that naturally achieve high Ad Relevance scores.

How to Boost Expected Click-Through Rate

Expected CTR is about writing ads that people actually want to click.

Test Multiple Headlines and Descriptions

Google Ads Responsive Search Ads let you test up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions. Use all of them.

Headline ideas:

1. Primary service + location: "Plumber Fitzroy"
2. Unique selling point: "Same-Day Service Available"
3. Social proof: "5-Star Rated Plumber"
4. Urgency: "24/7 Emergency Service"
5. Benefit: "No Call-Out Fees"
6. Price/offer: "$50 Off First Service"
7. Credentials: "Licensed & Insured"
8. Experience: "15+ Years Experience"
9. Call to action: "Call Now for Free Quote"
10. Differentiation: "Family-Owned Since 2005"

Google will test combinations and show the best-performing ones more often.

Use Numbers and Symbols

Ads with numbers tend to get higher CTRs.

Examples:

• "24/7 Service" (better than "Always Available")
• "90% Of Jobs Fixed Same Day"
• "$50 Off Your First Service"
• "5-Star Rated on Google"
• "15+ Years Experience"

Create Urgency

Give people a reason to click now, not later.

Urgency phrases:

• "Same-Day Service Available"
• "Book Today, Save $50"
• "Limited Availability This Week"
• "Free Inspection - Today Only"
• "Call Now, We Answer Immediately"

Add All Available Ad Extensions (Assets)

Extensions make your ad larger and more prominent, increasing CTR.

Essential extensions:

Sitelinks: Link to other important pages

• Services
• About Us
• Reviews
• Contact

Call extensions: Add your phone number with a clickable call button

Callouts: Short benefit phrases

• Licensed & Insured
• Same-Day Service
• No Hidden Fees
• Free Quotes

Structured snippets: List services or features

• Emergency Repairs
• Leak Detection
• Drain Cleaning
• Hot Water Systems

Location extensions: Connect your Google Business Profile

The more extensions you have, the more space your ad takes up, which naturally increases CTR.

Study Your Competitors

Search for your main keywords and see what competitors are doing.

Look at:

• Which ads stand out?
• What offers are they promoting?
• What language do they use?
• Which extensions do they have?

Don't copy them, but understand what's working in your market.

How to Optimize Landing Page Experience

This is often the most neglected factor, yet it has massive impact.

Speed Is Critical

Your landing page must load in under 3 seconds.

Test your speed:

• Google PageSpeed Insights
• GTmetrix
• Pingdom

Common fixes:

• Compress images before uploading
• Use a quality hosting provider (not the cheapest option)
• Enable caching
• Minimize CSS and JavaScript
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

For WordPress sites: Use plugins like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache

For Shopify sites: Optimize images and remove unused apps

Mobile Experience Is Essential

Over 60% of Google Ads traffic is mobile.

Your landing page must:

• Load quickly on 4G networks
• Display properly on small screens
• Have large, tappable buttons
• Not require zooming or horizontal scrolling
• Show phone numbers as click-to-call
• Have easy-to-complete forms

Test it yourself: Don't just use desktop preview mode. Load your landing page on your actual phone over your mobile data (not WiFi) and try to complete the desired action.

Relevance to Ad and Keyword

If someone searches "emergency plumber fitzroy" and clicks your ad about emergency plumbing, they should land on a page about emergency plumbing in Fitzroy.

Bad landing page: Your homepage talking about all services

Good landing page: A page specifically about emergency plumbing services in Fitzroy

The alignment:

• Keyword: "emergency plumber fitzroy"
• Ad headline: "Emergency Plumber Fitzroy - 24/7 Service"
• Landing page headline: "24/7 Emergency Plumbing Services in Fitzroy"

Clear Call-to-Action

Make it obvious what you want visitors to do.

Essential elements:

• Large, prominent phone number (above the fold)
• "Call Now" button (clickable on mobile)
• Contact form on the page (not just a link)
• Multiple conversion opportunities throughout
• No distractions or competing actions

Trust Signals

People need reasons to trust you before calling.

Include:

• Customer reviews with star ratings
• Photos of your actual team
• Years in business
• Licensing and insurance information
• Google reviews badge
• Industry association memberships
• Guarantees or warranties

Minimal Navigation

Landing pages for Google Ads should minimize distractions.

Consider:

• Simplified header (no full navigation menu)
• No links to unrelated pages
• Focus on conversion, not browsing
• Everything leads to calling or filling out a form

This isn't always necessary, but for high-spending campaigns, dedicated landing pages with minimal distractions convert better.

Quality Score Examples and What to Do

Example 1: New Campaign with Low Scores

Situation: You just launched a campaign. Keywords show 4-5/10 with "Below Average" expected CTR.

Don't panic. New campaigns need time to gather data.

What to do:

• Let it run for 2-4 weeks
• Monitor performance (conversions, not just scores)
• If conversions are good, don't change much
• If conversions are poor, optimize based on the three factors

Example 2: Good Performance Despite Low Score

Situation: A keyword has 1/10 Quality Score but is your best converting keyword.

Don't pause it. Quality Score isn't everything.

What to do:

• Keep the keyword active (it's making you money)
• Work on improving the score to reduce costs:
  • Test new ad variations
  • Create a dedicated landing page
  • Add more relevant keywords to build ad group theme

Example 3: Consistently Low Scores (1-3/10)

Situation: Multiple keywords in an ad group all have 1-3/10 scores with "Below Average" across all three factors.

This is a problem. You're overpaying significantly.

What to do:

• Check if the keywords actually match your business
• Verify ad copy is relevant
• Ensure landing page matches the keywords
• Consider if this is Google's way of saying "wrong keyword targeting"

Sometimes low Quality Scores mean the search intent doesn't match what you offer. Example: Targeting "plumber jobs" when you're hiring plumbers—that keyword will never have good Quality Score for a plumbing service business.

Example 4: Mixed Scores in One Ad Group

Situation: Some keywords are 9/10, others are 3/10 in the same ad group.

Split them up. They probably represent different search intents.

What to do:

• Identify which keywords are similar to the high-scoring ones
• Move low-scoring keywords to their own ad group
• Create specific ads and landing pages for each group

Australian Business Specifics

Location-Specific Quality Scores

Creating suburb-specific campaigns typically improves Quality Scores.

Example for Melbourne plumber:

Lower Quality Score approach:

• One campaign: "Plumbing Services"
• Ad groups: General plumbing terms
• Ads: Generic mentions of "Melbourne"
• Landing page: Generic service page

Higher Quality Score approach:

• Campaign 1: "Plumbing Services - Fitzroy"
• Campaign 2: "Plumbing Services - Richmond"
• Campaign 3: "Plumbing Services - Carlton"
• Each with suburb-specific ads and landing pages

The second approach will have significantly higher Quality Scores.

Mobile-First Quality Scores

Australian mobile usage is high. If your landing page is slow or broken on mobile, your Quality Scores will suffer.

Test on:

• iPhone (most common in Australia)
• Android devices
• Different screen sizes
• 4G connection (not just WiFi)

Trust Factors for Australian Audiences

Include Australian-specific trust signals:

• ABN prominently displayed
• Licensing numbers (state-specific)
• Insurance details
• Local business awards
• Australian customer reviews

These improve landing page experience by building trust with Australian visitors.

Advanced Quality Score Strategies

Keyword Match Types and Quality Score

Broad match keywords often have lower Quality Scores initially because they match varied searches.

Strategy:

1. Start with phrase match: "plumber melbourne"
2. Build Quality Score with relevant traffic
3. Once you have 8+/10, test broad match: plumber melbourne
4. Monitor closely and add negative keywords

Using Quality Score for Keyword Decisions

If a keyword consistently has 1-3/10 Quality Score and poor performance:

Ask yourself:

• Is the search intent actually aligned with what we offer?
• Are people searching this keyword looking for something different?
• Should we exclude this keyword entirely?

Sometimes low Quality Score is Google's way of telling you the keyword doesn't match your offering.

Quality Score by Device

Check if Quality Scores differ by device:

• Desktop
• Mobile
• Tablet

If mobile has consistently lower scores, your mobile landing page experience needs work.

Common Quality Score Mistakes

Mistake #1: One Ad Group for Everything

Putting all keywords in one ad group with one generic ad guarantees low Quality Scores.

Solution: Create separate ad groups for each service/topic with specific ads and landing pages.

Mistake #2: Sending All Traffic to Homepage

Homepages talk about everything. Landing pages focus on one thing.

Solution: Create dedicated landing pages for each ad group.

Mistake #3: Ignoring Ad Extensions

Missing extensions mean smaller ads, lower CTR, lower Quality Scores.

Solution: Add all relevant extensions to every campaign.

Mistake #4: Never Testing Ads

Running the same ads for months without testing means you're not optimizing CTR.

Solution: Regularly test new headline and description combinations.

Mistake #5: Slow Landing Pages

If your landing page takes 5+ seconds to load, your Quality Scores will suffer.

Solution: Optimize page speed aggressively.

Monitoring Quality Score Over Time

What to Check Weekly

• Keywords with 5/10 or below scores
• New keywords that now have scores
• Any significant score changes

What to Check Monthly

• Average Quality Score across campaigns
• Campaign-level performance vs. Quality Score trends
• Landing page experience feedback

Tools to Use

Google Ads built-in reporting shows Quality Score history.

How to access:

1. Go to Keywords
2. Add Quality Score columns
3. Segment by time period
4. Compare changes over time

Our online marketing course for small business includes Quality Score tracking templates and optimization checklists designed for Australian businesses running Google Ads.

The Bottom Line on Quality Score

Quality Score isn't just a vanity metric—it directly impacts how much you pay for clicks.

Two businesses targeting the same keyword:

Business A:

• Quality Score: 10/10
• Bid: $5
• Ad Rank: 50
• Position: #1

Business B:

• Quality Score: 5/10
• Bid: $15
• Ad Rank: 75
• Position: #2 (despite higher bid!)

Business B is paying 3x more per click for a worse position.

Over a month spending $3,000:

• Business A: Gets 600 clicks at $5 each
• Business B: Gets 200 clicks at $15 each

Business A gets 3x the traffic for the same budget.

The optimization priority:

1. ✅ Create tightly themed ad groups
2. ✅ Write relevant ads matching keywords
3. ✅ Test multiple headlines and descriptions
4. ✅ Add all available ad extensions
5. ✅ Create fast, mobile-friendly landing pages
6. ✅ Ensure landing pages match ad messaging
7. ✅ Monitor and improve scores regularly

Get these right, and you'll pay less while getting better results than competitors spending more.

At 20 Minute Marketing, our small business digital marketing training teaches the complete Quality Score optimization system, including campaign structure templates, ad copywriting formulas, and landing page frameworks specifically designed for Australian small businesses.

Stop overpaying for clicks. Start optimizing for Quality Score.

Ready to master Google Ads Quality Score optimization? Explore our small business digital marketing courses designed for Australian businesses.