Quality Score

What it means

Quality Score is the rating a search ad platform uses to judge the relevance of an ad, keyword and landing page. It is usually expressed on a scale of 1 to 10. A higher score means a better ad position at a lower cost per click.

Three main factors influence it: expected click-through rate, ad relevance to the search query and the quality of the landing page, meaning whether it matches the ad and is fast and useful. The platform thus rewards advertisers who offer what users are looking for.

Quality Score is central to the efficiency of PPC campaigns. An advertiser with a higher score can win a better position than a competitor who bids more, while paying less per click. Investment in ad and page quality therefore shows up directly in costs.

How it works in practice

The score improves with tightly themed ad groups in which the ad contains the search term, and with landing pages that answer the query precisely. An ad for bookkeeping for sole traders should lead to the page about that service, not the homepage.

Page speed and mobile usability affect landing page quality. Improvements that help SEO therefore often raise Quality Score too and lower advertising costs.

The score is tracked at keyword level. Keywords with a low score and high cost are candidates for revising the ad or landing page, or for exclusion if they are not relevant enough to the business.

What to watch out for

Quality Score is a diagnostic indicator, not a goal in itself. A high score on keywords that bring no orders is worthless; conversions and campaign return are what count.

Platforms change how the score is calculated and displayed, and not all factors are public. Optimisation should focus on the principles of relevance and quality rather than attempts to game the algorithm.