Poor Quality Score. Just don't get it.

poor bad quality score

[The_Grunt]

Hi all,

A query. Looking through some adgroups and notice overall the quality score isn't great.

The keyword is an exact match of "cork hotels". The ad copy and destination URL both have cork hotels in it, and the ad copy is very specific to Cork Hotels.

The landing page is called Cork Hotels, and contains good content in relation to Cork Hotels.

But still the quality score for the keyword is 6? Average position is about 4 at the moment...

Surely an exact match keyword with a specific ad and landing page should be a higher quality score.

Are there account factors that would influence one campaign?

[eWhisper]

In a case like that - I'd examine the CTR. CTR is the major factor for quality score.

[The_Grunt]

CTRs are good too (exact match used for this reason), maybe it's down to low volumes of clicks/impressions overall?

[The_Grunt]

Actually, CTRs are not great.........

[buckworks]

What are competitors' ads like on that keyword?

If everyone else is really matchy-matchy for "cork hotels" you won't stand out the way you'd have hoped.

Experiment with some ad variations, including some that are less keyword-stuffed, and see how users respond.

Another variable to test besides the ad wording is the display URL. Test how users respond when the display URL features just the domain name with no keyword stuffing:

Example.com

Sometimes the display URL is more credible if you keep the focus on your brand identity rather than trying to use it as one more place for keyword stuffing.

YMMV, but it's one more thing to test.

[scooterdude]

Just curious, does the advertising site belong to a direct product/service supplier or to an affiliate of the product/service supplier.

[The_Grunt]

It would not be direct booking, it would be a 3rd party site.....

[scooterdude]

Therein may lie your answer, its possible that some Googlers have commented on the prospects of 3rd party to contract(business model) sites advertising on Google,,

its also possible that landing page quality was mentioned in this commentary,,

its also possible that some really illustrious advertisers have had your experience and documented that experience in writings for the attention of some interested inquirers in Europe and the USA

anyways, perhaps you'll have to do more research possibly not via Google for more info, try your local library :)

[The_Grunt]

My mistake. When I say it's a 3rd party, yes and no. You can still make the booking on the site, but it's not direct to the hotel site obviously.....

[LucidSW]

We've talked about this before. High QS is not given just because your keywords exactly match what you have in your ad or your landing page or matches the domain.

What people have to understand is that QS is a calculation of a measurable metric, not points given for fulfilling some requirement. If that were the case, we should all have QS of 10.

What is measurable in PPC? The click rate. More specifically, the click rate at your position compared to that of your competitors. If more people click an ad over another, it's a vote that they think it's better for the query they submitted. In other words, it has better quality. It doesn't matter if you think your CTR is high or low. You can have good or bad QS for any CTR. In one niche a 10% CTR in first position may get only a QS of 6 while in another niche, a CTR of 2% may be a QS of 10.

What you have to do is create better ads that more people will click on.

[The_Grunt]

@LucidSW

That clears it up, thanks for that.