Quality Score is a keyword-level diagnostic built from three components: Expected CTR, Ad relevance, and Landing page experience. Fix ad relevance and expected CTR first, then repair landing page mismatches. Each component is labeled Above average, Average, or Below average, and those labels tell you exactly where to spend your time. Start with the lowest-rated component on your most valuable keywords.
TL;DR:
- Prioritize high value keywords by conversions, conversion value, and spend; a weak component with a strong CPA may need only a small adjustment.
- Test 3–5 responsive search ads per ad group, using distinct headlines and descriptions; avoid excessive pinning so Google can test combinations.
- Make the landing page repeat the ad’s offer above the fold, simplify mobile navigation, and keep load time near three seconds to limit exits.
- Recheck component labels alongside conversion metrics after changes gather enough impressions; Google publishes no fixed waiting period for a reliable reassessment.
- Treat the visible 1–10 score as a diagnostic rather than a business KPI because auction time signals can differ for each search.
Table of Contents
- How to read your Quality Score components in your account
- Make ads more relevant with tight ad groups and responsive search ads
- Improve expected CTR with better copy, assets, and testing
- Update landing pages for message match, mobile, and speed
- Use Quality Score with other metrics to decide what to fix first
- A checklist you can run this week
- What Quality Score does to campaign performance and ROI
- Common Quality Score myths and misconceptions
- Use Google Ads reports and tools to diagnose Quality Score issues
- A step-by-step timeline for improvement and reevaluation
- Why I treat Quality Score as a means, not the finish line
- How we can help you improve ad performance
- FAQ
- Sources
How to read your Quality Score components in your account
Quality Score is a diagnostic tool rated on a 1–10 scale at the keyword level. It is built from three components, and each one is categorized as Below average, Average, or Above average. Those labels are the actionable signal. The single number is less useful than the diagnosis behind it.
Keep one thing in mind: the visible score is a guide, not your KPI. Auction-time quality signals differ from the score you see in the account, and Google describes the 1–10 number as a diagnostic rather than a primary measure of success. Google's own guidance also says to focus on areas you can change instead of chasing the number.
New keywords do not start from a fixed default. Google estimates initial quality from related account performance until the keyword builds enough impression and click data of its own. So a new keyword in a healthy ad group often starts stronger than the same keyword in a messy one.
In your keywords table, add these columns:
- Quality Score: the 1–10 diagnostic for each keyword.
- Exp. CTR: how likely your ad is to be clicked for that keyword.
- Ad relevance: how closely the ad matches the search intent.
- Landing page experience: how useful and relevant the page is after the click.
- Historical columns: past values, so you can confirm a change moved the needle.
Make ads more relevant with tight ad groups and responsive search ads
Ad relevance improves when each ad group has one clear theme and the ad speaks directly to it. Google recommends splitting broad groups into smaller ones, as outlined in its guidance on using Quality Score to improve performance. Our walkthrough on keyword match types shows how much type choices affect which searches reach each group.
Here is the sequence we follow:
- Split any ad group that mixes more than one intent, such as "buy" and "repair" terms, into separate groups.
- Write at least one responsive search ad (RSA) per group, and add a second where traffic supports testing.
- Supply many unique headlines and descriptions. RSAs perform better when you do, and moving Ad Strength from Poor to Excellent correlates with more clicks and conversions on average.
- Include the keyword in at least one headline, or in a description when the keyword is long.
- Avoid pinning every asset. Over-pinning limits the combinations Google can test.
- Add sitelinks and other assets. Ad Strength guidance recommends 6 or more sitelinks across account, campaign, and ad group levels.
Pro Tip: Write headlines as separate ideas, not one sentence cut into pieces, so any combination Google assembles still reads cleanly.
When you create ads, preview the combinations. The system assembles and tests headlines in multiple orders to find the best match for each auction, so every headline should work alongside any other.
Improve expected CTR with better copy, assets, and testing
Expected CTR is Google's estimate of how likely your ad is to be clicked when it competes for this keyword. You raise it by earning clicks with the message, not by buying a higher position.
Practical levers:
- Lead with the benefit. Write headlines that state what the searcher gets, then close with a specific call to action that matches the query intent, such as "Get a same-day quote."
- Test variations. Google's guidance on connecting ad quality to performance recommends rotating ads, supplying many assets, and letting the system choose the best message for each auction. Its advice includes 3–5 ads per ad group.
- Use assets for more space. Sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets take up more room on the results page and give people more reasons to click.
- Match the landing page promise. Google also suggests mirroring the ad's call to action on the page, which keeps clicks from turning into bounces.
A caution on bids: expected CTR is evaluated with position effects normalized, so a higher bid alone does not fix a weak rating. Sharper relevance and messaging do. Our note on the target-based bidding update covers why bid changes and quality work should be kept separate.
Update landing pages for message match, mobile, and speed
The landing page component asks whether your page is useful and relevant to the person who clicked. Google says it looks at relevance, ease of navigation and other page quality signals.
Changes that tend to pay off:
- Match the promise. The headline, content, and button should deliver what the ad advertised, and present the offer immediately. If the ad says "free estimate," the page should say it above the fold. Our checklist on message match problems walks through the usual gaps.
- Simplify mobile navigation. Trim menus, add click-to-call, and shorten forms. Google notes that mobile visitors tend to leave if a page does not load in about 3 seconds.
- Put key information first. Place the offer, price cues, and proof near the top of the page, and avoid excessive pop-ups, as Google's guidance advises.
- Track conversion rate as a proxy. When you test page variants, conversion rate is a practical stand-in for landing page experience, while you keep watching the component label.
Pro Tip: Test one page change at a time, such as the headline, so you know which edit moved conversion rate.
Use Quality Score with other metrics to decide what to fix first
Not every low score deserves your time. Google advises using Quality Score to guide, not dictate your optimizations, and to prioritize high-value keywords. Its list of five ways to use Quality Score ends with combining the score with other metrics.
A workable triage:
- Start with value. Sort by conversions, conversion value, and spend, then look at component labels inside the top group.
- Read the label before acting. Below average Ad relevance points to ad text or keyword grouping. Below average Landing page experience points to the page. Below average Expected CTR points to copy and assets.
- Check CPA before deciding. A keyword with a weak label but a strong cost per acquisition may need a small tweak, not a rebuild. One with a weak label and a poor CPA may need restructuring or a pause.
- Ignore vanity gains. A higher score on a keyword that never converts is not a result.
For help choosing which terms to work on first, see our explainer on Google Ads keyword prioritization.
A checklist you can run this week
Busy accounts need a short list. Work through these in order:
- Sort keywords by value and component status, then pick the top 10–20 to optimize first.
- Create or update RSAs with up to 15 unique headlines, add extensions, and avoid over-pinning.
- Run a landing page A/B test focused on message match and speed, and track conversion rate.
- Recheck component columns and conversion metrics weekly, then repeat.
What Quality Score does to campaign performance and ROI
Quality Score matters because it summarizes the quality signals Google weighs when your ad competes, and quality affects what you pay and how often you show. Better ads and pages earn more clicks from the same impressions, which usually lowers the cost of each visit and gives your budget more reach.
The chain looks like this. A more relevant ad earns a better click-through rate. A page that delivers on the promise converts more of those clicks. More conversions from the same spend lowers your CPA and lifts return on investment. Each link rewards the one before it, which is why we start with relevance and CTR, then move to the page.
Be careful about the other direction, though. Raising the visible score does not by itself raise profit. A tidy 8 on a keyword that attracts the wrong audience wastes money more politely than 5 does. Treat the score as a pointer to which of the three levers is weak, then judge success by conversions and cost per conversion.
This is also why account structure pays off twice. Tighter ad groups make ads more relevant, and they make reporting cleaner, so you can see which keywords earn their budget. If a campaign is spending without converting, our SMB checklist for Google Ads that are not converting helps separate a quality problem from a targeting or offer problem before you change anything.
Common Quality Score myths and misconceptions
A few beliefs cost advertisers time, so here is the correction for each.
Myth: A 10 out of 10 is the goal. Google describes the 1–10 number as a diagnostic, not a primary KPI. Business outcomes come first, a point echoed in this third-party guide that tells advertisers to focus on fundamentals and the three components.
Myth: The number you see is what the auction uses. The auction relies on signals at the moment of each search, which can differ from the score shown in your account.
Myth: Higher bids fix a low score. The components measure relevance, expected click behavior, and page experience. Money does not change those, but better ads and pages do.
Myth: New keywords start at a default. They do not. Google estimates a starting point from related account performance until real data accumulates.
Myth: Every low score needs fixing. Google's advice is to prioritize high-value keywords and use the score to guide choices. Low-volume terms with a weak label often are not worth the hours.
Myth: Quality Score is one thing to improve. It is three. Treating it as a single dial leads to random edits. Reading the component label tells you whether to change the ad, the keyword grouping, or the page.
Use Google Ads reports and tools to diagnose Quality Score issues
You already have what you need inside the account. Start in the keywords view and add the Quality Score columns, including the historical versions, so you can see when a label shifted and line it up against edits you made.
Then pair the labels with performance columns: impressions, clicks, CTR, conversions, and cost per conversion. A Below average Exp. CTR on a keyword with plenty of impressions and few clicks tells you the copy is not earning the click. A Below average Landing page experience alongside a low conversion rate points at the page.
For responsive search ads, open the ad's Ad Strength view. The guidance gives actionable feedback from Incomplete to Excellent, including how many unique headlines and descriptions to add and when pinning is too heavy. Use the ad previews and asset reports to see which messages Google serves most.
For pages, run a mobile check and load test on the exact URL each ad uses, since Google's mobile guidance stresses speed and a clean mobile layout. If you are building a wider measurement habit, a piece on measuring AI search visibility with structured prompts shows a similar method for turning vague impressions into trackable tests.
Write down each diagnosis next to the fix you plan. A short log of "keyword, weak component, change, date" keeps the weekly recheck honest.
A step-by-step timeline for improvement and reevaluation
Quality Score responds to data, so give each change time to collect it. Google does not publish a fixed number of days, so judge by volume, not the calendar. Here is the order we work in.
Day 1: Audit. Add the component and historical columns, sort by value, and flag the top 10–20 keywords with Below average or Average labels.
Days 2–3: Fix relevance and copy. Split mixed ad groups, then write or refresh RSAs with many unique assets, a keyword headline, and a clear call to action. Add sitelinks and other assets.
Days 4–5: Fix the page. Align the headline and button with the ad, speed up load time, simplify the mobile layout, and shorten forms. Launch a message match test against the current page.
Day 6: Check the setup. Confirm ads are approved, tracking fires, and each ad points to the right page.
Reevaluate: Look at the component columns and conversion metrics together. Keep what moved results, and revise what did not. Because estimates for newer keywords lean on related account performance, expect them to settle as their own data grows.
Repeat weekly. Leave a change alone until it has enough impressions to judge, since swapping assets too early resets what the system is learning.
Why I treat Quality Score as a means, not the finish line
Quality Score tells you where your account is weak, and that is its whole job. The goal is profitable conversions, and I have seen accounts celebrate rising scores while lead quality stayed flat. Use the three components to find the problem, then measure success in cost per conversion and revenue. If you cannot spare the hours for steady testing, managed help can shorten the cycle.
— Diane O'Brien
How we can help you improve ad performance
We run Google Ads accounts for small and medium-sized businesses, and our work covers the levers in this guide:
- Google Advertising management: structure, copy, and assets built around your highest-value keywords.
- Conversion-focused web design and landing page tests: pages that match the ad and load fast.
- AI-driven ad optimization: faster tests and a data-led workflow.
Current pricing details are on our website. See our Google Advertising and services page to get started.
FAQ
How do you improve Quality Score?
Work on the three components in order: ad relevance, expected CTR, then landing page experience. Tighten ad groups, write responsive search ads with many unique assets, and make the landing page match the ad. Google's five ways to use Quality Score covers the same steps.
What makes up a Quality Score?
Quality Score is built from Expected CTR, Ad relevance, and Landing page experience. Each is labeled Below average, Average, or Above average, and the score is reported at the keyword level on a 1–10 scale.
How do we calculate quality scores?
You cannot calculate it by hand. Google assigns the 1–10 diagnostic from the three components, and it is a guide rather than the value used in each auction, since auction-time signals differ from the visible score.
How do you improve the Quality Score of keywords?
Review the weak component for each keyword and fix that one. Update ad text for relevance or CTR, move off-theme keywords into their own group, and repair the landing page. Prioritize keywords that drive conversions before the rest.