Anyone running Google Ads for a small business will see a column called Quality Score sooner or later. It sits next to each keyword as a number from one to ten. Many owners treat it like a school report and chase a perfect ten. That is not really what the number is for.

Google describes Quality Score as a diagnostic tool. It shows how your ad quality compares with other advertisers on the same searches. Used well, it points you at the weak spot in a campaign. Used badly, it becomes a distraction from the results that actually pay the bills.

What Quality Score measures

Quality Score is given to each keyword in a Search campaign. A higher score means your ad and landing page are more relevant and useful to someone searching for that keyword. According to the Google Ads Help page on Quality Score, the score is built from three parts. Each part is rated against advertisers whose ads showed for the exact same search over the last 90 days.

The three parts are expected click through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. Each one gets a rating of above average, average or below average. A rating of average or below average suggests there is room to improve. Looking at the three ratings tells you far more than the single number on its own.

Expected click through rate

This is Google’s estimate of how likely your ad is to be clicked when it shows. It is a prediction, so it is not the same as the click rate you see in your reports. Google’s advice is to make the offer in your ad more persuasive. It also suggests matching the details in your ad to what people searching your keywords want.

Ad relevance

Ad relevance looks at how closely your ad matches the intent behind a search. A plumber whose ad talks about blocked drains will do better on a blocked drain search than one with a general ad. Google suggests using wording that mirrors the terms people search with. It also recommends splitting large, mixed ad groups into smaller groups built around one theme.

Landing page experience

This part estimates how relevant and useful your landing page will be to people who click. Google says higher rated pages are usually well organised and have text that relates to the search. The page should give visitors what the ad promised. If you are new to the idea, our guide to landing pages and how they are used explains the basics.

Quality Score is not the auction itself

A common belief is that Google uses your Quality Score number directly to decide where your ad shows. Google says it is not an input to the ad auction. It is a summary that helps you see where to improve. The real auction uses quality signals worked out at the moment someone searches.

The auction is driven by Ad Rank. The Google Ads Help page on Ad Rank lists the factors that go into it. These include your bid, the quality of your ad and landing page, minimum thresholds, competition and the context of the search. Ad Rank decides whether your ad can show and where it appears.

Google also says higher quality ads often lead to a lower cost per click. Quality affects the thresholds your ad must reach before it can show at all. Ad Rank also decides whether your ad can show with assets such as sitelinks. So the work that lifts your ratings can lower costs, even though the number itself is not in the auction.

Where to find your scores

Quality Score does not appear in the keyword table by default. You add it through the columns menu in the Keywords section of your account. Look for the Quality Score group and add the score and the three component ratings. There are also historical versions of each column that show how scores have changed.

Sometimes the column shows a dash instead of a number. That means there have not been enough exact searches for the keyword to give it a score. Google notes a broad match keyword can still get a score if a matching exact keyword in the same ad group has impressions. Low volume keywords often stay unscored for a long time.

How to read the ratings

Start with the component that is rated below average. Each one points to a different kind of fix, so the ratings act like a map. Here is how the problems usually line up:

• Expected click through rate below average often means the ad text does not give people a reason to click.
• Ad relevance below average usually means the keyword and the ad wording are too far apart.
• Landing page experience below average suggests the page does not match the ad or is hard to use.

Some quality factors are not captured in the score at all. Google says the score leaves out things like device, location, time of day and assets. That is one reason a keyword with a modest score can still perform well. Always check the score against clicks, conversions and cost.

Fixing the landing page side

Landing page experience is often the hardest rating to move. The page needs to be clear and useful and it should relate to the keyword. A visitor who clicks an ad for kitchen renovations should land on a page about kitchen renovations, not the home page. Keeping the message the same from ad to page is the simplest gain.

The same habits that help people buy from your site tend to help here. Clear headings, quick answers and an obvious next step make a page easier to use. Our post on how web design affects your store conversion rate covers these ideas in more detail. A page that converts well for visitors is usually a page Google rates well too.

Many small business sites run on WordPress, which makes it easy to build separate pages for each service. If your theme or plugins make that awkward, it may be time for help. A professional WordPress developer can set up clean page templates for your campaigns. That saves you sending every ad to the same general page.

Fixing the ad side

For ad relevance, tighten the link between keywords and ad text. Group keywords by theme and write ads that speak to each group. Use the words people actually type, which you can see in your search terms report. If you are unsure what some of the reporting terms mean, our list of SEO terms you should know covers many of the shared basics.

For expected click through rate, think about why someone would pick your ad over the others on the page. A clear benefit, a fair price signal or a local service area can help. Test new wording rather than guessing. Google learns from real results, so give changes time before you judge them.

Keeping the number in perspective

Google is clear that Quality Score is not a key performance indicator. It says the score should not be optimised for its own sake or blended with other data. A business with sevens across the board and a healthy profit has nothing to worry about. A business with tens and no enquiries has a bigger problem than its scores.

Use the ratings as a prompt to check one thing at a time. Look at the weakest component, make a change and watch the results. Google also recommends reviewing click rate, conversion rate and site engagement alongside the score. Those numbers tell you whether the change actually helped your business.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good Quality Score in Google Ads?

There is no official pass mark. Google rates each keyword from one to ten and rates each component against other advertisers. A keyword with all three parts rated above average has no obvious weak spot. Focus on results rather than chasing a ten.

Does a higher Quality Score lower my costs?

Google says higher quality ads often lead to a lower cost per click. The score itself is not used in the auction. The quality signals behind it do feed into Ad Rank. Improving your ads and pages is what makes the difference.

Why does my keyword show a dash instead of a score?

A dash means there were not enough exact searches for that keyword to score it. The score is based on impressions over the last 90 days. Low volume keywords often show a dash for long periods. Google suggests using Keyword Planner to find keywords with more searches.

How often does Quality Score change?

The score can change as new impressions build up over the 90 day window. You can segment the keyword table by day to see daily movement. The historical columns show past values. Give changes a few weeks before deciding whether they worked.