Sometime last week, I realised that I was running low on sanitizer. Instead of heading to the closest Coles, I decided to just buy something online. Truth be told, I was also a little curious about the sanitizer market, so I decided to do a quick Google search.
I’m sharing a screenshot of what came up. Beyond finding something that worked, I was really interested in the ads I was seeing – the marketer in me couldn’t resist 😛
Naturally, all the ads I saw were super relevant to what I was looking for. What I was thinking about was how many more businesses were running ads for hand sanitizers and just how many didn’t make the cut in terms of what I was seeing.
Running high-ranking Google Ads is NOT easy. This is something I’ve had on my mind for some time, following a few conversations I’ve had with people trying to kick off their online businesses.
Finally decided to put some of my thoughts down, especially in terms of tried-and-tested Quality Score hacks that improve Google Ads.
A high Quality Score means your ad is relevant to your target audience
According to Google, Quality Score is ‘an estimate of the quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages’.
It is what helps you rank higher on Google and even leads to lower CPC. It’s measured on a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the best), which includes the ‘expected clickthrough rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience’.
In short, the more relevant your ads and landing pages are to the user, the more likely that you will see a higher Quality Score. This score improves Google Ad relevance and is an estimate of the overall performance and success of your ads.
So, how can you drive up your Quality Score to improve Google Ads?
Target low-hanging fruit
No one else is going to be using your brand in their ad copy.
In fact, it’s against Google’s guidelines to do so. Your competitors are, however, welcome to claim these organic listings by paying a premium to Google.
So, bid on branded keywords that include your company name and expect to see a Quality Score of at least an 8. This is because these keywords are super relevant to the product or service you’re trying to promote.
Be picky when it comes to keyword selection
Long-tail keywords are generally more effective because of three reasons.
- They are more specific and are better at pre-qualifying traffic
- They align well with the end of the purchasing funnel – resulting in a higher conversion rate
- They’re likely to be less competitive and may come with a lower CPC
If you’re using a competitive keyword in your ads, it’s not just hard to rank among organic search results, they’re tricky when it comes to PPC too. This will be the case, especially in highly competitive industries.
So, my advice is that you don’t shy away from long-tail keywords and use them as much as possible to improve Google Ads.
Expand your keyword research to improve Google Ads
When you want to improve Google Ads, you always have to think from the POV of the person who’s typing in a search query.
We had a client that offered services related to electricity. When we ran ads for them, we didn’t just stick to electricity but also used related search terms like ‘power’ and ‘utility’ to ensure we created ads that covered as many bases as possible.
Always expand on your keyword research if you want to improve Google Ad performance and relevance. Think about what you, as a Google-r, would search for and the type of phrasing you would use 🙂
Never just sit on a Google Ad
If you’re really serious about wanting to improve Google Ad performance, don’t just sit and wait for the right results.
You need to be spending time on your ads, every week, and I’m not talking about a one-time burst of activity, but a consistent, long-term effort to improve Google Ads.
The Quality Score always changes in line with relevance. So, your efforts to continue account activity gives Google the understanding that your keywords are relevant. This includes adding negative keywords to ensure that only the right audiences are seeing your ads.
Never a dull day for an advertiser, am I right? 🙂
A high Quality Score = Overall Google Ad success
A high Quality Score is super important if you want to improve Google Ads and for ad management.
It lowers your CPC, lowers your cost-per-action, and improves your ad rankings. To put it simply, a high Quality Score is what determines your overall advertising success.
One of the mantras we follow at Hype – when it comes to Google Ads, at least – is to work towards a better Quality Score. We’ve gotten more and spent less with Google Ads by being consistent and have generated tons of revenue for our clients.
If you’re hungry for better ad performance and success and are looking for hacks that benefit your ad budget, spend more time perfecting your Quality Score.
Can’t think of anything more important when it comes to Google Ads.