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Keyword QS

by birclore
11 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I am using some keywords that I think should have good quality scores for my ad groups, but they are all only showing 3/10 or 4/10. My ad groups are targeted, good ad copy, good landing pages, tightly knit keyword groups. What do I do in this scenario? Not a single keyword in my campaign is higher than 6/10.

The keywords are all mortgage related so is it possible all keywords in that genre have intrinsically low quality scores? Should I keep the low QS keywords until I hit a threshold number of impressions?

thanks
#keyword
  • Profile picture of the author Lucid
    Two thirds of QS is click rate. You may think you have good ad copy but searchers are telling you otherwise as they prefer other ads. Again, QS is two thirds click rate, your CTR compared to that of your competitors. Simply have ads that appeal more to searchers so that they click on them (simple being a relative term).

    There's no such thing as keywords or a genre having intrinsically low scores. Any keyword can achieve a QS of 10. All that is needed is an ad that achieves a click rate that is a couple orders of magnitudes better than the competition. That's how QS is calculated, that's the math, so you can't say that inherently a keyword cannot achieve a better score.
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  • Profile picture of the author namesbeyond
    your AD position is determined by a formula called Ad-rank this ad-rank is a combination of your Quality Score and bit amount. So even if you have high quality Score you need to bit your keyword with some high amount.
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    • Profile picture of the author dburk
      Hi birclore,

      As Lucid pointed out, your QS is based primarily on your CTR as it compares to your competitors' CTR. You also have to deal with your account's historical CTR average which is apparently low. You need to focus on bringing up, not only your individual keywords QS, but your account's historical QS.

      I recommend that you temporarily pause every keyword that has a QS of less than 6/10. Write a number of ads for each of the remaining ad groups and split test to see which gets the best CTR. Be sure to use best practices for writing compelling ads to maximize the CTR. Once you have your winners, pause all of the lesser performing ads. Continue to focus on a small set of keywords until you are able to get improved QS for that smaller set.

      You will need to run those top performers for a few days before your account's historical QS will improve. Continue the process on the next group of keywords (QS 5/10), until you have most of them up to 7/10, if you are unable to get a keyword up to the 7/10 QS range then pause the keyword and come back to it later. You want to take care that you do not continue to run ads for keywords that are below average QS, else it will bring down your account's overall QS.
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  • Profile picture of the author birclore
    Thanks for the advice guys, really helpful for a noob like me.

    Two thirds of QS is click rate. You may think you have good ad copy but searchers are telling you otherwise as they prefer other ads. Again, QS is two thirds click rate, your CTR compared to that of your competitors. Simply have ads that appeal more to searchers so that they click on them (simple being a relative term).
    Ok but I have just started the campaign so these quality scores don't have much basis (i.e. this is the 'starting' quality score for the keyword before my ads have run). Should I let the low QS keywords run for a bit to see if they provide an okay CTR?

    I recommend that you temporarily pause every keyword that has a QS of less than 6/10.
    That would be every KW in my campaign Okay but basically start with my best performing keywords and work down. I still dont understand where this quality score has come from considering my ads havent even run yet...

    Should I avoid broad match modifier and focus on exact keywords? (Now I am using +Vancouver +Mortgage +Broker etc).
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    • Profile picture of the author dburk
      Originally Posted by birclore View Post

      Thanks for the advice guys, really helpful for a noob like me.



      Ok but I have just started the campaign so these quality scores don't have much basis (i.e. this is the 'starting' quality score for the keyword before my ads have run). Should I let the low QS keywords run for a bit to see if they provide an okay CTR?
      Unless your account is brand new, you will have a historical account QS, which affects new campaigns. So even though the campaign may be new, you may have a historical QS that will take a little time to overcome.

      Originally Posted by birclore View Post

      That would be every KW in my campaign Okay but basically start with my best performing keywords and work down. I still dont understand where this quality score has come from considering my ads havent even run yet...

      Should I avoid broad match modifier and focus on exact keywords? (Now I am using +Vancouver +Mortgage +Broker etc).

      Another thing to consider is how well you have chosen your keywords. If you are using broad match keywords, those will usually have a lower quality score as they tend to be poorly targeted. Try focusing exclusively on exact match keywords that are extremely well targeted (not ambiguous in any way). After you get your quality scores up, then you can add phrase match keywords, and once those are getting good QS, add your broad match modifier keywords, with generous application of negative match keywords.

      Personally, I like to separate keywords by match type, I will only include exact match keywords in an ad group with other, nearly identical, exact match keywords. I put phrase match keywords into separate ad groups or sometimes separate campaigns.

      Avoid the use of broad match keywords as they can often be devastating to your account Quality Scores. Broad match modifier is a better option, when applied correctly, however you need to use negative match keywords generously with those broad match + keywords.

      Since broad match keywords tend to generate a lot more impressions, most of which may be irrelevant, they can quickly kill your account Quality Score. Pause them until you get some decent QS for your exact match and phase match keywords. Generate a Search Terms Report to identify irrelevant keywords that you need to add to your campaigns.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucid
    There are other signals for QS and Google likely uses these to determine your initial QS. For example, they likely compare your ad to similar ones. Since they know the CTR of those ads, they can predict what your CTR will be and thus your QS. From there, the real QS will depend on your actual stats and be adjusted in the normal way. Does it get it wrong? Sometimes but not very often. After all, they have years of data and the more they have, the more accurate their predictions become. You can let it run for a while but it's unlikely your QS will change.

    If you feel your keywords are appropriate, keep on using them. Or at least refine them with longer tail and negatives. My definition of appropriate are keywords that specifically defines the product or service. I don't know how many times someone bids on "muffler" when they specifically sell a muffler for a particular brand and model of car. There are other kinds of mufflers too for all types of machines. Do you know about the different keyword match types, their differences and how to use each? If not, learn. Are you putting all your keywords in one group or are you theming them (Honda muffler, but even better, Honda Civic muffler)? Those things should help. Then work on your ads to get that CTR up.
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  • Profile picture of the author birclore
    You guys are awesome. thanks so much.

    Ok can we look at one basic example that is killing me?

    My website is my personal site as a mortgage broker. It is very rich original content. Ranks #1 organically for Vancouver Mortgage Broker. Keyword is everywhere on the site.

    I have one ad group that is targeting people who are specifically looking for a mortgage broker in Vancouver. Location of campaign is limited to the province. Here is an example of one of the 5 ads which points to the home page (figure landing page is not necessary as these people are actually seeking a broker, not a product etc). All ads are simple variations of this:

    Vancouver Mortgage Broker
    Great service and excellent rates.
    Call today! 604-222-2665.


    Here are the keywords:

    +mortgage +broker +vancouver
    +mortgage +professional +vancouver
    +mortgage +advisor +vancouver

    The Vancouver Mortgage Broker KW is 3/10. The other two are 5/10. I have paused the others that are all low.

    How come the Vancouver Mortgage Broker KW is so low? I figured that would be the easiest one? Based on your advice I will eliminate broad match modifier to start, and switch to exact until I can ramp up the QS. Anything else?

    Thanks
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    • Profile picture of the author dburk
      Hi birclore,

      You need better ad text. You need to discover what your unique value proposition is and include that in your ad text. In other words, why should someone do business with you, rather than someone else? I'm sure all the other mortgage brokers claim to have "great service and excellent rates", that is not compelling enough to get superior CTR.

      You need to be more specific with quantifiable value. Why is your service great? Tell me what, in quantifiable terms, makes that believable? If you have excellent rates then put that specific quantifiable rate in the ad text. Making those small changes will make a difference.

      Your call to action may also be working against you. If people are reading your ad and following your CTA to telephone, that will lower your CTR and harm your Quality Scores. Use a CTA that encourages a click, that will increase your CTR and improve your QS.
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      * Get Results - Outsource Your PPC Management |
      *       Don Burk Advertising & Marketing - www.donburk.com

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  • Profile picture of the author socialbacklink
    I agree with dburk. You've got to do a better job of selling the click. You are discouraging the click right now. I will normally use description line 1 for benefits and desc line 2 for a good call to action that will get people clicking through. Also, like was mentioned, be very clear in your offer.

    You might also try using a different headline. I would go with a keyword tag. {KeyWordut A Stock Headline Here}. This will show the phrase they typed into Google. The stock headline will show up in case the keyword phrase they type in is too long. That tends to do very well with helping your ads get the click.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucid
    I agree too that you need better ads. Also, don't waste ad space by putting your phone number there. Use it to get the click. You can use ad extensions to show your phone number and address.

    Good to have modified broad matches. But I'd add phrase and exact as well. What is the most likely way people will search? Probably "vancouver mortgage broker", some on "mortgage broker vancouver". So add those as phrase and exact matches. As your campaign matures and you analyse the data, refine. You may want to split the broker, advisor and professional themes into groups of their own, at least that's what I'd do. But work on your ads like the others said. Your QS is low not because you have the wrong keywords but because of poor ads.
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  • Profile picture of the author birclore
    So helpful, thanks a lot guys.
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