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Can't Get Above 4/10 Quality Score?

by joemagaro
17 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I'm having a really hard time getting much more than 4/10 quality score on a lot of my keywords in Google Adwords. It's really frustrating because my website is HIGHLY relevant to each of the keywords that I'm using, but for some reason Google's algorithm doesn't think so.

The website is a2xanxiety -dot- com. We sell an herbal remedy for social anxiety. So all of our keywords are like, "social anxiety remedy," "social anxiety cure," "herbal anxiety relief," etc. The best I've gotten was 7/10 on "social anxiety dating" for whatever reason. But some of the keywords that I think are most relevant can't get any higher than 4/10.

I've divided the keywords into several different ad groups where keywords are grouped into categories based on relevance and then a relevant ad is shown for that whole category. And each ad goes to a different landing page where I include the keyword several times in the sales copy and in the meta keyword and description tags.

I thought that I might be able to improve the quality score by further dividing the keywords into more categories. So I took just a handful of keywords and made landing pages specifically for those keywords. One of which was "alternative anxiety treatment." The specific page is a2xanxiety -dot- com/alternative-anxiety-treatment . I jammed the page with keywords to the extent that it showed up a lot, but not in an obnoxious way for someone reading the page. I used the SEOBook Keyword Density tool to find out how the density of that keyword on the page, because I heard that you should have between 2 and 4% keyword density for your main keyword. Each of the keywords that I based the page off had slightly more than 2% keyword density. Sounds perfect, right?

I make the Google ad specifically for that page. I include part of the keyword in the title of the ad (can't fit the entire keyword) and the entire keyword in the body of the ad. I link to the landing page for that specific keyword. And BAMM!!! 4/10 quality score.

WTF??

Can anyone help me here? I'm willing to do this for each keyword, but I don't want to waste my time if it's not going to help...
#4 or 10 #quality #score
  • Profile picture of the author friendclk
    I sometimes get keywords that start out as 4/10 but within a week or two they are already 5 or 6 out of 10.

    You just need to keep your bid high, so you get lots of clicks, and high CTR. Usually your quality score will go up when you do this.
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  • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
    Joe,

    I took a look at your landing page for alternative anxiety treatment, and
    I can see why your quality score is so low.

    The page is not optimized for alternative anxiety treatment. It seems more
    like it's optimized for social anxiety.

    The page title, your H1 tag, I didn't see any mention of alt anx treatment
    until significantly below the fold - like, in the basement.

    If Google did not tell you, my guess is they think your landing page is a thin
    site. I have to say I would agree.

    Each landing page must be optimized for the keywords you're using. I know
    you realize that, but at least that page does not seem to reflect it very well.

    Back to thin sites. I did not see much content about alt anx treatments. You
    would do well to post articles for that and provide links to them on that landing
    page.

    Then, do the same for every ad group. Pain to do, but for Google it's what you
    need to do.

    Just try it with one ad group and landing page, and I guarantee you will see an
    improvement.


    Ken
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    • Profile picture of the author joemagaro
      Originally Posted by KenThompson View Post

      Joe,

      I took a look at your landing page for alternative anxiety treatment, and
      I can see why your quality score is so low.

      The page is not optimized for alternative anxiety treatment. It seems more
      like it's optimized for social anxiety.

      The page title, your H1 tag, I didn't see any mention of alt anx treatment
      until significantly below the fold - like, in the basement.

      If Google did not tell you, my guess is they think your landing page is a thin
      site. I have to say I would agree.

      Each landing page must be optimized for the keywords you're using. I know
      you realize that, but at least that page does not seem to reflect it very well.

      Back to thin sites. I did not see much content about alt anx treatments. You
      would do well to post articles for that and provide links to them on that landing
      page.

      Then, do the same for every ad group. Pain to do, but for Google it's what you
      need to do.

      Just try it with one ad group and landing page, and I guarantee you will see an
      improvement.


      Ken

      Thanks for the detailed advice, Ken. I thought that even though I had a lot of mentions of "social anxiety," it would count as being relevant for "alternative anxiety treatment" because they are both related to anxiety. I mean, it's not like I'm trying to sell lawnmowers on the website. But I guess Google is a stickler about having that specific keyword or something very similar repeated over and over again.

      I was kind of hesitant to change anything above the "basement" in the main copy because we have been getting a 4% conversion rate from the traffic that we're driving. But if we want to make Google more cost-effective so that we can increase our CPC bids and our traffic, it's not going to cut it to just have 4/10 quality score.

      For the record, though, for several "social anxiety" related keywords I have only 4/10 or 5/10 quality scores. Go figure.

      What do you mean by linking to articles? Are you suggesting to write articles on eZineArticles or something like that that are relevant to the keyword? Just the link to them on the landing page will increase the quality score? I'm skeptical of doing anything that will distract them from the main purpose of the landing page, which is to get a sale.
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      • Profile picture of the author joemagaro
        Just tried a quick adjustment by getting rid of all the "basement" copy and putting "alternative anxiety treatment" in the H1, the metas, and throughout the copy. According to SEOTools, the keyword density is 2.97% for "alternative anxiety treatment." Google still tells me the quality score is 3/10.

        If you want to check it out, the page is a2xanxiety -dot- com/alternative_anxiety_treatment
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        • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
          Originally Posted by joemagaro View Post

          If you want to check it out, the page is a2xanxiety -dot- com/alternative_anxiety_treatment
          the page does not work ? but i doubt that it will be a problem for long, as i see google slamming the door on that puppy's tail before to long and suspending the campaign or your account.

          pills potions that work miracles for everyone is really not going to cut it, but given that, the real doozy is the fiver testimonial on video. they see that and it's good night momma.

          as mentioned add the articles as mentioned above and allow some time to take effect, given that you boat is still floating.
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          • Profile picture of the author joemagaro
            Originally Posted by tryinhere View Post

            the page does not work ? but i doubt that it will be a problem for long, as i see google slamming the door on that puppy's tail before to long and suspending the campaign or your account.

            pills potions that work miracles for everyone is really not going to cut it, but given that, the real doozy is the fiver testimonial on video. they see that and it's good night momma.

            as mentioned add the articles as mentioned above and allow some time to take effect, given that you boat is still floating.
            Except that there are other herbal remedies that are quite similar to ours that have been advertising for years.
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            • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
              Originally Posted by joemagaro View Post

              Except that there are other herbal remedies that are quite similar to ours that have been advertising for years.
              not arguing with you or doubting you, I just spend my days getting clients accounts reinstated with google after suspension, some of them also run fake fiverr testimonials. just putting it out there for you, and wish you well moving forward.
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      • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
        Originally Posted by joemagaro View Post

        Thanks for the detailed advice, Ken. I thought that even though I had a lot of mentions of "social anxiety," it would count as being relevant for "alternative anxiety treatment" because they are both related to anxiety.

        I understand. But no, that's not how it works with adwords.

        If your ad group is for alt anx treatment, then those are the
        words that must be on the destination page for that ad in
        that ad group.

        It's really pretty easy. But that is exactly what you must do.

        Change the landing page title, skip the stop words and just
        put alternative anxiety treatment in the title for the landing
        page.

        Put it in the H1 tag, other words are ok in the H1 but no other
        keywords besides that phrase.

        Avoid keywords stuffing, as I'm sure you know, but make the
        content only about alt anx trtmnt. Other LSI words are fine as
        you would naturally use them.

        Landing page articles...

        They will make that particular landing page for that phrase more
        relevant.

        Just write, or get, about 3-5 articles on different aspects or topics
        related to alternative anxiety treatments. Avoid going overboard
        with writing "seo'd" articles. Just natural writing about that topic.

        Make sure you use that phrase in the article titles. But make the
        titles unique with no other keyword phrases in them.

        Upload to your site and link to them on the landing page for that
        phrase. Do not link to them from any other pages on your site.

        Google does think your site is relevant for that phrase, but that
        result has nothing to do with adwords. Totally different ballgame
        with adwords and landing page relevancy.

        Do the above and see what happens.


        Ken
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        • Profile picture of the author joemagaro
          Originally Posted by KenThompson View Post

          I understand. But no, that's not how it works with adwords.

          If your ad group is for alt anx treatment, then those are the
          words that must be on the destination page for that ad in
          that ad group.

          It's really pretty easy. But that is exactly what you must do.

          Change the landing page title, skip the stop words and just
          put alternative anxiety treatment in the title for the landing
          page.

          Put it in the H1 tag, other words are ok in the H1 but no other
          keywords besides that phrase.

          Avoid keywords stuffing, as I'm sure you know, but make the
          content only about alt anx trtmnt. Other LSI words are fine as
          you would naturally use them.

          Landing page articles...

          They will make that particular landing page for that phrase more
          relevant.

          Just write, or get, about 3-5 articles on different aspects or topics
          related to alternative anxiety treatments. Avoid going overboard
          with writing "seo'd" articles. Just natural writing about that topic.

          Make sure you use that phrase in the article titles. But make the
          titles unique with no other keyword phrases in them.

          Upload to your site and link to them on the landing page for that
          phrase. Do not link to them from any other pages on your site.

          Google does think your site is relevant for that phrase, but that
          result has nothing to do with adwords. Totally different ballgame
          with adwords and landing page relevancy.

          Do the above and see what happens.


          Ken
          At least overnight, this has seemed to improve the quality scores a little bit. I don't have any 3/10 quality scores any more. Everything seems to have moved up 1 point or so (i.e. 4/10 became 5/10, etc.)

          One thing I noticed is that I accidentally made one of the ads link to a page that I hadn't even uploaded yet. I still had the campaign paused so nothing ever happened, but even that had a quality score on it. I wonder how they based the quality score off a landing page on my site that didn't exist yet. Is it possible that the score came purely from the ad and the keyword's relevance to my site as a whole? How much time does it usually take for Google to crawl my new landing pages and update the quality score on them?
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  • Profile picture of the author Bruce NewMedia
    I put your site page address into Google 's external KW tool.
    These are some of the words Google sees associated with the page. In order from top of list(there were more btw)

    herbal remedy for anxiety
    herbal anxiety relief
    social phobia
    herbs for anxiety
    anti anxiety medication
    panic attack treatment
    stress and anxiety
    natural remedies for panic attacks
    panic attacks
    anxiety panic attacks
    anxiety relief
    anxiety medication
    relief anxiety
    anxiety and depression
    relief from anxiety
    stop panic attacks
    anti anxiety herbs
    panic attacks treatment
    panic attack symptoms
    treatment for panic attacks
    panic anxiety attacks
    cure anxiety and panic attacks
    stress management
    medications for anxiety
    anxiety attacks
    _____
    Bruce
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    • Profile picture of the author joemagaro
      Originally Posted by brucerby View Post

      I put your site page address into Google 's external KW tool.
      These are some of the words Google sees associated with the page. In order from top of list(there were more btw)

      herbal remedy for anxiety
      herbal anxiety relief
      social phobia
      herbs for anxiety
      anti anxiety medication
      panic attack treatment
      stress and anxiety
      natural remedies for panic attacks
      panic attacks
      anxiety panic attacks
      anxiety relief
      anxiety medication
      relief anxiety
      anxiety and depression
      relief from anxiety
      stop panic attacks
      anti anxiety herbs
      panic attacks treatment
      panic attack symptoms
      treatment for panic attacks
      panic anxiety attacks
      cure anxiety and panic attacks
      stress management
      medications for anxiety
      anxiety attacks
      _____
      Bruce

      Yes, I use most of those keywords. In fact, "alternative anxiety treatment" was one of the keywords that Google recommended. Ironic that they recommend it, and yet they don't think it's relevant lol
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  • Profile picture of the author Carl-Reed
    The CTR of your ads has a larger effect on your quality score than the optimization of your page.

    Keep split testing different ads, spot the winners and dump the losers.

    You should aim to have an average CTR of at least 5% on each campaign to boost your QS.
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    • Profile picture of the author joemagaro
      Originally Posted by Carl-Reed View Post

      The CTR of your ads has a larger effect on your quality score than the optimization of your page.

      Keep split testing different ads, spot the winners and dump the losers.

      You should aim to have an average CTR of at least 5% on each campaign to boost your QS.
      !!!

      5%!!!???

      None of my campaigns are getting more than 1%.

      That's got to be a symptom of the subject of the search though. If you're searching to buy a handicap scooter, there's a much higher chance that you're going click on an ad than on something like an herbal supplement. That makes sense though that a high CTR would improve the quality score. The keywords that I was using that had low CTR's probably had the lowest quality scores.
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      • Profile picture of the author EndLevelSEO
        I can usually get 7/10 without doing anything. Make sure you have your Keyword in your Title. Also your short description should be the same as your meta tag.

        Also check to see you use your keyword and it's variations in your H1, H2, H3.

        Underline, bold and italicize your keyword a few times. Wait a bit and you should see your rank rise.

        Also if your page is named example.com/your-keyword/ and that is where your links landing page is sent your rank will be higher.

        The rest of it depends on if people actually click on your ad. Your meta tag/short description should be catchy and welcoming enough for people to click on.

        Hope this info helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author alexei_aus
    I use searchstatus firefox plugin to check density of the keyword on a page. Works well for quality score
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  • Profile picture of the author Carl-Reed
    Quality score is all about CTR. If your ads aren't getting clicked enough, Google aint getting paid, and they'll penalize you with a low quality score, showing your ads less regularly.

    To boost your CTR, try splitting your ad groups up til theres no more than 10 keywords in each group. Write ads which contain the keywords of each group and adjust your bids until your ads are showing up in positions 2-3.

    Also, use negative keywords to prevent your ads showing up for irrelevant searches.

    To find negative keywords to use, click on your campaign, then click the keywords tab, then click 'See Search Terms' > ALL.

    Adjust your date range to the last month.

    Now you'll see all the actual search terms your ads have been displaying for. You WILL notice a LOT of irrelevant searches. Every time your ad shows for an irrelevant search and doesn't get clicked it affects your overall CTR, so take all those irrelevant keywords and stick them in your campaigns nagative keyword list.

    TTFN
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  • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
    Ok I will help you diagnose quality score problems and you will answer:

    Does your slapped keywords match your ad perfectly?
    Does it show up in the headline of the ad?
    Is your landing page is clearly about that keyword, and is your keyword used repeatedly on the landing page?
    Does your landing page link to other pages on your site and other quality web sites that are about that keyword as well?
    How many people will leave your site after they hit your landing page?
    How many hit the back button to search on Google?
    How much time people spend on your site?
    Is large number of affiliates bidding on keywords and sending Google clicks to your site?
    Google like one site per advertiser and don't like affiliates. Is your site heavily template or pre-fab content?
    Is your site a review site that compares multiple products, and you are an affiliate for any or all of them?
    Are there over-bold claims on your site?

    Anything overstated, exaggerated will get a human editor in Google to calm you down.

    Home it helps.
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