Google AdWords Quality Score, Ad Rank, and Ad Placement


The actual placement of Google ads in the Google search engine is determined by a combination of three general considerations.

First, it is the maximum bid amount per click set by the advertiser on a relevant keyword, so a bid of $4 on a keyword or keyword phrase used in a user query with all other things being equal of conditions, it will be the ad seen by the user of the Google Information Engine if other maximum bids are lower. Created by Google after looking at the performance histories of millions of keyword clicks over time, “click-through rate” or CTR formulas play an important role in determining keyword relevancy and results. bid amounts and the “quality score” of your landing page in relation to this. I discuss the level of quality below.

The level of quality, which is made up of several things. Google wants to show users relevant, quality content, so they’ve created a weighting factor called “Quality Score” that is ultimately multiplied by the maximum bid amount set by the advertiser for a keyword or keyword. particular phrase to determine what is called ad rank. Ad Rank ultimately defines where your ad will show up in search results for user queries, or if it will show at all.

The first aspect of quality score is relevant and original content. What will the user see when taken to the website’s landing page for the ad? Does the content displayed answer the question or provide the information raised by the query made by the user? Google determines this by looking at the content of this page, so this is where web page optimization and Google search engine registration come in handy. Next, as a weighting factor, Google analyzes the performance of the web page. How fast does the page load? Are there few or no pop-ups or pop-unders attached to the page?

Is the page mobile responsive? Will it render well on mobile phones, tablets, etc.? Is the landing page “transparent” to the user making the query, that is, does it reflect what your website is about in general? Is this a good website to send the user for this type of user query? And finally, what is the ad format? With this, Google is looking to see if the advertiser is using any qualified “ad extensions” to give the user more information about your site and landing page before they get there. Things like phone number, business hours, other landing page options within the ad for more specific information.

Advertisers can test their ads before final delivery and even while they are running to see how their ads will or are performing, and there are things that can be done at any time to influence where and when ads are made visible. You can always work to improve your Quality Score by doing things like implementing ad extensions, introducing negative keywords, changing ad verbiage or images, raising or lowering your maximum bids on keywords and keyword phrases, changing ad execution or audiences, etc. . . Staying in touch with how your ad is performing while it’s running and making adjustments to improve conversion is always a good idea and informed advertisers do this regularly to make their ads more effective and to save advertising costs on their ads.

In terms of how much your ads cost you per click, each ad you place enters what’s called an “Ad Auction” where you compete against other advertisers for placements and ad placement times. Each auction run is called a “Second Price Auction,” so the good news about what this means is that you don’t necessarily pay your maximum bid amount for each click on your ad. Pay just enough to outbid the second-place advertiser and maintain your position. So this means that if your maximum bid is $3 and your second-place competitor’s bid price is $2.00, you get the position in the search results and pay $2.00 per click instead of $3.

As a pro tip for this concept, when you use Keyword Planner and search for the keywords you want to use and see the suggested bids to appear on page one and rank for one, if there is a lot of competition for a word or phrase, you know that the second maximum bid price will be very close, while low competition means there can be a big difference in bid price between advertisers and you can get a nice price-per-click discount to get the position you want. Also remember that while reviewing these quality scores they play a big role in how your ad actually looks relative to other advertisers’ bids and can save you even more money per click if you’re doing the work to improve your quality scores. and, ultimately, the ranking of your ads.

Be sure to bring your use of Keyword Planner all the way to the performance forecasting component of the tool when calculating your keywords and bids, as it can show you some good models of what your advertising costs will be as you work on different aspects of your ads. bid values ​​and keyword phrase selections. Modify it here first before posting as this will save you advertising costs.