Google Ads Quality Score Explained: How to Lower Your Cost Per Click
Quality Score is a 1–10 rating Google assigns to each keyword in your Google Ads account. It measures how relevant and useful your ad and landing page are to the person who searched for that keyword. A higher Quality Score means you pay less per click and your ads appear above competitors who bid more but have lower scores. Most businesses running Google Ads have at least a few keywords with low Quality Scores — and they are paying more than they need to.
What is Quality Score and why does it matter?
When someone searches on Google, an ad auction takes place in milliseconds. Your ad position in that auction is determined by Ad Rank, not just by how much you bid. Ad Rank is calculated as:
Ad Rank = Your Bid × Quality Score + other factors
A Quality Score of 10 could let you achieve the top ad position for half the cost of a competitor with a Quality Score of 5, even if they bid higher. Conversely, a Quality Score of 2 means you are paying significantly more per click than your score warrants, and your ads may rarely appear at all.
Google introduced Quality Score to encourage advertisers to create relevant, useful ads rather than just bid their way to the top. It works: ads with high Quality Scores perform better for users, which is why Google rewards them with lower costs.
The 3 components of Quality Score
Quality Score is made up of three components, each rated “Below Average”, “Average”, or “Above Average”:
1. Expected Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Expected CTR measures how likely your ad is to be clicked when it appears for a given keyword, compared to historical click data for similar ads. This is the component most within your control through ad copy.
To improve expected CTR: include the keyword in your headline, write specific benefit-focused copy rather than generic descriptions, use ad extensions (sitelinks, callouts, call extensions), and A/B test multiple headlines to find what resonates.
2. Ad Relevance
Ad Relevance measures how closely your ad matches the intent of the keyword. A plumbing business running a single ad for dozens of keywords — emergency plumber, blocked drain, hot water repair — will have low ad relevance because one ad cannot be highly relevant to all of those.
To improve ad relevance: organise keywords into tightly themed ad groups (each group targets one specific intent), write separate ads for each group, and include the exact keyword or close variants in your ad headline. The tighter the match between keyword and ad copy, the higher the relevance score.
3. Landing Page Experience
Landing Page Experience measures how useful and relevant your landing page is for people who click your ad. This is the component most often neglected by advertisers who optimise ads but leave landing pages unchanged.
Google evaluates several factors: whether the page content matches the ad and keyword, page load speed (slow pages are penalised), mobile usability, whether the page is easy to navigate, and whether it contains the information a searcher would expect after clicking that specific ad.
Sending all ad traffic to a generic homepage is one of the most common Quality Score mistakes. A dedicated landing page for each ad group — with headline, copy, and CTA that matches the keyword and ad — consistently outperforms generic pages both for Quality Score and for conversion rate. This is why landing page design is an integral part of my Google Ads management service.
How to improve your Quality Score
Improving Quality Score is not a one-time fix — it is an ongoing optimisation process:
- Audit your current scores first. In Google Ads, add the “Quality Score” column to your keywords view. Identify keywords with scores below 5 — these are costing you the most in inflated CPCs.
- Reorganise into single-theme ad groups. Each ad group should contain closely related keywords (ideally 5–15 keywords with the same intent) and dedicated ad copy written for that intent.
- Match landing page content to keyword intent. If a keyword is “emergency plumber Sydney”, the landing page should lead with “Emergency Plumber in Sydney”, include a phone number above the fold, and have a clear call-to-action for urgent help.
- Improve landing page speed. A page that loads in under 2 seconds scores better than one that takes 5 seconds. Google's PageSpeed Insights tool shows exactly what to fix.
- Add negative keywords. Keywords that trigger irrelevant searches lower your CTR even when your ad is good. Negative keywords prevent your ad from showing for searches that will not convert, which protects your expected CTR score.
What is a good Quality Score?
As a benchmark: scores of 7–10 are above average and indicate strong relevance. Scores of 5–6 are average — fine but with room to improve. Scores of 1–4 indicate a significant mismatch between keyword, ad copy, and landing page, and these keywords are likely costing you significantly more per click than necessary.
Not every keyword can achieve a 10. Brand keywords (your own company name) typically score 9–10. Competitive generic keywords for services you offer should target 7+. If you have keywords stuck at 4 or below despite optimisation, sometimes the right decision is to pause them and replace with more targeted alternatives.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Quality Score in Google Ads?
Quality Score is a 1–10 rating Google assigns to each keyword. It measures the relevance of your ad, keywords, and landing page. A higher score means lower cost per click and better ad positions.
What are the three components of Quality Score?
Expected Click-Through Rate (how likely your ad is to be clicked), Ad Relevance (how closely your ad matches the keyword intent), and Landing Page Experience (how relevant and fast your landing page is). Each is rated Below Average, Average, or Above Average.
How does Quality Score affect ad costs?
Quality Score combines with your bid to determine Ad Rank. A higher Quality Score means you can appear above competitors who bid more but have lower scores — at a lower cost per click.
What is a good Quality Score for Google Ads?
Scores of 7 or above are considered good. Scores of 8–10 are excellent. Scores below 5 indicate a relevance problem and usually mean you are paying more per click than necessary.
Are low Quality Scores costing you money?
A free Google Ads audit identifies keywords with below-average Quality Scores and shows exactly what needs to change to lower your cost per click.