PPC Glossary Terms: Quality Score

When considering factors such as click through rates and ad copy relevance, the PPC manager always has one eye on Quality Score. PPC Quality Score is a term coined by several networks especially the Google advertising network Google Adwords, to refer to an algorithmically determined score that is applied to your site. It considers factors such as your CTR and ad relevance but it is known to consider other factors such as your overall campaign performance and even your landing page loading times and relevance.

Quality Score is used in an Adwords campaign in order to determine the actual bid price that you will need to pay when somebody clicks on your ad. When you select a bid price during the set up of a campaign, this is a maximum bid price. Not only is your actual bid price determined by the prices of other bids around you but it also takes into account your Quality Score. Taking steps to improve your PPC Quality Score can, therefore, lead to lower actual bid prices.

PPC management requires constant monitoring and ongoing optimisation. This isn't just to ensure you get the best possible results but it can prevent a loss of advertising revenue, it can prevent you from paying more per click than you make, and it can generally improve your Quality Score and reduce your PPC overheads. By improving Quality Score you can reduce costs without having to sacrifice ad placement or the resulting traffic levels received from your ad.