How to Improve Google Ads Quality Score: 10 Tactics That Actually Work

Quality Score (1-10) is Google's estimate of how relevant and useful your ad, keyword, and landing page are to someone searching for your keyword. It affects both how much you pay per click and where your ad appears. A QS improvement from 5 to 8 typically reduces CPC by 25-37% at the same ad position.

The Three Quality Score Components

• Expected CTR (40% weight): How likely is someone to click your ad for this keyword? Based on your historical CTR adjusted for position
• Ad relevance (30% weight): How closely does your ad match the intent behind the keyword?
• Landing page experience (30% weight): Is the landing page relevant, useful, and easy to use?

You can see each component rated as 'Above average', 'Average', or 'Below average' in your keyword columns. Start by fixing any 'Below average' ratings — they have the most headroom for improvement.

Fix Low Expected CTR

Expected CTR is 'Below average' when your ad historically gets clicked less often than other ads showing for that keyword. The fix is almost always: write better ads.

• Include the keyword in headline 1 exactly as searched (dynamic keyword insertion can help)
• Address the user's problem or goal in headline 2 — not just describe your product
• Add a strong, specific CTA in headline 3 ('Start free trial', 'Get instant quote', 'Download now')
• Test 3-5 ad variants simultaneously, pause the lowest CTR after 500+ impressions each
• Check competitor ads using Google's Ad Preview tool — if theirs are more compelling, analyze why

Fix Low Ad Relevance

Ad relevance is 'Below average' when your ad doesn't match the keyword topic. This usually means your ad group is too broad — multiple different topics sharing one generic ad.

• Create tighter ad groups: one theme per ad group, 5-15 closely related keywords max
• For every keyword cluster, write an ad that explicitly addresses that specific topic
• Use the keyword in your display URL path (/keyword-phrase)
• If you have keywords that don't fit your current ads, move them to their own ad group with a tailored ad