Historical Quality Score: What It Means
Want to lower your ad costs and boost performance? Start focusing on your Historical Quality Score.
Google uses this score (on a scale of 1–10) to measure the relevance and quality of your keywords, ads, and landing pages over time. A higher score means better ad placements and lower costs per click.
Key Takeaways:
- What it is: A stable diagnostic tool based on past performance, including click-through rate (CTR), ad relevance, and landing page experience.
- Why it matters: Higher scores mean lower costs (up to 50% less per click) and better ad visibility.
- How to improve: Regular PPC audits, optimising ad copy and landing pages, and A/B testing.
By maintaining strong performance over time, your campaigns can achieve better results at a lower cost. Ready to optimise? Let’s dive deeper.
Google Ads Quality Score: Everything You Need To Know (2024)
What Makes Up Historical Quality Score
Historical Quality Score is built on three key factors: CTR (click-through rate), ad relevance, and landing page experience. Together, these elements determine how well your ads perform over time.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
CTR measures how often people click on your ad after seeing it. It’s calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions. On average, search network CTRs hover around 1.91%, but a strong performance typically falls between 3% and 5%. Keep in mind, though, that benchmarks vary by industry – some sectors naturally achieve higher or lower rates.
To improve your CTR, focus on:
- Targeted keyword management: Use keywords that resonate with your audience.
- Compelling ad copy: Write ads that grab attention and encourage action.
- Themed ad groups: Organise your ads into tightly focused groups for better relevance.
Ad Relevance
Ad relevance shows how closely your ad matches what users are searching for. This connection is made by aligning your keywords with your ad text. When your ad is more relevant, you not only improve its placement but also cut costs. For example, increasing your Quality Score by just one point can improve your ad position by almost 0.9 places and boost conversion rates by up to 50%.
To strengthen ad relevance:
- Conduct thorough keyword research: Understand the terms your audience uses and tailor your ads to meet their needs.
- Write specific, engaging ad copy: Address user intent directly.
- Use ad extensions: Features like sitelinks, call extensions, and structured snippets add helpful context and make your ad stand out.
Landing Page Experience
Landing page experience evaluates how useful and relevant your website is once someone clicks on your ad. Factors like page relevance, load speed, mobile compatibility, navigation, and trust signals all play a role. For instance, even a one-second delay on a mobile page can reduce conversions by 20%.
Here’s how to optimise your landing page:
- Ensure continuity: Match your ad’s headline and messaging with the landing page content.
- Optimise for mobile: Use fast-loading pages with compressed images and clean, efficient code.
- Incorporate trust signals: Add elements like testimonials, security badges, and clear calls-to-action (e.g., ‘Get Your Free Quote’) to encourage engagement.
- Test regularly: Use A/B testing to refine headlines, layouts, and CTAs for better results.
These three components – CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience – work together to shape your historical Quality Score, influencing your ad performance and costs.
How to Calculate Historical Quality Score
Historical Quality Score is a metric that evaluates ad quality by combining past performance data with a standardised scoring system. This score uses a 1–10 scale to provide insights into how your ads compare to competitors.
The 1-10 Scoring Scale
Quality Score operates on a 1–10 scale, where 1 reflects poor performance and 10 represents top-tier performance. This scale helps you understand how your ad quality stacks up against others in the same space.
The system evaluates three key components – expected click-through rate (CTR), ad relevance, and landing page experience – by comparing your metrics to competitors targeting the same keywords over the past 90 days. Each component is rated as "Above average", "Average", or "Below average."
The impact of Quality Score on campaign costs is significant:
| Quality Score | Cost Impact Compared to Score of 5 |
|---|---|
| 10 | Up to 50% less per click |
| 7–9 | 16–50% less per click |
| 5–6 | Baseline cost |
| 3–4 | 25–100% more per click |
| 1–2 | Up to 400% more per click |
A higher Quality Score means your ad and landing page are more relevant to users, which can lead to better ad placement and reduced cost per click.
How Past Data Affects Current Campaigns
The scoring system draws heavily on performance trends from the last 90 days. Your historical metrics play a crucial role in shaping current Quality Scores and campaign outcomes.
Strong past performance can significantly improve your current scores. For instance, click-through rates from earlier campaigns establish a baseline for expected CTR, while historical data on ad relevance and landing page experience highlights what resonates most with users. By maintaining consistent performance, you can secure higher Quality Scores, which translate into better ad placements and lower costs in future auctions.
New campaigns, however, often start with average Quality Scores due to a lack of historical data. As these campaigns gather performance metrics, their scores become a more accurate indicator of quality.
It’s important to view Quality Score as a diagnostic tool rather than a definitive performance metric. To maximise its benefits, focus on improving the core factors – CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience – to deliver meaningful value to your audience.
Benefits of Good Historical Quality Score for UK Campaigns
Understanding how historical Quality Score impacts campaign performance reveals several key advantages, particularly for UK-focused advertising efforts.
A strong historical Quality Score doesn’t just improve campaign performance – it also helps cut costs. UK campaigns with higher Quality Scores tend to outperform competitors while keeping expenses lower. As discussed earlier, factors like click-through rate (CTR) and ad relevance play a major role in driving these benefits, making them invaluable for advertisers.
Better Ad Visibility
A higher Quality Score often translates into better ad placements on search engine results pages. With a strong historical Quality Score, your Ad Rank improves, helping secure those coveted top positions. These prime spots naturally attract more potential customers, increasing click-through rates and improving overall campaign results.
Beyond just visibility, better placements contribute to more efficient spending, maximising the value of your advertising budget.
Lower Costs
One of the most tangible benefits of a high historical Quality Score is reduced cost-per-click (CPC). This means you can stretch your budget further, gaining more clicks for less money. Over time, these savings can make all the difference, especially in highly competitive UK markets where overspending can quickly derail profitability.
Long-Term Campaign Performance
High Quality Scores also set the stage for long-term success. Businesses with a history of strong Quality Scores often enjoy a competitive edge over newer entrants in the market. This historical data not only helps new campaigns get off to a strong start but also provides valuable insights for refining strategies and making smarter decisions.
In a competitive environment like the UK, this cumulative advantage ensures your campaigns are well-positioned for ongoing success and growth.
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How to Improve Historical Quality Score
Boosting your historical Quality Score involves a focused approach that tackles its key components. While it requires time and effort, the payoff includes better ad placements and reduced costs. By combining regular PPC audits, refining ad copy and landing pages, and leveraging A/B testing, you can build a strong foundation for sustained improvement. Let’s dive into some actionable strategies.
Run Regular PPC Audits
Regular PPC audits are essential for identifying areas that might be dragging down your Quality Score. For UK businesses, conducting these audits quarterly strikes a balance between spotting inefficiencies and giving enough time to implement changes. During these reviews, focus on:
- Pinpointing underperforming keywords.
- Redirecting budget towards keywords that deliver results.
- Checking that your conversion tracking is set up correctly.
If you’re unsure where to start, the PPC Team offers a free audit service. This includes an in-depth review of your account structure, keyword targeting, and landing page relevance, helping you uncover areas that need improvement.
Improve Ad Copy and Landing Pages
Well-optimised ad copy and landing pages are crucial for creating a seamless user experience that search engines favour. Start by tailoring ad text for each ad group, ensuring it includes specific, targeted keywords. Then, align your ad copy with the content on your landing pages.
Your landing pages should deliver exactly what your ads promise. For example, if your ad highlights a discount, the landing page should prominently display those discounted products. Additionally, ensure your pages load quickly, offer valuable content, and adapt seamlessly to different devices.
Andrew Miller, Co-Founder and VP of Strategy at Workshop Digital, highlights the importance of landing pages:
"Landing pages are an important part of Quality Score algorithms and, fortunately, are one of the easiest elements of a PPC campaign to control. The most important part of the ‘Landing Page Experience’ component of Quality Score is providing a positive visitor experience."
Don’t forget to optimise for mobile users – fast-loading, mobile-friendly pages are key to keeping visitors engaged.
Use A/B Testing
A/B testing takes the guesswork out of optimisation, offering clear, data-backed insights. Test different variations of your ad copy – headlines, descriptions, and calls-to-action – to see which ones resonate most with your audience. Even small improvements in click-through rates can make a noticeable difference to your Quality Score.
You can also test individual elements on your landing pages, like layout, button colours, or form lengths. Focus on one change at a time and give each test at least two weeks to gather meaningful results.
For added relevance, consider implementing Single Theme Ad Groups (STAGs) as part of your testing process. This approach can further refine your ad targeting and improve overall performance.
Historical Quality Score and PPC Success
Your historical Quality Score is more than just a statistic – it plays a pivotal role in the success of your PPC campaigns. Research shows that improving your Quality Score from 5 to 7 can reduce your cost-per-click (CPC) by over 28%. Even small gains in this area can lead to noticeable savings.
A higher Quality Score doesn’t just save money; it also lowers your cost per conversion and allows you to bid less for prime ad placements. Essentially, you get more value for every pound spent, as Google rewards advertisers with higher Quality Scores by granting access to better ad positions at lower costs.
Key Points to Remember
Your historical Quality Score acts as both a performance indicator and a guide for improvement. It reflects how well your campaigns are performing and where adjustments are needed.
Improving your Quality Score is not a one-time task – it requires consistent monitoring and fine-tuning. Alarmingly, 72% of businesses haven’t reviewed their ad campaigns in over a month. This neglect often leads to declining Quality Scores and higher costs. On the other hand, one agency reported a 39% increase in click-through rates and a 78% boost in conversions simply by focusing on continuous PPC optimisation.
Past performance plays a major role in shaping your current Quality Score. Issues like mismatched keywords, poorly structured ad groups, irrelevant ad text, and landing pages that don’t align with user intent often result in lower scores. Addressing these areas can lead to significant improvements.
As the Linear Design Team aptly puts it:
"PPC management is never truly ‘done.’ It’s more like tending a garden than building a house – regular care yields the best results."
- Linear Design Team
Get Help from The PPC Team
Effectively managing your historical Quality Score takes expertise, time, and a keen eye for detail. With global ad spending projected to approach £700 billion by 2025, the pressure to optimise your PPC strategy has never been greater.
The PPC Team specialises in helping UK businesses navigate the complexities of Quality Score optimisation. They offer a free PPC audit that examines your account structure, keyword targeting, and landing page relevance – key factors that directly impact your historical Quality Score.
Their approach goes beyond treating Quality Score as a standalone metric. By integrating keyword research, ad copy refinement, landing page enhancements, and continuous A/B testing, they ensure that improvements in one area strengthen your entire PPC strategy.
Sometimes, professional expertise is the difference between incremental changes and game-changing results. The PPC Team’s services, which include targeted advertising and conversion rate optimisation, tackle the key drivers behind Quality Score improvements, delivering results you can measure.
FAQs
How can improving my Historical Quality Score help lower my advertising costs?
Improving your Historical Quality Score is a smart way to cut advertising costs. Why? Because a better score lowers your cost-per-click (CPC) while boosting your ad rankings. Essentially, Google rewards ads it sees as relevant and engaging by giving them better placements for less money.
This means you can stretch your budget further, reaching more potential customers without spending extra. Over time, this approach can deliver better returns on investment for your PPC campaigns.
What common mistakes can lower my Historical Quality Score?
When it comes to Historical Quality Score in PPC campaigns, there are several pitfalls that can drag it down. One of the biggest missteps is skipping out on negative keywords, which help filter out irrelevant traffic. Another common issue is having poorly organised campaigns that make it harder to manage and optimise effectively. Sending users to landing pages that don’t match their search intent or are of low quality is another major red flag.
Other factors that can hurt your score include ads that lack relevance, failing to ensure mobile-friendly experiences, and weak keyword research. Regularly reviewing your search term reports and refining your approach can make a big difference. To keep your Quality Score in good shape, focus on creating well-structured campaigns and continuously fine-tuning them.
What is the best way to use A/B testing to improve ad performance and Quality Score?
A/B Testing: Fine-Tuning Your Ads for Better Results
A/B testing is a smart way to improve your ad performance and Quality Score. The process involves experimenting with different elements of your ads – like headlines, descriptions, images, or calls to action – to figure out what works best. To get clear insights, focus on testing one element at a time. This way, you can pinpoint exactly what resonates with your audience.
Keep an eye on the results of your tests, comparing metrics like click-through rates (CTR) and conversions. If you notice improvements in these areas, it could lead to a higher Quality Score. And a better Quality Score often means lower cost-per-click (CPC) and more favourable ad placements. Just make sure your tests run long enough to gather enough data for trustworthy results.
To make your testing even more reliable, consider using automated tools or statistical methods. These can help you confirm whether your findings are solid, ensuring your decisions are backed by data.
