[dropcap]A[/dropcap]dWords Quality Score is a measurement of how relevant and useful a keyword, ad text, and landing page are relative to what a user is searching for. The higher the Quality Score, the less the per click amount you’ll possibly pay in the AdWords bid auction. And, the higher the ad position. So, improving AdWords Quality Score can help reduce ad spend as well as Cost Per Acquisition.
There a few ways to improve Quality Score. One way is to shore up landing pages, those pages to which ads point, as Google’s spiders crawl those pages to determine how well content lines up with the keywords and ads.
Below are 5 tips for optimizing landing pages as a way to help improve Quality Score.
1. Make Navigation Easy And Pleasant
Google has always been clear about their desire for webmasters create a pleasant and useful experience for surfers. See that your page loads quickly. If it doesn’t, look into what may be slowing it down. Images that are too large or having too many images are common problems. Make it easy for people to find the product you talk about in your ad and easy to find other information that they night need. Think twice before adding pop-ups or other irritants. All of these can cause users to leave, significantly increasing your bounce rate. By improving experience, you lower your bounce rate and raise your score.
2. Include Useful And Relevant Content
Content is king, and its rein is strongest on important pages like your landing pages. Make sure that the offer from your ad matches the copy on the page. Talk about important features and benefits of your product. Make it easy for readers to decide whether your product or service can help them solve a dilemma or fulfill a need.
3. Offer Authenticity And Transparency
Visitors to your landing page should be able to easily find links to your About Us page, a contact page and other relevant information. When you are asking a customer to provide information to you in a form, be clear about what they get in return. For instance, if you are asking someone to fill out a form to get a free report, make sure that they can easily download the report on the other side.
4. Create A Custom Landing Page For Each Offer
Instead of having a catchall page, create one to match each Adwords ad that you put up. This way, you can ensure that the keywords, content and everything else matches up seamlessly. Hubspot’s research indicates that companies see a 55% increase in their leads when they increase their number of landing pages from 10 to 15. The better your pages convert, the better your Quality Score and the less expensive your Adwords campaigns.
5. Remember Keywords And Searcher Intent
The keywords that you use in your text on your landing page should match the search terms that users input as closely as possible. Hit a good keyword density and use the key word in your header tags, or even in the URL if possible. This way, Google can better tell what your landing page is about and can decide whether the landing page is beneficial to your users.
There is no one magic action that will increase your AdWords Quality Score. But, by always remembering to approach your pages as a user would, you can improve your pages’ utility and make Google happier with your landing pages. Study performance, study your pages and adapt as necessary to improve your offerings and you will see your score rise.
(Google Quality Score graphic courtesy of SearchEngineOptimist.com.)
