Skip to main content
On October 8, we are hosting an exclusive eCommerce Dinner in Hamburg. Register and take part free of charge.

"Our Google AdWords ads are too expensive". I hear this statement regularly from my customs whose AdWords ads optimization I assume. However, there is one more trick for decreasing your Cost-Per-Click rate besides the arrangement of your AdWords ads. I am talking about the Quality Factor here, or also called Quality Score. In this article I therefore want to explain the term Quality Factor and tell you how it affects our campaign performance.

What is the Quality Factor?

The Quality Factor is a measure value that ranges between 1 and 10. This value assumes the relevance of your ads and keywords ranked by Google. Generally speaking: The higher the Quality Factor, the better. This is so because it is not only the advertiser who benefits from a high advertisement quality but it is also the user and eventually Google. Google then prefers advertisements with a high quality because it aims to display high-quality and relevant ads in order to offer Google's users best possible answers to their queries.

Where do I find the Quality Factor?

If you want to review your Quality Factor start at the keyword abstract in AdWords. Go to the column "status" and click on the speech bubble symbol there. Now Google AdWords shows you the information about your Quality Factor. It shows the information about the estimated click rate, the advertisement relevance as well as the target page experience. Additionally, each keyword has its own Quality Factor which means that each keyword should be analyzed separately.

What impact does a high Quality Factor have?

As I mentioned earlier, Google prefers advertisements with a high quality. Due to this the advertiser has the following advantages:

- A low CCP

- A higher position for his or her advertisement

- The possibility of applying ad extensions

Advertisement Rank vs. Quality Factor

Not only should you consider your Quality Factor but also the Ad Rank when you wish to optimize your AdWords ads. The Ad Rank is also a measure value. It determines the ad positon among the paid search results in Google, while Google re-determines the Ad Rank after each new query.

Direct factors that affect your Ad Rank are your bid, your expected click rate, your ad relevance as well as the user experience with the target page.

Due to these factors one can summarize an Ad Rank as follows:

Ad Rank = maximum bid * Quality Factor

The following table emphasizes the Ad Rank calculation, including the actual position in the paid SERPS:

As you can abstract from the table, it is also possible to maintain a high position while the CPC is low. By means of the Quality Factor optimization you can decrease the CPC as well as improve the average position.

How can I optimize the Quality Factor?

1. keep your AdWords campaign small

I suggest you divide the campaign into small sections. You can achieve this by applying only 2 or 3 keywords to your individual advertisement group. The keywords are then more suitable and can achieve a higher click rate with this method.

2. log your keyword in as an Exact Match

By means of the Exact-Match function you can assure that your ads will be shown for the exact keywords that the users query. This will result in higher CTRs.

3. use advertisement extensions

If you use ad extensions you can design your advertisements more eye-catching. For example, you could use the ad extension Sitelinks or a call enhancement for additional information. This will help you increase the click rate effectively.

4. use an ideal target website

Your target website is also a significant factor. Therefore, it is important to select a specialized target page for the ads. You should also consider to optimize your website for mobile devices and to decrease the loading time of your website.

Tobias Dziuba

My name is Tobias and I am the founder and managing director of the Amazon agency Adsmasters GmbH based in Düsseldorf.

Your registration could not be saved. Please try again.
Your registration was successful.

Search
Generic filters

Live webinar: Amazon Ads: 30% more profit in one month

Name(Required)
e-mail(Required)

Google Rating
5.0
Based on 63 reviews
js_loader
Google Rating
5.0
Based on 63 reviews
js_loader