Finally got a 10! Modified

One of the things that I have been trying to figure out was why I couldn’t get a 10 on any of my Quality Scores (QS).  My QS values would always start at 7/10 and sit there.  I had one keyword that dropped to 6/10 but the rest just sat there.  It was pretty frustrating.  But there was good news.

The other day, all of a sudden, one of my keywords jumped to 10/10.  Not sure why that one jumped (because the rest are sitting at 7) but I will take all the little favors I can get.  The interesting coincidence is that I just happened to be reading Andrew Goodman’s book titled “Winning Results With Google Adwords” and was reading the chapter on “Quality Bidding” at about the same time.  Maybe there is a connection there, maybe not but I’m not knocking it.

All of that said, this whole area remains a black art which is exactly what Google wants.  There are a bunch of factors that play into effect here and they are put together in some magic formula.  And, apparently, the QS is calculated on the fly so that each impression is based on a QS that for that specific impression.  Boy, does that make it tough.

Anyway, from what I am reading and what appears to be the case is that there are several factors.  These are the ones that appear to be used:

1. Relevancy – without a connection between your ad, your keywords and your landing page, Google is not going to give you any sort of QS.  What this means is that you need to have your keywords in your ad and on your landing page, i.e., the classic SEO keyword loading issue.  Just don’t over do it by trying to be tricky.  Just use your keywords in your meta tag for keywords and description as well as in your copy.
2. Historical Data – your account needs to have a history of strong CTRs.  This is not just the single ad or keyword but your entire account.  There also appears to be some information here about “bounces” where the user clicks through and then comes right back which would indicate a lack of user acceptability for the landing page information.
3. Predictive Data – this is historical data from other advertisers and their “viability”.  This is an algorithm that is obviously cloaked in great secrecy but there is a suspicion that the number of advertisers, their history including number of clicks and their length of use are all parts of the equation.
4. Opinion and Editorial Determinations – generally, Google is attempting to automate as much of their AdWords operation as possible.  However, there is always the option for human intervention.  This can work both ways and is not very common but is a part of the equation.

Anyway, that is what I have been learning and I hope it is useful for you as well.  I originally started this post two weeks ago but got pulled away.  Since that time, I have gotten a couple more 10’s but they are all in the same Ad Group.  Haven’t seen any other 10’s showing up but they will probably come.  In the meantime, I am continuing to improve things and am starting to see some serious ROI on the original campaign and a modified version that I just pushed out 5 days ago.  I am definitely starting to see things moving in the correct direction.  More on that later.