Although many people manifest a real interest for SEO and organic search, when it comes to Adwords and its Quality Score, many people choose not to bother with it while they complain that they pay a lot for advertising. In the next lines I will show how Google Adwords tips and tricks regards the quality algorithm works and how you can apply this knowledge to have better and cheaper adwords campaigns.
The Quality Score is a key factor when determining what is your ad position
# | Max CPC Bid | Quality | Ad Rank | Position |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ad 1 | $2.00 | 20 | I | |
Ad 2 | $4.00 | 16 | II | |
Ad 3 | $6.00 | 12 | III | |
Ad 4 | $8.00 | 8 | IV |
Whether you are a mathematics enthusiast or not, equations are the key to determine how Google’s algorithm for Adwords works. Fortunately, they are really easy to understand. Be ready for the first one:
ad position = max bid x quality score,
where the most important factor is quality score as Google only makes money for clicks. No matter how much you are willing to pay, if your ad is bad, no one will click it, so keeping it on the first position all day long hoping someone will finally decide to click on it is not how Adwords works, nor how Google does business.
What is a good Quality Score ?
Considering that the average Quality Score is 5, this is the number from which calculations start when Google establishes the price per click for you. Thus, trying to have a higher quality score is trying to get a cheaper CPC. The differences are small at all – you can get a 50% discount if you get 10/10 Quality Score or have your CPC increased by 400% for getting just 1/10 so that people with low quality ads won’t make it to the top positions too easily and end up with enough profit at the end of the day to continue making bad ads.
# | Max CPC Bid | Quality | Ad Rank | CPC |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ad 1 | $2.00 | 20 | 16/10+0.01=$1.61 | |
Ad 2 | $4.00 | 16 | 12/4+0.01=$3.01 | |
Ad 3 | $6.00 | 12 | 8/2+0-01=$4.01 | |
Ad 4 | $8.00 | 8 | Highest Cost |
How Google calculates the actual price you pay for click
The formula that Google uses to calculate your cost-per-click is simple:
your CPC price = the ad rank of the person below you / your quality score + 0.01$
As you can clearly see, especially when the competition is high, having a high Quality Score is crucial having a successful Adwords campaign.
Conclusion
Understanding how Google Adwords algorithm works can make miracles for your campaigns. What you need to to after you get a sense of their criteria is to choose only the relevant keywords and to continuously test your ad. When you will finally find the ad that will stand out from your competitors, you will finally get what you wanted. Let’s make this dream come true right now!
source: wordstream.com a great blog for PPC