How to fix a low Quality Score

Do not treat Quality Score as one number. In Google Ads, add the three component columns: expected click-through rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience, each rated below average, average, or above average.

The component that is below average tells you where the problem is. A weak expected CTR and ad relevance point to a structure and copy problem. A weak landing page experience points to a site problem. Sort your meaningful-spend keywords by Quality Score and note which component is dragging each down. You fix the diagnosed component, not the number.

The most common cause of low ad relevance is an ad group stuffed with loosely related keywords sharing one generic ad. Break it apart. Group keywords so that a small set sharing one clear intent lives together, and write ad copy for exactly that intent.

This single move lifts both expected CTR and ad relevance at once, because the ad can finally speak directly to the keyword. Tight, single-intent ad groups are the structural foundation of a healthy Quality Score, and no bid or copy tweak substitutes for getting this right.

With ad groups tightened, rewrite the ads so the searcher sees their own intent reflected. Use the keyword theme in the headline, address the specific need, and include the assets and sitelinks that make the ad larger and more useful.

The test is simple: if someone searched the keyword, would this ad obviously answer them better than a generic competitor's? Relevance, not cleverness, moves expected CTR. Give each tight ad group at least a couple of strong, intent-matched ads and let Google serve the winner.

Where landing page experience is the weak component, the fix is off the platform. Send each ad group to a page that continues the ad's promise rather than a generic homepage, ensure the page loads fast on mobile, and make the primary action obvious.

Relevance between the ad and the page matters as much as speed: a searcher who clicks an ad for a specific product or service should land on that exact thing. Brief or make these page changes, because a great ad pointing at a slow, generic, or mismatched page will cap the score no matter how tight the ad group is.

Some keywords are low Quality Score because they never belonged. Broad or tangential terms pulling mismatched impressions hurt relevance and waste spend. Review the search terms report, add negatives for the off-intent queries, and pause keywords that cannot be made relevant to any tight ad group.

Concentrating spend on keywords you can serve a genuinely relevant ad and page for lifts the account's overall Quality Score and stops the weak terms from dragging the average and your CPCs.

Quality Score updates as the new structure accumulates impressions, so give it a couple of weeks of data before judging. Track the component ratings climbing and, crucially, watch average CPC on the affected keywords fall at the same position.

The CPC drop is the point: a higher Quality Score is only valuable because it lowers what you pay. If scores rise but CPC does not move, confirm you are comparing like positions. Re-run this diagnosis quarterly and on every new build, because relevance drifts as ads, pages, and search behaviour change.