--- title: Quality Score in Google Ads — definition and levers | Siite description: "Quality Score explained for service businesses: the three components Google reports, what it really diagnoses, and how landing pages change what you pay." url: "https://siite.co/dictionary/quality-score" type: static generatedAt: "2026-10-22T08:21:10.836Z" --- Paid Media # Quality Score Google Ads' 1-10 diagnostic estimating how relevant your keyword, ad and landing page are to a searcher — better relevance generally means a lower cost per click. Also goes by Ad Rank inputs, QS [![Siite](/images/layout/logo.svg)Written by Siite](/about/)Updated September 8, 2026 ## Entry contents [All Terms A to Z←Browse the full dictionary](/dictionary/) Quality Score is a keyword-level diagnostic in Google Ads, reported from 1 to 10 and split into three parts: expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. It summarizes how well your account answers the search. It is not the number the auction uses, which is why it is best read as a hint about where to look. > **Briefly explained** > > - A 1-10 diagnostic, split into three components. > - It reports on relevance between keyword, ad and page. > - Better relevance can hold the same position for less money. > - The score is a symptom. The components tell you what to fix. ## What do the three components measure? - **Expected click-through rate:** Whether people are likely to click your ad for this search, compared with competitors in the same auction. - **Ad relevance:** Whether the ad text matches what was typed. - **Landing page experience:** Whether what the ad promised is actually waiting there, fast, on a phone. Each is reported as above average, average or below average. That label is more actionable than the number beside it. ## Why does it change what you pay? Because position is decided by bid and relevance together. Two businesses bidding on the same search rarely pay the same. A tightly built account can sit above a competitor who bids more, and pay less for the privilege. On expensive searches, that gap often decides whether paid search makes money at all. See [pay-per-click](/dictionary/pay-per-click/) for how the auction prices a click. ## What actually moves it? These are the levers, roughly in order of effect. - **Narrow [ad groups](/dictionary/ad-group/).** One theme per group, so a single ad can answer every keyword in it honestly. - **Ads that repeat the searcher’s wording.** Not clever copy. The same words. - **A [landing page](/dictionary/landing-page/) per service.** Someone clicking for one job should not arrive on a page about everything you do. - **Page experience.** Load speed, a layout that works on a phone, a visible phone number. See [Core Web Vitals](/dictionary/core-web-vitals/). ## What will not move it? - Raising the bid. It buys position, not relevance. - Rewriting the ad for the fifth time while the page stays generic. - Adding keywords to a group that is already too broad. - Chasing a 10 on a keyword that already produces work at an acceptable cost. ## What do the terms mean? - **Ad rank:** Bid combined with relevance. What actually orders the ads. - **Expected CTR:** A forecast of clicking, made before the ad has run. - **Ad relevance:** The match between ad text and search. - **Landing page experience:** How well the destination answers that search. - **Below average:** The label worth acting on, wherever it appears. Owner questions ## What owners ask us about Quality Score ### Does the auction use this number? +No. It is a reported diagnostic. The auction uses live estimates of the same signals, which is why your score can look fine while performance does not. ### What is a good Quality Score? +Seven and above on the keywords you care about is a reasonable working target. The component marked below average tells you more than the score ever will. ### Will a better landing page lower my cost per click? +Often. Landing page experience is one of the three components, and better relevance can hold a position at a lower price. It also lifts conversion rate, which matters more. ### My score dropped without any changes. Why? +It is relative. New competitors, a shift in what people search, or a seasonal change in who is bidding can move it while your account sits still. ### Should I pause keywords with a low score? +Only if they are also failing on cost per booked job. A low score on a keyword that produces work is a sign the ad and page need attention, not that the keyword is wrong.Put this to work ## Guides that use this Step-by-step playbooks from the team, written for owners doing the work themselves. No sign-up and no email required. [### LSAs vs Google Ads for Austin plumbers: when each one wins Local Service Ads pay per lead, Google Ads pay per click. The right answer for a plumber depends on the season. The math from $6.7M in observed spend. Read the guide→](/articles/lsa-vs-google-ads-austin-plumbers/)[### AC replacement landing pages that close the financed sale An $89 service call can become a $14k system replacement — if the landing page handles financing right. Most HVAC sites bury it. Here's the page that closes. Read the guide→](/articles/ac-replacement-financed-sale-landing-pages/)4.9191 reviewsWhere this turns into work ## Relevance that lowers the bill Tight ad groups, ads that echo the search, and landing pages built for one job each. The same work that lowers click costs also lifts the share that convert. [See the service→](/services/google-ads/)[Ask us about it](/contact/) ![Mikkel Friis, Marketing Manager at Siite](/images/team/panel/mikkel-friis.webp) *Our marketing manager* ## Related entries - [### Negative Keyword A term you exclude from a Google Ads campaign so your ads never show for it — the main tool for stopping spend on searches that cannot become jobs.](/dictionary/negative-keyword/) - [### Cost Per Lead What you spend to generate one inquiry — total marketing cost for a channel divided by the number of leads it produced in the same period.](/dictionary/cost-per-lead/) - [### Local Services Ads Google's pay-per-lead ad format for local service businesses, shown above the Local Pack with a Google Guaranteed badge, where you are billed per lead rather than per click.](/dictionary/local-services-ads/) - [### Core Web Vitals Google's three field metrics for page experience — Largest Contentful Paint, Interaction to Next Paint and Cumulative Layout Shift — measured from real visitors.](/dictionary/core-web-vitals/) [All terms A to Z Browse every term A to Z Open the dictionary→](/dictionary/)