Ad relevance score is a metric used by Google Ads to determine how relevant an ad and its landing page are to a user’s search query. It is one of the most important factors that impacts ad rank and performance in Google Ads.
Why is ad relevance score important?
Ad relevance is important because it directly impacts the 3 main factors that influence ad rank in Google Ads:
- Quality Score – Ad relevance is a major component of quality score. The higher your quality scores, the lower your minimum bids need to be to maintain impression share.
- Expected CTR – More relevant ads tend to have higher expected CTRs. Google shows ads with higher expected CTRs more prominently.
- Ad rank – Google ranks ads according to a combination of bid amount and expected CTR. More relevant ads with higher expected CTRs will have better ad ranks.
In summary, a higher ad relevance score will lead to:
- Higher Quality Scores
- Higher expected CTRs
- Higher ad ranks for the same bids
- Lower CPCs needed to achieve the same impression share
- Lower overall CPA
What factors determine ad relevance?
There are two key factors that determine ad relevance in Google Ads:
Keyword-Ad Copy Relevance
This measures how closely the keywords and ad copy match. Google evaluates:
- If the keywords are contained in the ad title and description
- How prominently the keywords appear (earlier is better)
- If the ad text makes it clear what the user will find on the landing page
Landing Page Relevance
This evaluates how closely the landing page content matches the user’s query and ad text. Google looks at:
- If the keywords and ad copy are reflected on the landing page
- If the landing page clearly answers the user’s query
- The overall quality and content of the landing page
How is ad relevance score calculated?
Google does not publicly share exactly how ad relevance is calculated or scored. However, based on what factors into relevance, we can deduce that it likely uses semantic analysis and machine learning algorithms to evaluate:
- Semantic similarity between keywords, ad copy, and landing page content
- Prominence and frequency of keyword usage
- Ability of the ad/landing page to satisfy the user’s query and intent
Google likely combines scores from these different relevance analyses into a composite ad relevance score. This single score makes it easy to compare relevance between different ads.
How can I check and improve ad relevance?
There are a few ways to evaluate and boost your ad relevance:
Use Google Ads Relevance Diagnostics
This tool provides feedback on how closely your keywords, ad copy and landing page match user searches. It offers tips to make improvements.
Check Ad Preview and Diagnosis
Review the ad preview and diagnosis remarks for relevance recommendations provided by Google.
Make Keyword-Ad Copy Match Clear
Ensure keywords naturally appear early in ad titles/descriptions. Show what the user will find on the landing page.
Improve Landing Page Content
Add relevant content focused on the product/service and be sure to answer the user’s query.
Increase Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness (E-A-T)
Higher E-A-T scores for your site can improve relevance. Produce quality content and build external trust signals like links and reviews.
What is a good ad relevance score?
Google considers ad relevance on a 10 point scale:
Relevance Score | Rating |
8-10 | Excellent |
6-7 | Good |
4-5 | Fair |
1-3 | Poor |
Ads with a score of 6 or higher are eligible to show as top ads above the organic results. You should aim for an ad relevance score of 7-10 to ensure strong ad ranks and low CPCs.
How can I improve a low ad relevance score?
Here are some tips if you have a low ad relevance score under 5:
Re-align Keywords and Ad Copy
Make sure keywords appear prominently in the ad title and description. Clearly convey what users will find on the landing page.
Improve Landing Page Content
Add relevant information, content, and markup to your landing page to match the ad text and keywords.
Split Ad Groups by Intent
Create more tightly themed ad groups aligned to specific searcher intents to improve relevance.
Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion
Insert different keywords into ad copy in real time to create more relevant variations.
Change Targeting
Modify geographic, device, audience and placement targeting to reach users more likely to find your ads useful.
Can I automate evaluation and improvement of ad relevance?
Yes, there are some tools that can assist with optimizing ad relevance at scale:
- Automated relevance diagnostics – Automatically check relevance across accounts and surface issues.
- Dynamic ad copy tools – Automatically tailor ad copy to keywords and searcher intent.
- Ad relevance-based bid strategies – Automatically adjust bids based on relevance scores.
- AI ad creators – Use AI to generate new ad copy variants likely to be more relevant.
Intelligently applying automation can improve relevance scores across all your ads to enhance performance.
Conclusion
Improving ad relevance score should be a top priority. Higher relevance leads to better ad ranks, lower CPCs, and lower CPAs. Continuously check relevance with Google’s tools and optimize keyword-ad copy match, landing pages, ad groups, targeting, and bidding strategies. Leverage automation to evaluate and enhance relevance at scale across accounts.