Hi Guys, I have recently just got started with Google Adwords with my £75 voucher but I am having a few problems with my chosen keywords. The thing is that I am advertising my blog which is titled 'Internet Marketing Blog' so quite logically I have chosen 'Internet Marketing Blog' as one of my keywords to advertise my site. Once I have done this I then go back to see how my keywords are performing and Google has put something like...'rarely shown due to low quality score' next to the keyword 'Internet Marketing Blog. I then research a little further and it says 'keyword relevance: 3/10'. Correct me if I'm wrong but this has got to be the most relevant keyword for my site/blog. Has Google Adwords always been like this and will it improve? What I mean by this is will it take some time until they realise this is in fact a perfect keyword for my site? I apologise if you have already had quite a few posts on this already but it's one thing that has been really bugging me lately.
Google seems to be more picky these days and/or have changed the way they do things a bit. It probably doesn't see "internet marketing blog" on your landing page too much and that's why it think it's irrelevant. The standard response these days concerning this issue is "let it accumulate some clicks". Seems that if your ad is relevant (getting a good click rate), your keyword relevancy will be reevaluated. I just went through this myself with a client this past week. Started at QS=2 and irrelevant keyword (really? was my response, check it out). Once there was a few clicks, the QS jumped to 7 and the keywords are now showing as relevant, although in this case it took a few days to get those clicks. Thing with Adwords, you have to be patient sometimes and not panic.
Your bid is probably too low for the keyword phrase you are targeting. I can tell you the people who bid more per click generally get better results: Bidding higher = higher CTR + higher ad positioning + higher quality score = lower CPC.
The higher QS part of that formula is wrong. QS is independent of your bid. You CAN get lower CPC, compared to the lower positions but not a guarantee. It depends on competitors' bids and QS. And generally I noticed, your conversion rate is higher in the top positions.
Thank you for your responses guys...interesting stuff. So it looks like, logically, the more money you are willing to spend with Google Adwords the better off you will be and the more traffic you will recieve...providing your keywords and CTR is good. I blew the whole of my £75 in about 5 days so I will probably have a little look at ways I can spend a little less per day...any advice? Luke
Not exactly true. If you bid below the first page estimate, you will either get the low bid notice or they will say your quality is too low to display your ads - increasing your bid will resolve this issue.
Increasing your bid will not affect your QS. It will get you higher position and may be enough to get you on the first page. Being in a higher position will increase your absolute CTR (ads in top of page get higher CTR than at the bottom in absolute numbers). CTR is the main component of QS. Your CTR is compared to those of others using the keyword at that position. If your QS is 6 in 8th position, it will likely be 6 in first. You'll just be bidding more since it will take more to rank there and you'll be paying more than if your QS was ten. Learn more in the Adwords FAQ.
Take his advice, spend the same or less and see what ad position you're stuck at. Good luck, I'm here all day.