Low Google Ads Quality Score? Here's how to fix it
A low Quality Score in Google Ads makes every click more expensive for the same position. How much more expensive is in your own account and nowhere else. This page shows the three mistakes tradespeople usually make and how you fix them in an afternoon, without needing extra budget.
What really determines your Quality Score
Google Ads does not work the way many tradespeople think. Whoever bids the most does not automatically win. In every auction, Google looks at your bid and at the quality of your ad and your landing page. The Quality Score you see in your account runs from 1 to 10 and is the thermometer for that quality, not a lever in the auction itself: Google states that Quality Score is not an input into the ad auction but a diagnostic tool, checked on 25 August 2026. What does play a part is the underlying quality, and higher-quality ads, according to Google, often lead to a lower price per click.
The score is made up of three components
Expected click-through rate: the likelihood that someone clicks your ad as soon as they see it. Ad relevance: does your ad copy match what someone types in? And landing page experience: does someone land on the page that fits their search? Google names all three explicitly, but does not publish how heavily each component is weighted, so we do not add a weighting either. What you do see is the rating per component: below average, average or above average, per keyword.
That sounds technical, but the logic behind it is simple
Google wants people who search for something to get a good result. If your ad is relevant and so is the page behind it, you often pay less per click. If it does not match, you pay more. How big that difference is for you sits in your own account and nowhere else.
Why a low score costs you dearly
With a low Quality Score you pay more per click than someone with a good score in the same position. We deliberately leave out a percentage here: Google does not publish a rate per point, and what it costs you depends on your own keywords and your own competitors. What you pay today does sit in your account, in the avg. cost per click column next to the Quality Score column.
Competition in your sector grows every year
Do nothing, and your cost per click rises along with it automatically. But most competitors do not improve their score either. Whoever does gains a big advantage without having to bid higher.
With a score of 8, 9 or 10 the thermometer points the other way: the quality that score reflects lowers your price per click, and your ad is more often eligible to be shown. How much that saves you is something you work out yourself, by putting the Quality Score column next to the avg. cost per click column and comparing your own keywords against each other.
Want to check your own score
Look in your campaigns for the "Quality Score" column and sort from low to high. The keywords at the bottom of that list cost you the most per click.
The three mistakes you are probably making
Most tradespeople start with Google Ads by putting all their keywords into one big ad group. Painting company, painter Tilburg, painter window frames, exterior painter: all mixed together. That feels logical, because they are all potential customers anyway. But Google sees this as a relevance problem. If you advertise on "exterior painter" while the ad copy is about "painting company", the relevance does not match and your score drops.
The second mistake: the keyword someone searches for does not appear in the headline of your ad
Someone googles "gardener Eindhoven" and sees an ad with "Green space and garden care". Does he recognise himself in that? Maybe. Does he click? Less readily. Google sees that people click less and lowers your score. The headline is the first thing someone reads, in under a second.
The third mistake is the most common and also the most damaging: you send visitors to your homepage
Someone searches for "electrician replace fuse box Utrecht", clicks your ad and lands on a page about your whole business. Fine information, but not at the right moment. This visitor has a full fuse box and wants to know if you can fix it. A homepage rarely resolves that quickly enough. Google then rates the landing page experience lower, and that pulls down the overall Quality Score. Google does not use the bounce rate itself for this; what it measures is whether the page is relevant, clear and fast.
Check this first: are all your keywords in one ad group
Then you almost certainly have a low Quality Score.
One big ad group versus three small ones
The change with the biggest effect, shown as a diagram. On the left, the structure most tradespeople start with: all keywords in one group, with a single piece of copy that never fits all four. On the right, the same keywords split across three groups per service, with five to ten keywords per group and its own copy. That is the structure that pulls up ad relevance and expected click-through rate.
How to fix it in an afternoon
Start with your ad groups. Create a separate group per service: exterior painting is one group, interior painting another, window frames a third. Put a maximum of 5 to 10 keywords per group that genuinely relate to that service. That way your ad copy always matches what someone types in, and that immediately raises ad relevance and expected click-through rate. This is the change with the biggest effect, and it costs no extra money.
Then adjust your ad copy
Headline 1 is the keyword or a close variant of it. Headline 2 is the location or a concrete benefit. If someone searches for "paving contractor Breda", you want headline 1 to say "Paving Contractor Breda" and headline 2 to say "Quote today, sorted fast". Someone recognises that in a fraction of a second as exactly what they are searching for.
Then the landing page
It does not need to be complicated. What works:
- The keyword in the H1
- A short description of the service in 2 to 3 sentences
- A photo of your work or of yourself
- A contact form or phone number above the fold
On mobile this is crucial
How big the share of phones is in your trade sits in your own campaign report under Devices; we do not fill in a percentage for you there. Google names the loading speed of your landing page itself among the tips for improving your Quality Score, checked on 25 August 2026. Want to set up that landing page per service NL properly, or sharpen your location targeting NL first? Either way, tackle the ad groups first, then the headlines, then the landing pages.
What you notice about your costs afterwards
Improve the quality that score points to, and your cost per click comes down. A fixed conversion from points to euros does not exist: Google does not publish one and it differs per keyword and per auction. What does work is this. Note down today the avg. cost per click of your ten most expensive keywords, improve the score on those ten, and put the two lists side by side after four weeks. That figure is yours, and it is accurate.
You will also notice your ad being shown more often
Your ad rank rises as the underlying quality improves, and the Quality Score is the thermometer for that: Google shows your ad more often in the same or a higher position, without you needing to bid more than your competitor. More impressions means more clicks, and more clicks means more enquiries.
That explains why two businesses with the same budget get completely different results
One sits on a 3 and pays more per click than the other on a 9, for the same position on the same search. Whoever pays less per click buys more clicks, and therefore more enquiries, from the same budget. The Quality Score is the most underestimated lever in Google Ads for tradespeople who manage their own account.
Frequently asked questions about the Quality Score
Where do I see my Quality Score in Google Ads?
Go in your Google Ads account to Campaigns, then to Keywords. Add the "Quality Score" column via the columns button at the top right. You see a score from 1 to 10 per keyword. Click a keyword for the individual scores for click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page.
How quickly does the Quality Score improve after changes?
Google bases the score on recent data and does not publish a recovery timeframe. In practice we see some movement after a few weeks, provided your campaign gets enough impressions. A landing page is assessed faster, sometimes within a few days if there is enough traffic.
How low counts as a poor Quality Score for a tradesperson?
A score below 5 is a clear signal that something is wrong. Scores of 1 to 3 are too expensive to run properly. Aim for at least a 7 on most keywords, with an 8 or higher on your most important service and location combinations.
Can I improve my Quality Score without increasing my budget?
Yes. The Quality Score has nothing to do with your budget, it is purely about relevance. You raise your score by restructuring ad groups, writing better headlines and building a good landing page. That costs time, not an extra advertising euro.
Do I need a separate landing page for every service?
For your 3 to 5 most important services, it is worth the effort. A painter ideally has separate pages for exterior painting, interior painting and window frames. A good H1, a photo, a short explanation and a contact form is already enough to substantially improve how your landing page is rated.
A free check or help from an SEA specialist
Want to know where your Quality Score stands? We take a free look at your Google Ads account and show you exactly where the losses sit and how to fix them. Would you rather work with an SEA specialist who goes through your entire account structure, not just the Quality Score? Book a call and we will look together at where the fastest gains are for you.