The Google Optimisation score is an indicator of account optimisation. Each account will be run differently depending on the client goals and the experience and preferences of the Account Manager but the optimisation score allows Google to assign a score to each account based on how well it is following Google’s best practices. These are defined by Google and are skewed towards new innovations and automation. You can find Google’s suggestions in the Recommendations tab on Google Ads.
In this article, you will learn why the Optimisation Score matters, which recommendations improve it most and a few tips on how you can quickly implement them to improve your score.
Why Does It Matter?
There are two important reasons why you should try to maximise your Optimisation Score.
Firstly, Google provides a greater level of support to manager accounts with Google Partner status. To qualify, your accounts must have an Optimisation score of at least 70% as well as meeting other criteria related to spend and performance. To read more about how to qualify for Google Partner status, read this blog by Adrian Oxenham, PPC Account Executive at ROAST.
The second reason is simply that these recommendations are best practice, which is why Google recommends them. They will work better for some accounts, worse for others, but in Google’s world of standardisation and automation, it makes sense to make all of the accounts as similar as possible. That being said, it can’t hurt to make sure you have all relevant Ad Extensions for all of your campaigns and to ensure there are no negative keyword conflicts across your account.
Most Important Recommendations
The three most common recommendations suggested by Google are:
- To use Responsive Search Ads
- To ensure you have Ad Extensions associated with all campaigns
- To utilise their automated bidding strategies
The improvement that implementing these suggestions will have on your Optimisation score will depend on how many campaigns are already utilising them. Below I have outlined how you can quickly implement these suggestions to boost your Optimisation score.
RSA’s
Maximum Optimisation Score improvement: ~10%
Responsive Search Ads help to automatically test up to 15 headlines and four descriptions. Google will rotate these assets when your ad qualifies to show and optimise towards the best performing combinations. They are also focused on gaining incremental traffic for your campaigns and so are a must-have if you are looking to expand your account without adding in additional keywords.
If creating 15 headlines and four descriptions for each ad group sounds daunting, use the Headlines and Descriptions from your current ads and add any more that you can think of quickly. This way you can improve your Optimisation score and test your current ad assets without too much additional work.
Ad Extensions
Maximum Optimisation Score improvement:
- Sitelinks: ~10%
- Callouts: ~5%
- Structured Snippet:~5%
If you are stuck for ad extension ideas, keep it simple and add in the most popular pages and perks of your business. This might be Contact and About Us pages or the most popular product pages. Adding in extensions does not need to be difficult but helps your ad to stand out from competitors who aren’t using them as well as taking up more of the Results Page.
Check out this example from Nike with generic Sitelinks, a structured snippet extension showing all of their Product Ranges and the callouts highlighting perks of shopping directly with Nike.
Automated bidding
Maximum Optimisation Score improvement: ~15%
Finally, automated bidding. Google continues to push marketers towards its automated bidding strategies, with preference towards the strategies which optimise towards conversion goals such as Target CPA, Target ROAS and Maximise Conversions.
These bidding strategies can save you a lot of time by adjusting your bids for each auction based on the likelihood of the user to convert. For more information, check out this blog by George Stolton, Paid Media Account Manager at ROAST, highlighting the pros and cons of each strategy.
Final thoughts
If you have been wondering how to improve your optimisation score, do yourself a favour and implement these changes to your Google Ads Accounts. You could improve your Optimisation score by up to 45% by making these changes, which will put you in Google’s good books as well as most likely improving the quality of your campaign performance.
Thank you for reading this ROAST Resource, read more about Google’s Keyword Planner, or learn more about Google’s New Partner Status Requirements.
