Landing Page and Site Quality

Overview of Landing Page Quality

Landing page quality is one of several factors that determine a keyword's Quality Score. The quality of a landing page is influenced by the usefulness and relevance of information provided on the page, ease of navigation, load time, how many links are on the page, and more.

Each of your keywords will receive a landing page quality grade visible when using keyword diagnosis..

 The grade is based on the average quality of the landing pages in the ad group and of any landing pages in the rest of the account with the same domain

 If multiple ad groups have landing pages with the same domain, therefore, the keywords in all these ad groups will have identical landing page quality grades.

If keyword diagnosis shows that your landing page quality is graded "No problems," your Quality Score will not be affected. If your landing page quality is graded 'Poor,' your Quality Score will be negatively affected.

Note: When determining landing page quality grade, the AdWords system follows destination urls at both the ad and keyword level and evaluates the final landing page.

Improving Your Landing Page and Site Quality

If your landing page quality has a poor grade, it's important to improve it for several reasons. First, it can help you gain the trust of your customers and, therefore, keep them coming back to your site. You'll also make it easier for visitors to make a purchase, sign up for a newsletter, or perform any other desired action. And finally, you can increase your overall Quality Score and lower your cost-per-clicks (CPCs).

You can improve your landing page quality by optimizing your website per our guidelines, which emphasize the following three qualities:

I. Relevant and original content

Relevance and originality are two characteristics that define high-quality site content. Here are some pointers on creating content that meets these standards:

Relevance:

• Users should be able to easily find what your ad promises.
• Link to the page on your site that provides the most useful information about the product or service in your ad. For instance, direct users to the page where they can buy the advertised product, rather than to a page with a description of several products.

Originality:

• Feature unique content that can't be found on another site. This guideline is particularly applicable to resellers whose site is identical or highly similar to another reseller's or the parent company's site, and to affiliates that use the following types of pages:

   Bridge pages: Pages that act as an intermediary, whose sole purpose is to link or redirect traffic to the parent company

   Mirror pages: Pages that replicate the look and feel of a parent site; your site should not mirror (be similar or nearly identical in appearance to) your parent company's or any other advertiser's site

• Provide substantial information. If your ad does link to a page consisting mostly of ads or general search results (such as a directory or catalog page), provide additional, unique content.

It's especially important to feature original content because AdWords won't show multiple ads directing to identical or similar landing pages at the same time. Learn more about this policy.

II. Transparency

In order to build trust with users, your site should be explicit in three primary areas: the nature of your business; how your site interacts with a visitor's computer; and how you intend to use a visitor's personal information, if you request it. Here are tips on maximizing your site's transparency:

Your business information:

• Openly share information about your business. Clearly define what your business is or does.
• Honor the deals and offers you promote in your ad.
• Deliver products and services as promised.
• Only charge users for the products and services that they order and successfully receive.
• Distinguish sponsored links from the rest of your site content.

Your site's interaction with a visitor's computer:

• Avoid altering users' browser behavior or settings (such as back button functionality or browser window size) without first getting their permission.
• If your site automatically installs software, be upfront about the installation and allow for easy removal. Refer to google's software principles for more guidelines.

Visitors' personal information:

• Unless necessary for the product or service that you're offering, don't request personal information.
• If you do request personal information, provide a privacy policy that discloses how the information will be used.
• Give options to limit the use of a user's personal information, such as the ability to opt out of receiving newsletters.
• Allow users to access your site's content without requiring them to register. Or, provide a preview of what users will get by registering.

III. Navigability

A key to turning visitors into customers is making it easy for users to find what they're looking for. Here's how:

• Provide a short and easy path for users to purchase or receive the product or offer in your ad.
• Avoid excessive use of pop-ups, pop-unders, and other obtrusive elements throughout your site.
• Make sure that your landing page loads quickly. Learn ways to improve your load time.
• Turn to google's webmaster principles for more recommendations, which will improve your site's performance in Google's search results as well.

Types of Websites That Receive Low Landing Page Quality Scores

Users have consistently provided negative feedback on several types of websites. In our commitment to make AdWords as effective as possible for advertisers and users, ads promoting these types of websites may receive low landing page quality scores. In some instances, they will not be allowed to run.

Website types to avoid

The following website types will be penalized with low landing page quality scores. If we receive complaints about ads for websites of this kind, they will not be allowed to continue running.

• Data collection sites that offer free items, etc., in order to collect private information
• Arbitrage sites that are designed for the purpose of showing ads
• Malware sites that knowingly or unknowingly install software on a visitor's computer

Website types to advertise with caution

The following website types will sometimes merit low landing page quality scores and may be difficult to advertise affordably. If you choose to advertise one of these website types, be particularly careful to adhere to our landing page quality guidelines -- especially the rule about offering unique content.

• eBook sites
• "Get rich quick" sites
• Comparison shopping sites
• Travel aggregators