Quality Score of 1/10 or 2/10: Causes and a Concrete Action Plan

A quality score of 1/10 or 2/10 is not a disaster, but it is a clear signal: Google thinks your ad is a poor match for what the searcher actually wants. The short version of the fix? Stop tinkering with your bids and go back to the basics of relevance. In this article we break down where such an extremely low quality score comes from, component by component, and give you a concrete action plan to push it back up.

Want to understand how that score is built in the first place? Then read what a quality score in Google Ads is before you dive into the troubleshooting below.

Why a 1 or 2 is different from a 5 or 6

A quality score of 5 or 6 usually means: it is okay, but there is room for improvement. A 1 or a 2 means something else. It is Google telling you there is a fundamental mismatch between your keyword, your ad and your landing page. Three things that should tell the same story, but do not.

The biggest misconception we run into at Customer Impact: people think a low score means they are bidding too little. That is not true. Quality score is completely separate from your budget. You can have the highest bid of anyone and still score a 1, because Google judges relevance, not purchasing power. Good news, really: it means you can fix the problem without spending a single euro extra.

Split your diagnosis into three columns

Before you change anything, you need to know what is broken. Google gives you three statuses per keyword, each of which can be “Above average”, “Average” or “Below average”:

• Expected CTR: the likelihood that someone clicks your ad when it shows.
• Ad relevance: how well your ad copy matches the keyword.
• Landing page experience: whether the page you send people to delivers what the ad promises.

Add those three columns to your keyword overview (via the columns menu) and you will know immediately where the pain is. With a score of 1 or 2, two or even all three components often read “Below average”. Always start with the weakest component, because that is where your biggest win sits.

Cause 1: keywords that are too broad or irrelevant

This is by far the most common cause of an extremely low score. You are bidding on a keyword that is far too broad for what you sell. Someone searching for “software” could mean a thousand different things, and your ad for a specific B2B package is irrelevant to most of those searchers. Google sees few clicks, concludes low relevance and penalises you with a low expected CTR.

What you do:

• Replace broad keywords with specific ones. “Accounting software for SMEs” works better than “software”, because the intent is sharper.
• Split your keywords across separate ad groups. One theme per group, so your ad always sits close to the keyword.
• Add negative keywords. Terms like “free”, “jobs” or “course” attract traffic that never becomes a customer and drags your CTR down.

Keywords that are too broad do not just cost you a low score, they also burn budget on clicks that lead nowhere. If you want to understand exactly how that waste feeds through into your Google Ads costs, you will quickly see why relevance and cost are inseparable.

Cause 2: your ad copy does not repeat the keyword

If the “Ad relevance” column reads “Below average”, the fix is usually surprisingly simple: the keyword does not appear in your ad. Google wants to see that the searcher literally recognises what they searched for. Advertising on “ERP implementation” but that phrase appears nowhere in your headline? Then the ad feels generic.

In practice:

• Put your main keyword in at least one headline. Preferably the first one, because it stands out the most.
• Match the intent, not just the word. Someone looking for an implementation wants to know about lead time, approach and results, not only your brand name.
• Use every headline and description you get. A half-empty ad gives Google fewer signals to read relevance from.

One ad group with ten wildly different keywords will never feel relevant to all ten. That is why this component is so closely tied to cause 1: tighter ad groups make relevant ads almost automatic.

Cause 3: the landing page does not deliver on the promise

The third column, landing page experience, is the one most often overlooked. The classic: your ad is about one specific product or service, but you send everyone to your homepage. The searcher lands on a general page, does not immediately find what they clicked for, and bounces. Google notices and lowers your score.

What a landing page needs to repair this component:

• One page that matches the ad exactly. If someone searches for a service, send them to that service page, not to your homepage.
• The keyword visible in the title and the first paragraph. That way you confirm within one second that they are in the right place.
• A fast, mobile-friendly page. Slow load times weigh into this component and chase visitors away.
• A clear next step. A quote request or contact form that matches the searcher’s intent.

A better landing page raises not only your score but also your conversion rate. That is exactly why this component counts double: you pay less per click and more of those clicks turn into leads.

The action plan: one thing at a time

Now that you know the causes, the temptation is to change everything at once. Do not. You will never know afterwards which change worked. Tackle it like this:

1. Identify the weakest component via the three columns in your keyword overview.
2. Fix that one component with the matching intervention above.
3. Wait until there are enough new impressions and clicks for Google to recalculate the score. That does not happen instantly.
4. Check whether the score moves and only then go to the next component.

Remember that quality score is a diagnosis, not a goal in itself. You are not chasing a 10 for the beauty of the number. You improve relevance because it lowers your cost per click and delivers better leads. That fits into our broader view of SEA as the fast acquisition layer of one coherent growth engine, where every euro buys pipeline and not vanity clicks.

When a specialist is faster than doing it yourself

Sometimes the cause is not in one clear column but in the campaign structure itself: badly grouped keywords, conversions that are not measured properly, or an account history working against you. In that case an experienced Google Ads specialist can see in a few hours what would take you weeks to figure out. Not because it is magic, but because the patterns become recognisable once you have straightened out dozens of accounts.

We are a small team that moves fast and gives honest advice, even when the smartest move is to rebuild your campaign structure instead of continuing to optimise a lost score. Want to know where your 1 or 2 really comes from and how to turn it into profitable traffic? Book your free intake.