Session 20: SEM Audit, Quality Score & Finalizing A3

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MBA DM Phase 2: The Agency Simulation

Session 20

SEM Audit, Quality Score & Finalizing A3

Block 3 wraps: A3 submitted.

Today's Agenda

  • Quality Score components
  • SEM account structure audit
  • Assembling the full A3 SEO Mini-Audit
  • Deliverable: A3 final submission

Quality Score: The 3 Pillars

PillarWhat It Measures
Expected CTRAd relevance to searcher intent
Ad RelevanceKeyword-to-ad copy match
Landing Page ExperienceSpeed, relevance, mobile-friendliness

Why Quality Score Matters

Higher Quality Score = lower cost-per-click for the same ad position. A poor landing page can silently inflate your CAC even with great ad copy.

Worked Example: Pathshala Tutors

Search terms review (one month, NPR 12,500 spend): the broad-match keyword "ielts" triggered "ielts result", "ielts registration date", "ielts free pdf" and "ielts jobs". These irrelevant terms consumed about 30% of spend: NPR 3,750 wasted per month.

Fixes:

  • Add negatives: result, registration, pdf, free, jobs, idp, british council.
  • Split into ad groups: "IELTS classes Lalitpur", "IELTS online class", "IELTS fee".
  • Point each ad group to its matching page, not the home page.

Worked Example: Pathshala Tutors (cont.)

Quality Score effect (simplified): the advertiser below has an Ad Rank of 120.

Your Quality Score Actual CPC ≈ 120 ÷ QS
4 NPR 30
8 NPR 15

Doubling Quality Score roughly halves the price of the same position. Combined with the recovered NPR 3,750, the same budget buys far more relevant clicks.

Executive summary for A3:

  1. Six course pages are blocked from Google; unblocking them is a 10-minute fix.
  2. Mobile pages load in 4.8 s; compressing one image should bring LCP under 2.5 s.
  3. About 30% of search ad spend goes to irrelevant searches; adding negatives recovers about NPR 3,750 a month.

Full walkthrough in the session note.

Check: Quality Score Levers

Prompt: ask a pair to defend the answer.

Case Reference

Recall the education PPC case for a real Quality Score / account structure optimization cycle.

Read: Education PPC case · Reference: Google Ads Reference

Lab: Assemble & Finalize A3

  1. Combine Session 17-19 findings into one A3 document
  2. Add a one-page SEM account audit (structure, Quality Score notes)
  3. Write an executive summary: top 3 fixes, expected impact
  4. Submit A3

Deliverable: Assignment A3 Complete

A3 SEO Mini-Audit — Submitted

Block 3 done. Next: Block 4 — email automation, analytics, and the final capstone review.

Review Questions 📝

  1. Name the three components of Quality Score.
  2. What is a negative keyword? Give three examples for an IELTS institute.
  3. Why should each ad group point to its own landing page?

Apply it: A travel agency spends NPR 40,000 a month on Google Ads; 25% goes to searches containing "visa form" and "embassy address". Calculate the waste and propose fixes.

Thank You!

Open Session 20 Note