Aug 02 2010

AdWords Quality Score Tip: Singular and Plural Matters

I’ve been reviewing some campaigns in AdWords Editor and noticed that in AdGroups where my ads just used the singular version of a keyword, that keyword score one point better (out of 10) in Google’s Quality Score. (This is on the search network.)

As well, I’m seeing that it makes a big difference to the First Page Bid estimates. Depending on the ad group, I’m seeing differences of over $1/click .

Therefore, to boost your quality score, either:

1) Split your singulars and plurals into different ad groups.

2) Use dynamic keyword insertion (DKI) to get both singulars and plurals in.

The problem with DKI is that it doesn’t work with keywords that are too long, or else it can make things clunky.

If you liked this post on PPC, check out my recent PPC workflow and mistakes guest post at Wordstream.

This is a guest post by Gab Goldenberg providing SEO Services

4 Responses to “AdWords Quality Score Tip: Singular and Plural Matters”

  1. iPhone App Development says:
    August 2, 2010 at 10:57 am

    I totally agree with this. People search plural most.

    James Svoboda Reply:
    August 2nd, 2010 at 3:25 pm

    I find that each campaign will inherently have different keyword search frequency for singular and plurals. In some instances it is nominal, and others is is significent.

    Products and services that are sold in groups tend to get searched for by plurals more and tend to have higher conversion rates for those versions as well. For instance there are more searches for “socks” and “mens socks” than “sock” and “mens sock” and conversion rates will tend to be higher as well.

  2. Beth says:
    August 2, 2010 at 1:43 pm

    A lot of people search plurals instead of singulars, both it could honestly go either way depending on the item. Some may search “party rental service” in their area before they search “party rentals”–on the other hand, people search “Granite countertops” more than they search “granite countertop”. Proper keyword research and traffic estimation will really determine if the plural does better than the singular form.

  3. Howard says:
    August 5, 2010 at 10:20 am

    I have found a variation in CPC singular to plural. Sometimes there is a cost benefit to the sigular, but not all times.
    It really does depend on the product or dervice that you are marketing. As with all campaign set ups, it is important to do the keyword traffic research at the start.
    Hope this helps!