Evaluating keywords

[Savage Z]

I'll start with a simple newbie question. Suppose I've got, say, 100 keywords I'm bidding on (using very specific long-tail terms, of course), and I want to evaluate them to figure out which ones are converting, and which ones aren't. How many hits do I need to evaluate a given keyword? If it's not converting after 10 clicks, that's obviously too small a sample. But what about 100 clicks? 1000? When should I give up on a term, and when should I just sit and wait?

[Franck S]

It's an excellent question. However it would be good to know if you are asking about click from PPC or clicks from Organic traffic.

I assume you are talking about PPC.

For PPC, 10 clicks is not enough to decide. It can be anywhere from 100 to 300 clicks.

For organic traffic, it is more difficult to judge. You need to track and optimize your website navigation and structure for that.

The articles themselves can cause the lack of conversion if they are low qualities articles. Pre- selling is an important skill that we need to learn.

Let me know if there is anything.

[jonathantai]

you can use google keyword tools to analyze the keyword for volume and competitor, and landing page to convince visitors of your product instead of directly link to the product pages. Normally visitors will seek for third party opinion before they buy any product.

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Savage,

There is some reallly good info in the blogs I link to here.

Power of Discipline plus Hidden Dangers of Constant Stat Checking
http://affiliate-blogs.5staraffiliat...stat-checking/

Not sure if it will give you the exact answer but I remember one of his articles talks about getting too nervous and pulling the plug on KW too fast. If I remember right both articles have some really good PPC advice.

I don't do PPC as an affiliate, just to drive traffic here to 5 Star which is a totally different animal.

I would think to some degree the answer depends on the product or market you are targeting. IF its a freebie offer or a lead based offer where no purchase is required conversion rates could be higher. But on regular retail products the average conversion rate is only around 2%.

In addition to how well the merchant converts, your ad copy, pre sell on your landing page design or direct linking to the merhant all would play a part.