Wooo, it’s been a while since I posted. And there’s a good reason for that… I’ve been busy making money. Specifically, using Adwords and other PPC programs. And while I’ve hated ignoring this site, priorities are priorities.

Still, analytics guide has come into mind many times as I’ve gained insights into analysing and optimizing PPC campaigns, and I do believe that it’s every bit as relevant as a post about Google Analytics.

Matter of fact, my philosophy on analytics has always been that it’s not the numbers themselves, it’s what you make of them and the actions your own critical thinking, guided by the analytics, drives you to take.

In that sense, Adwords is quite possibly the perfect analytics microcosm. Nowhere else can you get so many stats, so quickly. And the fact that each non-converting click equals a loss of profit is a hell of a motivator.

So, I’ll be sharing my adwords insights here. I have many I’ve come across in the last few weeks especially.

So, here’s a bit of background about where I’ve been and what’s working for me:

Today, I have made over $600 PROFIT on an adsense spend of about $200. This is done using CPA affiliate programs and landing pages. How did I get to this number? Well, it happened over the course of about two weeks. I found an offer that seemed to show potential, but of course the income was extremely limited with no optimization.

I set up landing pages, used PHP to track which keywords were clicking through to the offer and which ones were subsequently converting. I tested Adwords ads, landing pages, keywords and bids fanatically for about a week. Every dime I made went back into adwords. But it was all an investment in a successful campaign, and in the last 7 days I have averaged a little over $400 per day profit.

I’ll be adding the insights and results in individual posts so they can be easily read. But I wanted to start with this post, so you understand why a site about analytics is talking so much about PPC campaigns: Because success in PPC is in the analytics, and much of the learning can be applied elsewhere.

Web Analytics, Affiliate marketing, Adwords analytics | No Comments »

After nearly a year of waiting, Google Analytics has finally upped the maximum number of sites you can track to 50. Go ‘head, log in to your analytics account and see for yourself. Then, let’s all rejoice…

Web Analytics, Google Analytics | No Comments »

I recently ran across this great post about how one affiliate marketer is using stats to come up with new ideas for revenue. She didn’t look at how many people came to her site, or how many page views they had, or their bounce rate. She looked at the referring keywords as a list of ways people were finding her site. It’s always good to monitor user behaviors. But this is a great example of using analytics for outside-the-box thinking.

So, next time you’re checking your stats, take a look at some of those one-off long tail keywords and remember, analytics should be the catalyst for new ideas, not just the measurement of an old idea’s results.

Web Analytics, Affiliate marketing | No Comments »