In the last couple of weeks I have purchased some domain names and started some affiliate marketing websites. To draw traffic I set up ad campaigns with Google Adwords and Microsoft Adcenter. Google has way more search traffic than MSN Live (even though Live seems to have better targeting).

So here’s the deal, because I’m a newbie, I forgot to setup Google Analytics on this particular affiliate site. To date, I have spent about $25 in ads with Google and Microsoft which produced two sales and generated $95 in commission in one week. I should also note that this sites only purpose is to serve this particular ad. Yeah you guessed it, I had no tracking system to determine where the ad clicks came from. honestly, I thought I was going to have to wait longer to see results. So I know my campaigns are working well, I just don’t know which one is producing more goodness.

Before you think it, I have already installed the analytics. How much time should I collect analytics data before I determine what tweaks I should make? For that matter, what tweaks should I make? What is an ideal CTR for my ads? What is an ideal bounce rate for my sites? What’s the best method for optimizing my campaign? There’s a good chance you know more than I do so comment about it and let us know. Thanks.