My first adwords campaign is going well. I have high position (3.6 average) and targeted keywords. My clickthru rates: 11.7%, 7.5%, and 9.6%. My ad currently reads:

XYZ Widget
52% Discount!
Perfect for Trips
www.xyz.com

I’m not that happy with the third line and plan on tweaking that. I’m going to use that line to sell benefits/value. So what about conversion rate? So far it appears I haven’t converted any clicks yet. While that is disappointing, I am counting this first campaign as a learning experience.

You definitely need to be careful with Adwords. Making money is going to require a great product, high commission rate, and great sales copy to convert those clicks. At 3 – 5% commission, you will need a high priced item to sell at standard conversion rates.

I suppose in theory conversion rates should be higher with targeted and niche keywords, but I have yet to see that.