How do you optimize your adwords campaign?

Best Practices? Thoughts? Innovative Ideas to maximize ROI?

[Sports Workout]

Anyone have best practices for keeping track of adwords data and optimizing it? Excels? Access databases? Or just eye the details and make educated guesses?

[vibgyor79]

A combination of XL sheets, online ROI tracking tools and a good eye on keyword details and source of traffic.

[hobbnet]

We do the same.

Every day in an excel spreadsheet we log all our spends and all the leads generated from all of our partners which we track through our own online system.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

In terms of optimizing account performance, and particularly CTR, I would work with this principle in mind: seek to be targeted rather than general.

My experience is that many (most?) people search on specific rather than general keywords (to avoid getting an unmanageable number of results). So if you show them an ad that is highly targeted to their specific search, they'll be much more likely to click.

Not only that, but you're much more likely to a 'pre-qualified' customer clicking. Why? Because they are actively looking for what you've got.

[webdiversity]

Use the force

[ams_david]

After you used the force....
Use Kaizen, the japanese method of continual improvement.

Newbie: widget
The Force: "blue widget"
Kaizen: [blue widgets]